Gordon S. Wood’s book on the founders of the United States presents a series of biographical sketches compiled from a selection of his published works. He uses both previously written articles as well as books he has written and condensed them for this compilation. The chapters examine the expected “Characters” like Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison and Adams. Wood also discusses the relevance of men like Thomas Paine and Aaron Burr in their relation to the founders in the last two chapters respectively. Wood attempts to counter the prevailing view of historians who in the nation’s first century attempted to deify the founders. At the same time he opposes the efforts of historians in the last century who have tried to debunk and dehumanize these great men. More specifically Wood points to a tendency in the last forty years by some scholars to impose current social and political objectives on the founders. These men were not infallible demigods, nor were they insignificant failures. Each chapter is written to aid the reader in observing the founders as their contemporaries would have observed them. Wood reveals their characters by their actions and by the responses of their fellow political leaders, foreign dignitaries and their families. Wood’s stated purpose for compiling the book is not to glorify the founders, but to better understand them. To identify the traits that made them especially equipped for the events they found themselves is his aim. Wood succeeds in his attempt by creating a fascinating tapestry of these Characters’ characters.
tWood’s, Revolutionary Characters, is a series of biographies of the founders of the United States. As a professor of history at Brown University, Wood has written extensively on the events surrounding the birth of the United States. He distills many of his previous works into this single, topical volume. In the first chapter, “The Greatness of George Washington”, Wood paints a very human picture of the first president despite the chapter’s title. Washington’s tenure as a leader in the military is discussed. The author then directs the readers attention to George Washington’s greatest contributions to the fledgling nation. Washington’s willingness to hand over his sword to Congress following the end of the conflict with Britain made him unlike so many other leaders of great military conquests. Wood argues that this was his most noteworthy action and example of his character. Many expected Washington to parlay his military accomplishment into political gain. Wood details the inner turmoil that Washington experienced when he was again called upon to join and to lend credibility to the Congress’ Constitutional Convention, over which he eventually presided. Washington is presented as one who was selfless. He was only persuaded to return to public life when it became clear that without him, the young republic might fall. This example of a gentleman whose most noble attribute was that of his “disinterestedness” serves as a benchmark against which all other biographies in the book are measured.
tWith Washington established as the cornerstone on which the country was to be built and held together, Wood moves through the other characters’ lives with equal detail. Wood discusses how each man related to Washington and how each man compared to him as well. The following chapters are, at the same time, self contained biographies. The author explains misconceptions about many of the men who are very distant from us today. These mens’ actions and thoughts are clarified and explained in the context of the time in which they occurred. Again, the tone of the work is one of understanding the founders as their contemporaries would have. Wood humanizes each man and shows their strengths and weaknesses. Wood follows the intellectual shift that began in Washington toward the end of his life regarding his slaves and slavery as a “peculiar institution”. Without imposing today’s realizations about slavery on Washington, Wood manages to provide a fair and understanding view of this issue in the context of early America.
tThe remaining quarter of the Wood’s work consists of an epilogue, extensive notes and an index. The epilogue of the book is a capstone essay titled “The Founders and the Creation of Modern Public Opinion”. In this essay, Wood explains the transformation of the ruling class from a quasi-aristocracy to one in which many more common men began to participate. Modernization that spread through the country spawned by technology and increased newspaper circulation and readership contributed to the nation’s increasing democratization. Communication between the governors and the governed became, for the first time, bi-directional. Public opinion was beginning to take a more prominent role in the affairs of government. Wood points to this time, beginning with Adams’ presidency, as when public opinion began to affect substantial change. Wood concludes that the founders were surprised by this democratization that he attributes primarily to their own actions.
tGordon S. Wood delivers a fascinating look at the character of these men whom we thought we knew. The book avoids excessive analysis of the events surrounding these men. Wood stays on the topic of each man’s character throughout the book. Each chapter is written from the perspective of each individual founder and their reaction to events guided by their character. Wood is most eloquent when he pauses to explain to the reader the nuances of eighteenth-century Anglo-American society and customs to clarify the otherwise unfamiliar behavior or thoughts of these men. While each biography is self contained in each chapter, the relationship of these men to each other is clearly defined. Taken individually, the chapters in the book are interesting and illuminating. However, due to Wood’s use of his previously published material for each biography, there are occasions that a founder is attributed the same quote in more than one chapter and not always in the same context. While some chapters are distillations of academic papers Wood has written and others are distillations of entire books, the depth of detail is not consistent throughout. Wood acknowledges the origins of each chapter in his notes and he is forthright with this information in the preface of the book.
tWood’s Revolutionary Characters, What Made the Founders Different, is worth considering for anyone interested in the founders. It should especially be read by those who are discouraged by the many attempts to debunk the founders and their accomplishments. Those wishing to familiarize themselves with the humanity of the founders will also gain from reading this book.

