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In 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States. He has been called the father of our country for leading America through its early years. Washington also served in two major wars during his lifetime: the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. With over 100 black-and-white illustrations, Washington’s fascinating story comes to life—revealing the real man, not just the face on the dollar bill! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good history review for kids
My granddaughter loves this series of history bios.Its a great way to introduce young children to our wonderful American history.

George Washington..3rd grade level
EXCELLENT book..very interesting..9 year old Never got bored with it like he has with some other history books..

Great info
This book is easy to read, easy to understand, filled with great information about who George Washington was and the wonderful impact he had on the formation of the United States. I read it to my boys (7 and 9) but it can be read by them alone. I highly recommend all of these Who Was books, they are well written and give a complete picture of the individual and their outstanding talents. We own over a dozen of them. You won't be disappointed! ... Read more

Product Description
Among the manuscript books of George Washington, preserved in the State Archives at Washington City, the earliest bears the date, written in it by himself, 1745. Washington was born February 11, 1731 O.S., so that while writing in this book he was either near the close of his fourteenth, or in his fifteenth, year. ... Read more

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This illustrated book was published in 1906 and has twenty-one
chapters. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Saturday Evening Post, published by Saturday Evening Post Society on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1073 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The other George W.: first in war and first in peace, our first President was far more complex than popular histories would have us believe, and perhaps the greater for it.(George Washington)
Author: Tait Trussell
Publication: Saturday Evening Post (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Saturday Evening Post Society
Volume: 278Issue: 1Page: 32(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Biography.According to Wikipedia: "Washington is seen as a symbol of the United States and republicanism in practice. His devotion to civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians. Washington died in 1799, and in his funeral oration, Henry Lee said that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Washington has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents." ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

lightweight but enjoyable
Not quite what the subtitle says as there is little analysis of the events and their impact on Washington. The book is a general introduction to the development of Virginia, the arrival of the Washington family and then GW's early life to the disaster of Braddock's defeat Having read J.T. Flexner's GW biographies and a few books on the French and Indian war, I learned nothing new. I also thought it padded a bit in places. On the other hand, I did enjoy it; the book moved well, and I didn't detect any major errors. Think of it as either a light introduction or refresher. I liked David Drummand as a reader. Maybe 3.5 stars?

Ground rules training for a future leader
I found this book to be quite interesting and insightful on how George Washington entered into the military career and the harsh lessons he had to endured in learning his craft. The book traces Washington's interest in the military aspects from his boyhood days when he was heavily influenced by his half brother, Lawrence Washington and his slight military career. The author made it clear that George Washington not only wanted a military career but push hard to get one.

The core of the book lies from the time when Washington was sent as a emissary from Royal Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to the French in the Ohio territory and ends with Braddock's defeat. During those two events, was the proving grounds for George Washington as he learned from his mistakes and from the mistakes of others while learning valuable lessons on the art of war in his native land where regular European way of war and frontier style of warfare both interlaced with each other. The book centered a lot around his Fort Necessity campaign that reflects heavily on his inexperience as a military commander. The book didn't go too deeply into the surrender terms where Washington ended up confessing that he "assassinated" the French emissary during his first battle. That probably deserves a book on its own since it does smear dishonor on Washington's good name just by his consent even with ignorance. (Of course, the question is, even if he did knew, would he had sign it because if he did not, that battle could have been a massacre of his troops against overwhelming French and Indian forces.)

I think the book did a good job overall reflecting on the early experiences Washington had as a young man and how that experience helped shape him as a commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The book proves to be well written and nicely researched.

If there was one element of the book that I thought was lacking, was that there was no maps, no illustrations, not even a photograph of what Fort Necessity looks like from the modern reconstruction at the National Battlefield site mentioned in the book. Now I been to that site and I know the locations of the places mentioned in the book. But I also know that many others do not. (At least my hardback book didn't have these stuff.)

Still, the book deserves a four star rating since I thought it was insightful and accomplished basically what the author wanted to convey to his reader.

