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    Washington: A Life
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    Washington: A Life
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    Washington: A Life
    Audiobook (abridged)14 hours

    Washington: A Life

    Written by Ron Chernow

    Narrated by Edward Herrmann

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a New York Times Bestseller, a landmark biography of George Washington.

    In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.

    Despite the reverence his name inspires, Washington remains a lifeless waxwork for many Americans, worthy but dull. A laconic man of granite self-control, he often arouses more respect than affection. In this groundbreaking work, based on massive research, Chernow dashes forever the stereotype of a stolid, unemotional man. A strapping six feet, Washington was a celebrated horseman, elegant dancer, and tireless hunter, with a fiercely guarded emotional life. Chernow brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of fiery opinions and many moods. Probing his private life, he explores his fraught relationship with his crusty mother, his youthful infatuation with the married Sally Fairfax, and his often conflicted feelings toward his adopted children and grandchildren. He also provides a lavishly detailed portrait of his marriage to Martha and his complex behavior as a slave master.

    At the same time, Washington is an astute and surprising portrait of a canny political genius who knew how to inspire people. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but he also brilliantly orchestrated their actions to shape the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency.

    In this unique biography, Ron Chernow takes us on a page-turning journey through all the formative events of America's founding. With a dramatic sweep worthy of its giant subject, Washington is a magisterial work from one of our most elegant storytellers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 5, 2010
    ISBN9781101436882
    Unavailable
    Washington: A Life
    Author

    Ron Chernow

    Ron Chernow is the Pulitzer prize-winning author of Washington: A Life. Alexander Hamilton and Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr were both nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography. Chernow lives in New York.

