Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington

Throughout this biography, Henriques presents information gleaned from original documents – letters and diaries – and compares his assessments with those of other biographers, making compelling arguments for his conclusions. He traces Washington’s character from his early manhood aspirations and activities and assesses how his personal values inform his decision-making throughout his life. It explores Washington’s religious beliefs, his attitude toward slavery, his love life, and his obsession with how he wanted to be perceived. I’m generally not drawn to reading biographies so don’t have much to compare with the author’s assessment either of Washington or other prominent figures of the time – especially Jefferson and show more Hamilton – other than what I know of their writings and politics. This wasn’t the author’s intention, but what struck me while reading this was the degree to which our “founding fathers” -- especially Jefferson and Adams -- seemed to behave like catty and jealous sixth-grade girls. This has put a new spin on the way I perceive how political coalitions and decisions are made. show less