Missed Its Intended Purpose
The author does an adequate job of detailing the battles at Great Meadows (Ft Necessity and the Wilderness), with the aid of a lot of previously published material. But Axelrod missed on examining how these events shaped the later Washington. I was hoping for a deeper analysis of the "Father of Our Country Washington" and how the Great Meadows battles directly shaped him. Instead the book bogs down at Fort Necessity and ends with a bland conclusion, weakly speculating on how the events of 1754 will help shape Washington's character in the future. While there are many obvious similarities between Washington's first two battles and his later Revolutionary War experience, these could have been covered in a magazine article. There is little in this book that points to how "the Battle Shaped the Man." If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of Washington - keep looking.

The Makings of America's 1stCommander-in-Chief
If you want to learn how George Washington was able to prevail and ultimately triumph as the military leader of a rag tag, underfunded, outmanned, ill-disciplined, mix of men known in history as the Continental Army, you must see the man in light of his experiences at the outset of the French and Indian War in North America.

Mr. Axelrod takes us back to the years 1754-55. Here in the swamp of Western Pennsylvania known as Great Meadow, Washington not only sufferedone but two ignominious defeats by the French for control of the Ohio territory. Not only did he exhibit poor tactical skills but he failed, due to his naivete and youth, to recognize the critical necessity of procurement,distribution, maintenance, and replacement of materiel and personnel for successfully waging war in the frontier wilderness. Additionally he had little skill in dealing with the duplicitous Indians who waffled in their allegiance between the French and the English.

In spite of these shortcomings, Great Meadows fathered the "Father of His Cotuntry". In these two decades prior to the War of Independence, Washington had learned valuable lessons as a soldier and most importantly as a leader of men. He forged the intellectual instinctive, emotional, and spiritual implements that were to unfailingly service him both in victory and defeat as commander-in chief of America's 1st army. Win or lose, he managed to prevail even against all that was thrown against him, both governmentally at home and militarially from abroad.

"Blooding at Great Meadows" gives us an intimate portrait of the rise in character of the one who was to become our 1st truly national hero and the events that changed the geopolitical landscape of our continent. You will find it, I'm sure, to be fascinating and enlightening study.

An amazing scrutiny of life-shaping events in a legendary national leader
Written by historian and creative consultant to television documentaries David Drummond, Blooding at Great Meadows is the unabridged audiobook version of the true story of George Washington long before he was the leader of the American Revolution and father of our country. Blooding at Great Meadows examines George Washington as a twenty-two year-old lieutenant colonel, who led four hundred American militiamen against a larger, more experienced French army and paid a steep price for the effort. Washington lost a third of his men, and the Battle of Great Meadows ignited the French and Indian War. In the crucible, Washington forged his intellect, his tactical skill, and his spirituality, all of which would be put to test in the future. Read by David Drummond, Blooding at Great Meadows is an amazing scrutiny of life-shaping events in a legendary national leader, highly recommended. 7 CDs, 9 hours. ... Read more

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National Bestseller

To this landmark biography of our first president, Joseph J. Ellis brings the exactingscholarship, shrewd analysis, and lyric prose that have made him one of the premierhistorians of the Revolutionary era. Training his lens on a figure who sometimesseems as remote as his effigy on Mount Rushmore, Ellis assesses George Washingtonas a military and political leader and a man whose “statue-like solidity” concealedvolcanic energies and emotions.

Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculoussurvival in combat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is the free-spendinglandowner whose debts to English merchants instilled him with a prickly resentmentof imperial power. We see the general who lost more battles than he won and the reluctantpresident who tried to float above the partisan feuding of his cabinet. His Excellency is a magnificent work, indispensable to an understanding not only of its subjectbut also of the nation he brought into being.

Customer Reviews (269)

More like a history book than an introspective look into a soul
After having read American Creation, I had high expectations for His Excellency. Perhaps that has clouded my judgment, but I really think that Ellis's biography of George Washington falls short.

There are many positives, to be sure. Regardless of content, Ellis's prose is so engaging that this is yet another book by him that I could not put down.Besides style, much of what I would call Washington's "outer" character is well-defined. The reader gets a sense of the bigger picture and larger personality of the General, almost like a macro-portrait of him.He was a modest elitist who truly wanted to just enjoy his homestead, but he did believe in the Glorious Cause, and, perhaps most overarching, he believed in his own potential legacy.