The author spends a chapter on each of five of the founding fathers. His perspective on each is blended with cited history and his own opinion. Although I didn't agree with all of Wood's opinions I still found his perspective interesting.

An excellent book that looks at the characters of the American Revolution & what made them different. The book assumes a working knowledge of the time period since it focuses on eight men & what their motivations were. Extensively documented, other readings are suggested as needed. His basic premise is that these men were revolutionaries that fought themselves out of a job. If he has a political axe to grind, he kept it out of his writing as far as I could tell, which I appreciated, especially after reading Zinn's, "History of the US".

Well written & quite readable, Wood makes a character sketch of:
George Washington
Ben Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Aaron Burr
John Adams
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Paine

Through personal letters & other accounts, his interpretation of their motivations comes through clearly from the heroic moral fortitude of Washington to Burr's real treason, using his office for personal gain. I didn't always agree with his ideas, though. His portrait of Jefferson & Adams as men bewildered by what they wrought doesn't ring quite true to me. In any case, he makes his point well & interestingly enough to warrant reading it. I think it is a must for any one seriously interested in the founding of our country.

Interesting essays on some expected figures and some unexpected figures (Thomas Paine and Aaron Burr).
The introduction and the conclusion might have been the most interesting parts as they gave context for the figures covered and made it clear why their times made them unusual.

Most interesting tidbit: Washington (through his advisor Hamilton) meant the "no foreign entanglements" admonition of the Farewell Address to last about 50 years so as to assure the US time to build itself up to a state of standing military power capable of fighting and beating any European power. This is a far cry from the way isolationists present it.

Admittedly, I only listened to this book with one ear. Not being a political scientist, I skimmed through some of it. What I liked however, was that the author posed the question of what made these men great. In their cases it came down to their characters. It reinforced the idea that we all come to Earth at the time and in the place where God wants and needs us. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, etc., were men born for the roles they played in the founding of our country.

Gordon S. Wood is Professor of History at Brown University. He received the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for n  The Radicalism of the American Revolutionn and the 1970 Bancroft Prize for n  The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787n.

n  Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Differentn is a series of essays covering each of eight different founding fathers: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Adams, Thomas Paine, and Aaron Burr. Rather than discuss what the founders accomplished, the essays (about 20 to 30 pages apiece) examine the character, philosophy, and virtues of each of these men. The essays are sandwiched between an introduction and an epilogue which bind the essays together.

Some of the main themes conveyed in the essays include: Washington, the only truly classical hero we have ever had, had a lifelong preoccupation with his reputation for "disinterestedness". Franklin was the most American of the founders and yet he was also the most European. Jefferson, firmly believing in the inherent beneficence of men, celebrated society's superiority over government. Hamilton, the big-business man and big-government man, fought to tie the two together, and in doing so became the man who made modern America. There is no "James Madison Problem" after all - it was the over-reach of Federalism that was changing during the early 1790's, and not the views of Madison. Adams, who had led the charge in the fight for independence, was convinced that he would never receive due recognition and continually sought to bolster his legacy. Paine was the first "public intellectual" whose prose aroused not only the politically-connected and enlightened (as most writing of the era targeted only them), but the common folk as well. Lastly, and in stark contrast, Burr's use of his office to promote his own self interest was not so much an act of treason against his country, but against his class.