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    Reviews for Washington

    4.5/5

    437 ratings45 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is a gem for American history buffs. Most of the laudatory reviews attached speak for me. It was a joy to read and the best of the Washington biographies I've read.
    • 4/5
      A magisterial book, one which deserves a far more magisterial review than I am capable of giving it, Ron Chernow's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of George Washington is as well written as it is informative, and, despite its length, never once fails to keep the reader involved in its unfolding story. And what a story it is! The name of Washington needs no introduction - memorialized in our history, in the very name of our capital city, as well as the name of one of our fifty states, it is everywhere to be found - but the man Washington is another matter. Curiously distant, often obscured, even when omnipresent, Washington often seems - or, he has seemed to me, at least - either a pattern card of every virtue, as in Parson Weems' nineteenth century hagiography (from which we derive that apocryphal tale of the cherry tree, and which I once read for a college course on the intellectual history of 19th century America), or a sort of anonymous stand-in for the idea of the Founding Fathers. A cardboard place-holder, ever ready to be trotted out, whether for adulation or criticism.Washington: A Life rescues it subject from this curious veil that has been thrown over his life, excavating the human story behind the historical legend and symbol, and delivering a fascinating, at times poignant, and often inspirational portrait of the extraordinary man who did so much for America, not just in the fight for independence from Britain, but in the establishment of the early republic, and the shaping of her governmental practices. Washington emerges here as a human being, with real human emotions and very real human flaws. Intensely aware that he was lacking a college education - something for which he always felt the need to compensate, throughout his life - and resentful of his inferior status as a Colonial, and the second-class treatment he received as a result, while serving as an officer in the British Army during the French and Indian War, Washington emerges as a man with certain persistent insecurities. Insecurities that all the glory in the world, won on the battlefield and off, could not erase.A man with great physical courage - stories abound of Washington's leadership from the front, and his seeming imperviousness to the bullets that tore through his clothing, and shot down his horses - an incredibly generous nature (how many orphaned family members did this man adopt?!?), and a strong sense of right and wrong, he nevertheless had some glaring moral weaknesses, chief amongst them his ambiguous views and actions, concerning the institution of slavery. A kind "master" in some ways, Washington could also be... well, a bit of a slave-driver (this was true with his non-slave employees as well), and while he slowly came to believe, through his involvement in the American Revolution, that slavery was both morally wrong and economically inefficient, he lacked the resolve to speak out against it publicly, and confined his own actions, as a result of the stirrings of conscience, to the posthumous freeing of his own slaves.Divided into six sections, devoted to Washington as a frontiersman, planter, general, statesman, president, and legend, the book opens with Washington's family history - ironically, an ancestor had been persecuted by another anti-Royalist group, the English Puritans! - briefly explores his youth (about which little is really known), and then jumps into his military service in the French and Indian War. Chernow unfolds the tale of Washington's growing sense of ill-usage, as a result of army practices which discriminated against colonial officers (unequal pay and advancement, despite the same service, and sometimes superior performance), and the ways in which this personal sense of injustice gave way to anger at more abstract injustices - anger more motivated by idealism, than personal interest. Washington's odd relationship with his mother, to whom he was always punctiliously respectful, and with whom he had at best a troubled peace, is also discussed. Washington's role as commander of the Continental Army during the Revolution ("The General"), is given the most attention, in terms of the number of pages devoted to it, and here the story becomes especially engrossing! Having grown up in a town that was the site of a Revolutionary era battle - my childhood home was located on the hill where Washington's forces were encamped, during The Battle of White Plains, and, like all schoolchildren in the area, I was taken to see Washington's Headquarters, in North White Plains, on a school field-trip - I found this section especially interesting, particularly when it mentioned places I have seen. I learned so much that I either hadn't known, or had only incompletely known - familiar with the tale of Benedict Arnold's betrayal of West Point and Washington, I hadn't been aware that he went on to serve the British, after that betrayal, in Virginia; although aware of the misery that the Continental Army endured during their winter at Valley Forge (which I have visited), I had not been aware that subsequent winters, although not as well known, were equally grim - and gained a much better feeling for the conflict, and for Washington's central role in it, than I had had before.The sections devoted to Washington's involvement in the Constitutional Convention, and to his two terms as President, are likewise illuminating, revealing so much about this incredibly important period, when everything - the form our government would take, and then, how our Constitution would be interpreted by the first executive and legislative branches - was still up in the air. Here the reader really sees how Washington's virtues - his honorable nature, determination to walk a middle road, and include all sides in the decision-making process, and (most of all) his disinterest in personal power - steered the newborn country through those dangerous first years. That Washington continued to serve the public, despite worsening health, and a desire for retirement, is most admirable. That he tried to stay true to his vision of "gentlemanly politics," while those around him descended into spiteful bickering - Madison and Jefferson in particular, do not come off looking very well here! - is moving, somehow. Chernow's judgment, that Washington would never have become president, in a party politics system, but that he was just the man needed, in that time and place, is spot on, I think.Despite his flaws, and Chernow is frank in his portrayal of those flaws - there is no adulation here, just honest assessment - I found much to admire in Washington, and came away from his story with a renewed respect for him, and gratitude for the Revolutionary generation, and what they accomplished. In particular, I was struck by the manner in which Washington responded to some of his own weaknesses, compensating for them, without allowing them to twist him, as they might have done with a lesser man. Although conscious of the deficiencies in his own education, Washington gathered the most brilliant minds around him, and rather than being afraid of being shown up by these luminaries, genuinely welcomed, and relied upon their counsel.Although a man of strong passions - something Chernow very convincingly depicts, in contradiction to more traditional reports, which envision Washington as very staid - Washington devoted himself to that indispensable virtue of self control, something I respect very much indeed. His concern for the public good was unparalleled, even in his extraordinary generation of public servants, and his sense of the nation as a whole - the way in which he refused to look only at what was beneficial for Virginia, and for southern slaveholders - was prophetic. One sees already, in his later falling out with Jefferson, and almost all of his fellow Virginians, the seeds of the coming Civil War, and the conflicting interests that almost pulled the nation in two.Having long been convinced of my relative ignorance of American history, but being unwilling to commit myself to any sort of text book, I have thought for some time now to read a biography for each president, and thereby progress naturally through the historical record, while also enjoying the life stories of this group of extraordinary men. Imagine my surprise when, mentioning this plan to others, I discovered a group of family and friends who were interested in joining me! And so the "Presidential Book-Club" was formed, and this, Chernow's Washington: A Life was chosen, as our first selection. Educational and entertaining, it proved an inspired choice, and led to some wonderful discussions, in our first meeting! I am immensely happy to have read it, and to have started this project. Now... on to David McCullough's John Adams!
    • 5/5
      What can I say that hasn't already been written about this fantastic biography of George Washington? Ron Chernow's masterpiece on Washington is told extremely well never drags. Don't let the book's length (800+ pages) scare you off--it's a very pleasurable read.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely magnificent.
    • 5/5
      Another top book from Ron Chernow. This has joined my favorites list alongside Chernow's Hamilton and McCullough's Adams. Outstanding book about the Father of our nation, George Washington.