That said, I felt like so much was wanting from this book, not just in the details of his life, but in the more "micro" driving forces behind the man.To be fair, it was not Ellis's goal to reiterate detail after detail of Washington's life, and Washington's journal itself was usually very bland and vague, but His Excellency reads more like a history book than an instrospective look into a soul. What makes it even more frustrating is that Ellis's specific goal was to take the recently released papers on Washington and gain a better understanding of who he was on the whole without having to rehash things that are well-known to us; however, all we got was a recounting of major events in his life with only some overtones of Washington's personality mixed in.

This is definitely worth reading if all you see in our first President is the stoic, heroic , and iconic side, and no matter what, it is written wonderfully.But I am going to look elsewhere at some point to get a deeper sense of the person who happened to be George Washington.

Got better and better
I read this book as my first choice in an ambitious project to read a biography of every US president in chronological order through Reagan.

After about the first 20 pages, I feared that my first foray into this project would be a dissapointment.The writing seemed awkward, and the author seemed a little overly harsh on his subject.It seemed at that time that his title choice of "His Excellency" was simply a sarcastic swipe at the ego of a man he seemed to despise.

But, it was all just a more than appropriate set-up for the demonstration of how Washington grew into the great man he became.Through this method, Ellis immediately strikes down any remaining notions of the myth of George Washington--a myth that, for many of us, was hammered into our heads as kids as we learned of a man who could not tell a lie.

What we get in return is a richer, fairer, portrait of one of our most important founding leaders.And, I came away with an ever greater appreciation for Washington's greatness and genius.I finished the book with a feeling that I knew the man and not the myth, the flesh and bone and not the marble of the statue.

And, lastly, the work demonstrated very well how different Washington's persona was from the other influential politicians and thinkers of the time.He was not among the more educated of the founders, indeed not even among the more brilliant.But, he was an unstoppable force, a larger-than-life persona and legend in his own time.

I give it four stars, not five, only because it was a little too sparse.100 pages more would have kept it concise, but provided that little extra context that it needs.

His Excellency:George Washington

A VERY GOOD AUDIO BOOK ON WASHINGTON! BUY IT.

Surprised!
When a friend told me about the book I was really interested in buying the book.

Glad to see that Amazon had it and decided to take chance when it was notated "Used".

When I got the book, it was in perfect condition! I was Suprised!

Thanks Amazon!

His Excellency George Washington
Blah,blah,blah fact after fact after fact. Slow, boring. The writer is definitely a master of the historical facts but his story telling, or lack thereof, left me wishing my book club had chosen another title. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume covers from the birth of George Washington (in 1732) until Valley Forge.

According to Wikipedia: "John Marshall (September 24, 1755 – July 6, 1835) was an American jurist and statesman who shaped American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a center of power. Marshall was Chief Justice of the United States, serving from January 31, 1801, until his death in 1835. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1799, to June 7, 1800, and was Secretary of State under President John Adams from June 6, 1800, to March 4, 1801. Marshall was from the Commonwealth of Virginia and a leader of the Federalist Party. The longest serving Chief Justice in Supreme Court history, Marshall dominated the Court for over three decades (a term outliving his own Federalist Party) and played a significant role in the development of the American legal system. Most notably, he established that the courts are entitled to exercise judicial review, the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. Thus, Marshall has been credited with cementing the position of the American judiciary as an independent and influential branch of government. Furthermore, the Marshall Court made several important decisions relating to federalism, shaping the balance of power between the federal government and the states during the early years of the republic. In particular, he repeatedly confirmed the supremacy of federal law over state law and supported an expansive reading of the enumerated powers." ... Read more

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Dive deep into the story of George Washington's life anywhere you go: on a plane, on a mountain, in a canoe, under a tree.Or grab a flashlight and read Shmoop under the covers.Shmoop's award-winning Biographies are now available on your eReader. Shmoop eBooks are like having a trusted, fun, chatty, expert always by your side, no matter where you are (or how late it is at night).Shmoop Biographies offer fresh perspectives on great thinkers and doers. The biography includes a life story, family tree, resume of important works and accomplishments, jaw-dropping trivia and anecdotes, memorable quotes, and a timeline of formative events,Best of all, Shmoop's analysis aims to look at people from multiple points of view to give you the fullest understanding.After all, "there is no history, only histories" (Karl Popper). Experts and educators from top universities, including Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Harvard, have written guides designed to engage you and to get your brain bubbling. Shmoop is here to make you a better lover (of literature, history, life...) and to help you make connections to other historical moments, works of literature, current events, and pop culture. These learning guides will help you sink your teeth into the past.For more information, check out http://www.shmoop.com/biography ... Read more

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Among the manuscript books of George Washington, preserved in the State Archives at Washington City, the earliest bears the date, written in it by himself, 1745. Washington was born February 11, 1731 O.S., so that while writing in this book he was either near the close of his fourteenth, or in his fifteenth, year. ... Read more

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Illustrated. Formatted for the Kindle. Linked Contents and footnotes.