Professor Wood reminds us that these men were not born into wealth, aristocracy, and gentility; they were all self-made men - the first in their families to attend college and certainly the first to become "gentlemen". He posits that their success essentially secured their own extinction in that they created (unwittingly) an egalitarian system of rule in which subsequent leaders did not necessarily need to possess an enlightened, disinterested (i.e., having no personal or financial stake), virtuous, or even gentlemenly character.

After reading several books about the Revolutionary period, I doubted whether this book would be able to offer anything new, especially considering its size when compaired to Gordon Wood's other massive tomes on the subject. However I was thoroughly surprised when I discovered that the author lived up to his name and delivered a fascinating new take on the founders. While the stories he tells about them were familar, his interpretations of events, their causes and results, and their effects on modern-day thinking were very refreshing and entirely new. I highly recommend this book. It is by no means intimidating; its short length and succinct chapters make it easy to approach. It will give both rookie and veteran scholars of the revolutionary period much to think and praise about.

The best chapters were written about Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, and Aaron Burr- all revolutionary "characters" in their own right...along with Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton,and Washington. This book is not just a series of short biographies. The basis of this book is to explain why such men as these, from the late 18th century, have never existed again in American history. That is not to say that these men were "gods." What they began as revolutionaries developed into future eras in which men such as themselves, were not necessary in American politics and history. What I found so interesting was his writing about how the country that developed was not what they had intended. Interesting.

That old rascal Aaron Burr warned us about historians, who always distrusted the prejudices of historians who shade their studies in a particular direction. Professor Wood, while as brilliant a researcher as ever opened a diary or letter, is so in love with the egalitarian and "republican" attitudes of the likes of Jefferson and even Paine's philosophy, that this effort annoyed my 18th Century attitudes and Tory nature to its roots. Ah, for such skills, and a truly objective and "disinterested" approach, Wood would be a world class practitioner, not just a solid, if horribly nationalistic, one...

A series of essays essentially outlining just how different from us the founding fathers were as seen by the cultural standards of their day. Enlightening, and sometimes quite engaging. Overall, a good introduction to the founding fathers to get a sense of them, their times, and the attitudes behind the founding of America.

My favorite essay was on George Washington - he strongly argues that Washington was - without exception - the greatest president we have ever had, an opinion I eagerly share with him.

On occasion, Wood's current political opinions filter into his argumentation (he's very disapproving of big government), but I suppose that is hard to avoid when comparing our modern-day political standards with those of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. However, I do think it biases him unfairly against Alexander Hamilton, and favorably towards Thomas Jefferson in ways I don't think are fully merited or supported by the text.

But then again I have always been, and always will be, very biased in favor of Alexander Hamilton, so take that as you will.

Not the best book I have read on the Revolutionary War and America's founders, but a good, brief introduction.

The subtitle about what made the Founding Fathers "different" is a pun. By taking each of them separately, Wood brings out the differences and disputes between them, unsettling any sense that the Founding was a moment of idealistic consensus. Instead of the Constitution being treated as gospel and the Founding being seen as a period of definite ideals to hark back to, his essays show how the aims and organization of the new nation were always and already subjects for disagreement and division. There were Washington, obsessed with his reputation for virtue, and Burr, the value-free conspirator; Jefferson, the utopian for the free enterprise of the sociable individual, and Hamilton, the progenitor of the fiscal-military state; Madison, the putative Father of the Constitution, who favored a federal veto of state laws eligible "in all cases whatsoever", and whose Virginia Plan was unrecognizably altered into a federal model with a Senate posted to defend the interests of each State, starting out alongside Hamilton but then siding against him with Jefferson; John Adams, the pessimistic conservative, who believed in the inevitability of inequality and elitism, and in the necessity of stringent government power to control the passions of the populace, who despaired of America's corruption from the start and could not abide the notion of popular sovereignty, and Paine or Patrick Henry, plain-speaking tribunes of the common man. Not even at its outset was there a harmonious idealism from which today's Americans can draw any simple lesson.

Presented as a collection of essays with one devoted to each of the main figures involved in the American Revolution. Good for a brief analysis of each that presents more than your basic knowledge of them.