      I love Chernow's writing style. He does such a great job of blending the primary source material with the history of the time, all the while mixing in his own take on things without being overbearing. I like how he does not excuse the flaws of his subjects. He rightly takes Washington to task for his views and behaviors in areas like slavery and the treatment of his employees. However, he brings to life the marble figure of Washington and shows us the man behind the legend. There is not much I can say that has not already been said, but overall I enjoyed this book from start to finish. It is hard not to love what Washington did for this country after reading this book. Great time to finish it - during Memorial Day Weekend.
    • 5/5
      Excellent!
    • 4/5
      There are so many biographies of George Washington, it is difficult to decide which one to read if you are not a professional historian. They have ranged from the purely hagiographic (and partly fictional) work of Mason Weems to Douglas Southall Freeman's mammoth seven-volume study. Ron Chernow estimated that perhaps more than 900 books have been written about our first president. So how do you choose? And why would anyone write another one?

      Our fascination with our first president is somewhat curious, given his reputation as a stoic, somewhat stiff individual. But Chernow's gift as a biographer is his ability to bring his subjects to life with his literary skills and his acute psychological perceptiveness.

      What most of us perceive about Washington, and what Chernow does not dispute, is that he was a very intelligent but not particularly philosophical or creative individual. He was a tremendous leader with a natural talent to inspire others and an uncanny ability to brave the elements and the battlefield and emerge unscathed.

      What Chernow shows, however, is Washington's unbridled ambition, his nearly insatiable need to prove that he merited his fame while at the same time lamenting its consequences. He also frequently struggled to control his emotions, particularly earlier in his life and could have a frightfully volatile temper. In Chernow's hands, Washington often comes off as insecure, given to moodiness and angry outbursts at those who had the temerity to question his intentions or disobey his directives. We see Washington struggle with the conflict between his moral objection to slavery and his dependence upon the peculiar institution, and yet he never recognized the irony of his position.

      Ron Chernow's biography of George Washington, while not as engaging as his life of Alexander Hamilton, is engaging. You finish the book with a real sense of Washington's flaws and his greatness. If Chernow's historical understanding is not always the most nuanced, his perception of his subjects' humanity is.
    • 5/5
      What a biography! Chernow attempts to explain Washington's personality and character, as well as tell the story of the remarkable events of his life. He certainly had some quirks, but one ends up overwhelmingly happy that George was there when we needed him.
    • 4/5
      Chernow has produced an in depth yet accessible biography of one of America's truly great men. Washington was a disciplined and honorable man, filled with ambition yet moderated by virtue. He was not flawless, but he was not a fraud either. Seeing Washington in his struggles yet watching as he mastered them almost magnifies his accomplishments. He was not born to privilege. It was his lot to see most of his family and many of his friends die during his lifetime. He was a bit of a romantic though he suppressed it. He envisioned himself as a prosperous and modern farmer though his home in Mt. Vernon was a continually disappointing challenge. The slights he received from the British during his time as a colonial officer blossomed into a real disgust though his reasons for pursuing independence for the nation were not personal. Though not highly educated, Washington was intelligent and conversed with thinkers. This gave a him a broad and mature outlook on statecraft and on men. The latter allowed him to shepherd a disorganized and beaten army to eventual triumph. After the war, Washington led the nation when no one else could. His presence provided the goodwill the new government needed to establish itself. It cost Washington dearly in terms of friends and energy. In the end, he was successful, and he knew it. He left behind the beginning of a new nation.Chernow brings Washington to life. In places, he provides too much detail. However, the overall effect is a comprehensive look at the life of a truly great man.
    • 3/5
      A better appreciation for the whole man but often a tedious read.
    • 4/5
      This cradle to grave bio paints Washington as a true idealist. He lived to set an example.His contribution can actually be measured, but probably not equalled. A sturdy man who didn't liked to be touched would stand tall in the face of almost any challenge to contribute to his community. The depth can be a little tedious but when you are in the depths of Washington's life it all seems relevant.I have not read other Bio's of Washington, so I can not weigh the book against other biographers.The insight into Washington's own words from his letters illuminates the man in the portraits.Chernow tells a complete story of an immense life. It was fun to observe the life of the American saint and the characters who contributed to the a time in history of such immense character. 800+ pages make it a true commitment and if I never read another book on (The General) I think this Bio will suffice as solid basis on the subject.Great fun fact: Ron Chernow credits Washington with the development of the American Mule. Add husbandry to the long list of accomplishments...
    • 5/5
      Excellent new biography of George Washington. If you have already read biographies of Washington, you still may not know the man! Newly published letters in the last 20 years have been used by Chernow in this biography! And Chernow is a beautiful writer! Easy to read, but not dummied down. Rich, literary language used throughout! One big minus!! With such a large hard cover of a major American figure, as with Chernow's Hamilton bio, I don't understand why the illustration/photos are not in Color, and there is only one middle section of plates. And there aren't many repros of the man at different stages of his life nor are any maps included!! The same illustrations that are used in other dime a dozen bios are used here! I give Penguin a big boo for this poor publishing faux-pas!
    • 5/5
      Well-written book. Easy to read and well-researched. Fully deserving of the Pulitzer Prize.
    • 5/5
      This was a long book, but it really kept my interest. It shows Washington as human and it also portrays the times he lived in politically -- which have many similarities to our own times. I hope to read biographies of each president-- but this one will be hard to top.
    • 5/5
      Masterpiece!
    • 4/5
      I've been reading this book piecemeal for over a year and it's time to let it go for now. I'm just not up for this time period or reading about Washington's post-war rise to presidency (which is were I've left off). Chalk it up to election burnout. But this is one of those books that you can easily pick-up again when you leave off between sections.
    • 4/5
      This biography of Washington makes me admire him even more. He seems to have been the perfect match for his time and for the jobs he was called on to do. He was cranky sometimes and he made a few terrible mistakes in his early days in the military, but that's about the worst criticism of his life. Otherwise, he was strong, brave, loyal to his new country, and faithful to his wife.
    • 5/5
      A complete, excellent history of Washington's life. It does not veer more than necessary into the times, sticking as closely as possible to the subject. While it is impossible to talk about Washington without talking about the historical period, the focus is always on Washington, his words and his relationships with others. I thought this was engaging and well written. It was complimentary and critical, as necessary, without being overly opinionated in either direction.
    • 4/5
      This must be the longest book I've ever read.