CONTENTS VOL. I.
INTRODUCTION
Chapter I —THE OLD DOMINION
Chapter II — THE WASHINGTONS
Chapter III — ON THE FRONTIER
Chapter IV — LOVE AND MARRIAGE
Chapter V — TAKING COMMAND
Chapter VI — SAVING THE REVOLUTION
Chapter VII — MALICE DOMESTIC, AND FOREIGN LEVY
Chapter VIII — THE ALLIES
Chapter IX — ARNOLD'S TREASON, AND THE WAR IN THE SOUTH
Chapter X — YORKTOWN
Chapter XI — PEACE

ILLUSTRATIONS VOL. I.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
From the painting by Gilbert Stuart in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This painting is owned by the Boston Athenæum and is known as the Athenæum portrait.

Autograph is from Washington's signature to a bill of exchange, from "Talks about Autographs" by George Birkbeck Hill.

VIGNETTE of the RESIDENCE of the WASHINGTON FAMILY
From "Homes of American Statesman," published by Alfred W. Putnam, New York.

LAWRENCE WASHINGTON
From an original painting in the possession of Lawrence Washington, Esq., Alexandria, Va., a great-great-great-nephew.

Autograph from MS. in New York Public Library, Lenox Building.

MISS MARY CARY
From an original painting owned by Dr. James D. Moncure of Virginia, one of her descendants.

MISS MARY PHILIPSE
From Irving's "Washington," published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Autograph from Appleton's "Cyclopædia of American Biography."

WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE
From the original painting by Emanuel Leutze in the New York Metropolitan Museum. The United States flag shown in the picture is an anachronism. The stars and stripes were first adopted by Congress in June, 1777; and any flag carried by Washington's army in December, 1776, would have consisted of the stripes with the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew in the blue field where the stars now appear.

CONTENTS VOL. II.
Chapter I — WORKING FOR UNION
Chapter II — STARTING THE GOVERNMENT
Chapter III — DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
Chapter IV — FOREIGN RELATIONS
Chapter V — WASHINGTON AS A PARTY MAN
Chapter VI — THE LAST YEARS
Chapter VII —GEORGE WASHINGTON

ILLUSTRATIONS VOL. II.
MARTHA WASHINGTON
From the painting by Gilbert Stuart in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This painting is owned by the Boston Athenæum and is known as the Athenæum portrait.

Autograph from letter written from Valley Forge, March 7, 1778, now in the possession of Hon. Winslow Warren.

VIGNETTE of MOUNT VERNON.
From a photograph.

WASHINGTON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION AT ANNAPOLIS
From the original painting by Trumbull in the Art Gallery of Yale University.

LAFAYETTE
From a contemporary French folio engraving in the Emmet collection, New York Public Library, Lenox Building.

HENRY KNOX
From the original portrait by Gilbert Stuart in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Autograph from Winsor's "America."

NATHANAEL GREENE
From the original painting by C.W. Peale, by kind permission of its present owner, Mrs. Wm. Brenton Greene, Jr., Princeton, N.J.

Autograph from Winsor's "America." ... Read more

Product Description
In every country boasting a history there may be observed a tendency to make its leaders or great men superhuman. Whether we turn to the legends of the East, the folk-lore of Europe, or the traditions of the native races of America, we find a mythology based upon the acts of man gifted with superhuman powers. In the unscientific, primeval periods in which these beliefs were born and elaborated into oral and written form, their origin is not surprising. But to all who have studied the creation of a mythology, no phase is a more curious one than that the keen, practical American of to-day should engage in the same process of hero-building which has given us Jupiter, Wotan, King Arthur, and others. By a slow evolution we have well-nigh discarded from the lives of our greatest men of the past all human faults and feelings; have enclosed their greatness in glass of the clearest crystal, and hung up a sign, "Do not touch." Indeed, with such characters as Washington, Franklin, and Lincoln we have practically adopted the English maxim that "the king can do no wrong." In place of men, limited by human limits, and influenced by human passions, we have demi-gods, so stripped of human characteristics as to make us question even whether they deserve much credit for their sacrifices and deeds.
... Read more