      A stunningly in depth chronicle of the first u.s. president which examines every aspect of his life in compiling a full profile of this mythical figure. I feel rather like I could psychoanalyze him frankly, that's how much this book seems to get inside his head. By the end though, I was rather wishing he would just die already; easily a hundred pages could have been excised from this weighty tome without effecting it's quality in the slightest.
    • 5/5
      Ron Chernow may be the greatest historical biographer writing today, this side of Robert Caro. Recent Washington biographies of GW have inched their way toward bringing him back from iconism to humanity, and this one completes the job. It does a fantastic job of showing how a man can become iconic--and deservedly--while still evincing the foibles we all share. Amid the Life is a satisfying recounting of the birth of our nation, ushered in by an amazing group of statesmen and soldiers made great in no small part by the times, and by the roles thrust upon them. This story also fully limns the tale of Washington as an English gentlemen cum Southern plantation slaveowner, including the economic, social, and personal pressures of that role. A rich and full biography, beautifully wrought.
    • 4/5
      --- Update 4/20/12: Finished at what the Kindle shows as 76%, the rest being appendix, acknowledgements, footnotes and index. I'll never again try a non-fiction book on the Kindle.
      --- Update 4/14/12: I'm still only 71% finished. Mercy.
      --- Update 1/20/12: I will never finish this endless book. Never.

      I don't know how you could possibly ask any more of a biography. If I'm not crazy about the idea that I now know more about Washington than I know about my own husband, it's not Chernow's fault. This book has all the faults and virtues of the man himself: precise, thorough, dispassionate, balanced, worthy and, at least part of the time, seriously boring.

      "All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens." - George Washington, August, 1790
    • 5/5
      Great book. I enjoyed the depth and breadth this book provided.
    • 5/5
      Great book. Glad to find a warts and all biography of Washington, too often he is portrayed as a colonial version of Superman. Chernow's Washington is a great man, yes, but he is also tendentious, argumentative, occasionally indecisive and could also be a bully. Chernow doesnt shy away either from the great contradiction in Washington's life, that he was an advocate of freedom who kept slaves and supported the system of slavery (although to his credit it did trouble his conscience). Also revealed warts and all are the other Founding Fathers and the often troubled relations between them. In fact Washington wasnt popular with most of the other great names of the Revolution, Adams, Jefferson and Madison among others all disliked him, however his enormous popular support ensured that he could dictate the time and means of his exit from public life. A challenging book in many ways, but enthralling, particularly for a non-American to whom much of this was new.
    • 5/5
      Definitely one of the better biographies of Washington. Given this is a Pulitzer Prize winning work this should not come as a surprise. Chernow does not disappoint.

      It is cliche - as every Washington biographer of the last half century claims to be doing the same thing - but Chernow does an excellent job "humanizing" Washington. And while the biography is a largely positive one, he does not shy away from exploring some of Washington's negative traits: excessive ambition, churlishness, and a real disconnect between his opinion of slavery, and how he treated them in many instances.

      For me, the mark of a good biography is how it affects one emotionally after it has been read. Does it make you feel like you have experienced the person's life through the text? Or, was it more of an intellectual exercise - interesting but not deeply felt. This book will definitely leave you with the former feeling!

      Highly Recommended...

    • 5/5
      "Washington - A Life" by Ron Chernow is a Pulitzer prize winner. It's very interesting and informative, and long, very long. 817 pages. I felt it was certainly worth the investment in time, but I also felt it easily could have been pared by at least 100 pages. More on that later. Fortunately, Chernow's writing is very relaxed and extremely readable, laced with well placed anecdotes and excellent analysis. Coming into this book, I knew very little about our first President besides some 4th grade history instruction and a number of visits to nearby Mount Vernon.Not much time was spent on GW's early years, and very soon we learn of George's adventures as a very young officer in the militia, teamed with England in the French and Indian War. As revolution began to simmer in the colonies, Washington's role was primarily military, and the events that unfolded during those years dealing with the Declaration and Constitution were mainly left to others. Though Washington attended the initial Congressional sessions and expressed his viewpoints, he was never a confident orator and his lack of education led many of his founding brothers to pay him less attention. So Chernow's focus during those years deals more with the eight years (yes, EIGHT years) that he led his rag tag army against the British; in the background we are given snippets of events in Philadelphia. And maybe rag-tag is too kind a descriptor. This was an army that was not only poorly clothed but ill-fed as well. Often local farmers sold their produce and livestock to the better financed British. Then there was the issue of many American troops returning to their families every December 31 as annual commitments expired. Washington's "army" would shrink to a few thousand. Washington lost a number of battles - he was not surrounded by an experienced military-educated team of officers and staff, but he kept the army together. Eventually the Brits made the Big Mistake at Yorktown, and with the very timely help of the French, the Revolutionary War was over. My major disappointment with this portion of the book was that Chernow elected not to use maps. There were several battles described in some detail which would have been much easier to visualize with a single map.Five years later Washington was our first President. He was unopposed, and his intention was to serve one term, perhaps less if possible. He yearned to retire to Mt. Vernon but did not have that opportunity for another eight years. There were two interesting learnings for me in this section of the book. The first is that Washington as President was now in a position to set precedent since not every detail of governing was clearly defined in the founding documents. Many of those issues dealt with the specific duties o the Executive and Legislative branches. The second was the birth o political parties, each with different viewpoints on the kind of country America was to become. For example, while Washington (and Hamilton) believed in a strong executive role, others felt it would be too easy for the United States to morph into a monarchy-like government too reminiscent of the British royatly from whom we had just separated.. This section of the book made clear that while many of our forefathers may have been "founding brothers" they did not always get along all that well and at various points in our early history, relationships broke off and were never repaired. It is interesting to see so many parallels with governing the US in 2015.In addition to the War years and the first Presidency years, the book covers a lot of other ground central to Washington's life. All of it is very important and I would not want any of the subjects deleted. But I think most could have been abbreviated. These include the ongoing changes at Mount Vernon over the years from crop selection to building additions to draperies, the relationship with George's mother, his dental problems, all of the portraits he sat for, slavery, George's eye for the ladies, and his delightful relationship with Lafayette. The material dealing with slavery alone could have yielded a separate book. As a matter of fact, I think a book dealing with the issue of slavery and American presidents from Washington to Lincoln could be a winner.Nevertheless, five stars all the way. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      It took me a long time to read this huge book, but it was well worth it. It is very well researched both in the story of Washington's life and in the way of life. I felt I got to know the real man who gave most of his life for the country where I live. Many times in the section on him as President, I thought of how there are always political enemies who will do and say anything to bring down the one who is leading. In the end I felt gratitude for the making of the United States and our system of government. I feel that Chernow did justice in telling a great story of a great man.
    • 4/5