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CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Greene invests Camden.... Battle of Hobkirk's Hill.... Progress of Marion and Lee.... Lord Rawdon retires into the lower country.... Greene invests Ninety Six.... Is repulsed.... Retires from that place.... Active movements of the two armies.... After a short repose they resume active operations.... Battle of Eutaw.... The British army retires towards Charleston.
CHAPTER II.
Preparations for another campaign.... Proceedings in the Parliament of Great Britain. Conciliatory conduct of General Carleton.... Transactions in the south.... Negotiations for peace.... Preliminary and eventual articles agreed upon between the United States and Great Britain.... Discontents of the American army.... Peace.... Mutiny of a part of the Pennsylvania line.... Evacuation of New York.... General Washington resigns his commission and retires to Mount Vernon.
... Read more

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According to Wikipedia: "Washington is seen as a symbol of the United States and republicanism in practice. His devotion to civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians. Washington died in 1799, and in his funeral oration, Henry Lee said that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Washington has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents." ... Read more

Product Description
According to Wikipedia: "Washington is seen as a symbol of the United States and republicanism in practice. His devotion to civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians. Washington died in 1799, and in his funeral oration, Henry Lee said that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Washington has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents." ... Read more

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CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
G. Washington again unanimously elected President.... War between Great Britain and France.... Queries of the President respecting the conduct to be adopted by the American government.... Proclamation of neutrality.... Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.... His conduct.... Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers.... Opinions of the cabinet.... State of parties.... Democratic societies.... Genet calculates upon the partialities of the American people for France, and openly insults their government.... Rules laid down by the executive to be observed in the ports of the United States in relation to the powers at war.... The President requests the recall of Genet.... British order of 8th of June, 1793.... Decree of the national convention relative to neutral commerce.
CHAPTER II.
Meeting of congress.... President's speech.... His message on the foreign relations of the United States.... Report of the Secretary of State on the commerce of the United States.... He resigns.... Is succeeded by Mr. Randolph.... Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the above report.... Debate thereon.... Debates on the subject of a navy.... An embargo law.... Mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain.... Inquiry into the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury, terminates honourably to him.... Internal taxes.... Congress adjourns.
... Read more

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Life of George Washington, the father of modern democracy (1915) ... Read more

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George Washington (February 22, 1732– December 14, 1799) served as the first President of the United Statesfrom 1789 to 1797 and as the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. Because of his significant role in the revolution and in the formation of the United States, he is often revered by Americans as the "Father of Our Country".

The Continental Congress appointed Washington commander-in-chief of the American revolutionary forces in 1775. The following year, he forced the British out of Boston, lost New York City, and crossed the Delaware River in New Jersey, defeating the surprised enemy units later that year. Because of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies at Saratoga and Yorktown. Negotiating with Congress, the colonial states, and French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and failure. Following the end of the war in 1783, King George III asked what Washington would do next and was told of rumors that he would return to his farm; this prompted the king to state, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." Washington did return to private life and retired to his plantation at Mount Vernon.

He presided over the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787 because of general dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation. Washington became President of the United States in 1789 and established many of the customs and usages of the new government's executive department. He sought to create a nation capable of surviving in a world torn asunder by war between Britain and France. His unilateral Proclamation of Neutrality of 1793 provided a basis for avoiding any involvement in foreign conflicts. He supported plans to build a strong central government by funding the national debt, implementing an effective tax system, and creating a national bank. Washington avoided the temptation of war and a decade of peace with Britain began with the Jay Treaty in 1795; he used his prestige to get it ratified over intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although never officially joining the Federalist Party, he supported its programs and was its inspirational leader. Washington's farewell address was a primer on republican virtue and a stern warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. He was awarded the first Congressional Gold Medal with the Thanks of Congress in 1776.

Washington died in 1799. Henry Lee, delivering the funeral oration, declared Washington "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". Historical scholars consistently rank him as one of the greatest United States presidents. ... Read more