      Incredible detail and so much new (to me) information. Take your time with this one.
    • 4/5
      At long last women's polyester pant suits of the early 1970's will no longer be among the images that cause me to think about one of our former Commander-In-Chief. As a first grader, I was amazed at how George Washington looked like my Granny. Indeed he looked like both of my Grannies. (Sadly, my family is infamous in its lack of creativity in naming grandmothers.) The mythology of George Washington, such as never telling a lie, also made the Granny connection an easy one to make. Thanks to Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life, that connection is forever severed. I was surprised by how little I really knew about our first President. The fairy tale legend offered to me as a child obscured the reality of the man. Like many of our presidents, Washington’s failures and struggles early in his career did not point to the greatness that was being forged. The respect and esteem held for Washington by the men under his command, even when defeated, served as the foundation on which he would lead a revolution. As Chernow expressed it, "He was that rare general who was great between battles, and not just during them."One of the other fables swept away by Chernow is the fantasy that President Washington was greeted with the same admiration and respect George earned as General Washington. This was far from the truth, especially during President Washington’s second term. One of his most ardent and vocal critics was none other than Thomas Jefferson. Since Washington was the first president, no one knew what to expect or the political geography of the day.Washington’s sense that virtually everything he did would be a guide for those who followed him was a gift almost beyond measure for our republic. The next thirty men that followed Washington as president limited their service to at most two terms, even though constitutionally they could continue to seek reelection. After FDR’s lengthy service and death, the nation codified Washington’s believe that no president should serve more than two terms. Since the advent of photography, the physical price paid by our presidents has been visible to all. Only forty-four men have experienced the burden of the presidency, creating a fraternal bond understood by them alone. The experience seems to transcend party affiliation or political philosophy. Men who previously had little to no agreement with one another, gain an appreciation of the sacrifice one makes to hold this highest office. After his service as president, Thomas Jefferson said of President Washington, “Never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great.” The reality of the man who led a revolution, and taught an infant nation to walk is far greater that any legend or lore. The debt the United States, indeed the world, owes George Washington can only be measured by an understanding of distance between tyranny and freedom. In Washington: A Life, Chernow offers the perspective that makes true appreciation of President Washington, and all who follow him.
    • 4/5
      From Pulitzer-prize winner Ron Chernow, a landmark biography of George Washington: “In Washington: A Life” celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.Despite the reverence his name inspires, Washington remains a lifeless waxwork for many Americans, worthy but dull……These are not my words, but rather the beginning of the book description at Goodreads. I agree that Chernow’s work has great depth, but Washington remains for me more a man worthy of admiration than a man for whom I can empathize. Intellectually I followed what he could have thought, but I never truly saw what he saw through his eyes. He is not dull, but still he is not someone I really know. I have learned very much about his actions and beliefs and both his successes and failures. A good biographer must present a balanced view, and Chernow clearly presents Washington’s mistakes. I appreciate this and feel I have learned so very much from the book due to the author’s prodigious study of all available source material. I do highly recommend this book. BUT, I still have some complaints, and it is for the points stated below that I have removed one star:The book is thorough – that can be seen as both a compliment and as a criticism, and often this depends upon the reader’s own previous knowledge. The more you know the more interesting other subjects become……I found the chapters related to the military details excessive. I felt that the text was at times repetitive, and that too many examples were cited to prove what perhaps Washington was thinking. I followed the numerous examples cited by the author and sometimes in fact came to a different conclusion! Although Chernow always states positive and negative aspects, he clearly tries to make you, the reader, accept the author’s personal view. Adjectives chosen to describe Washington’s conduct clearly express the author’s subjective point of view. Time after time, we are told that Washington “must have” thought this or that….Well, I would think, maybe! I looked at Washington’s choices throughout his life and frequently arrived at different motivations for his actions. There are many quotes in the book. Chernow often mimics the expressions used by Washington and his contemporaries, and this makes his own text rather verbose and at times even stilted. I would have preferred a more fluid presentation. I quite simply was at times not pleased with how the author expressed himself. At times it was pompous, stiff and too adulatory. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Scott Brick. The narration is clear and has an appropriate tempo for a book where the listener wants to have time to absorb the historical facts. However there is a tone of awe which unnecessarily increases the adulatory words of the author. After reading this book, when I look at Washington what I primarily admire him for is his ability to unite people - his soldiers fighting in the French and Indian War and then the Revolutionary War, the divergent groups in the thirteen colonies each with different focal interests, then when he became president the emerging political parties, the Federalists versus the Republicans, and most importantly the Abolitionists and slave owners. He is aptly seen as one of the Founding Fathers of a nation and a government based on democracy and freedom. While the French Revolution led to a regime of terror, the American Revolution didn’t. Washington, idolized as he was, could have so easily slid into becoming a monarch himself, but he didn’t. He truly believed in democracy and freedom! In my view, this belief in freedom leads directly to the question: how do you create a nation based on freedom if it also allows slavery? Washington’s view on slavery is ambivalent. He says one thing and he does another, over and over again. In that Washington in his will finally emancipated his own slaves, although NOT his dower slaves, the author will have us believe that Washington finally followed his moral inclination, whereas I more crassly feel he emancipated them because they had had become uneconomical, burdensome and cumbersome to manage. He also feared the possibility of slave revolts which had erupted in Haiti. When will we be able to look at Washington freed of our need to see him as a hero and paragon of virtue. I admire what he succeeded to accomplish. I never really got to know who he was inside though. This is not necessarily a criticism of the author. Washington did not reveal his inner thoughts readily to others.Completed May 2, 2013
    • 5/5
      The life of George Washington is not the stoic, myth-laden journey most people have fixed in their minds. As revealed in Ron Chernow’s excellent biography, the stoic man in paintings hid an emotional complex man who went from being a loyal British subject for the first two-thirds of his life to the individual who brought a new nation into being over nearly a quarter century.Chernow beings by putting Washington not only into the context of his times, colonial Virginia, but also into the family dynamic he grew up and developed in. The first son of his father’s second marriage, Washington’s father died young like many of his forbearers leaving a void in his life that he filled with his oldest half-brother Lawrence. It was his brother’s service in the Royal Naval that would direct Washington to desire military success when he was a young man. However, Washington would lose his brother at an early age in a string of emotionally sting but ultimately fortuitous deaths that shaped his life.Beginning with his brother Lawrence, Washington had the good fortune of finding and befriending influential people throughout his life. Learning early on, in trial and error, to be willing to service while not appearing to strive for service, Washington was able to climb into more influential circles than it had been thought possible at his birth. Even as he cherished getting military glory, Washington quickly took advantage of business opportunities throughout his life but especially land speculation and purchases.Chernow faithfully follows the course of Washington’s life, but instead of just going from one high or low point to the next he fills in the details thanks to the massive amount of material he researched through Washington’s papers. Beginning in the French and Indian War, that he essentially started, Washington never truly found the glorious military moment he aspired to but the lessons he learned in his first war would be put to good use in the Revolution as he kept his ever rotating army together through one hardship after another.Throughout all of his public life, Washington was plantation owner of a vast estate and holder of numerous slaves. Throughout his time in the Continental army, the Constitutional Convention, and as President, Washington thought of Mount Vernon and how it was run. At first attempting the try and true Virginia crop of tobacco, Washington switched to other crops and aimed to be a scientific innovative farmer to make his farms profitable but wasn’t able to establish his dream due to his public life. Chernow did not shy away from Washington’s slavery record; instead it was a major recurring theme throughout the book that was returned to numerous times including the lead up to Washington’s final days.In examining Washington’s last quarter century, Chernow showed how Washington’s dissatisfaction with Great Britain being with little things but eventually grew into his becoming a leader in Virginia against British taxes. Chernow took Washington’s time leading the Continental Army to not only show his military decisions, but also his interactions with Congress which would shape his political outlook not only during but after the war for a strong central government. Finally, Chernow proved a look into Washington’s creation of the Presidency in relation to Congress and the Judiciary, to foreign and domestic affairs based on his experiences throughout the war and afterwards.After finishing the book, the reader sees how Washington was uniquely qualified for the times he lived in and also a normal human being. Chernow gives the reader not a waxwork life, but a moving one that shows it was only Washington who could have done what was needed during the last quarter of the 18th century. If you want to find out who George Washington was beyond that he “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen” then this is the book you need to read.