Fair, balanced, and fantastically enlightening, Ellis paints an insightful portrait of America’s greatest patriarch. Washington is an immense challenge for any biographer. His great stoicism, and mysterious personality that reveals itself so rarely – even more rarely because Martha burned all of their personal correspondence after his death – allow only the most skilled historians to gain insights into the man behind the icon. Fortunately, Ellis can credibly count himself among those most skilled, and delivers a very honest portrait of Washington. He does not shy away from the morally controversial issues of Washington’s life (particularly slavery and usurpation of Native American land). Instead he presents an account that both fully and justly explains Washington’s political and personal failures – as well as his successes – in confronting these topics so critical to his posterity. At times, Ellis’ language is a bit confusing and could be simplified for greater accessibility, but little more can be said to criticize this inspirational masterpiece.

I only read about the first 20% of this.
I started this book thinking it would be a good shortish overview of the life of George Washington. but, the history is distorted. viewed through a modern revisionist lens. Ellis puts a negative spin on everything, leaves out important information, and makes strange misinformed statements, that make me wonder just how much research he really did.

I'm quitting this one and switching to another, probably The Real George Washington

I've read several biographies of George Washington, and I didn't like this one. I could tell Ellis was not a fan of this great man. He also didn't answer the question he posed in his preface, which was the reason I read this book. I kept waiting for him to answer the question he stated in his preface. This question was supposedly the reason he set out to write the book. He never did.

Interesting perspective but this was as much opinion as history. I thought the author too often tried to pass off his own opinions as Washington's which detracted from an otherwise solid overview of an amazing man's life.

An account of the legendary life and death of our nation’s first president will leave you feeling inspired, patriotic and questioning why this 6’3, rich and famous, founding daddy didn’t have a kid in every colony or with his wife. No spice

This was the first of two books I'm currently reading about George Washington. As part of my 2-year quest to read the top two biographies of each of our 43 U.S. Presidents, I began with this and Ron Chernow's behemoth "Washington: A Life," a far more comprehensive treatment.

Initially I preferred Chernow's book, but as I started to compare the two for interpretation, Ellis's gorgeous narrative writing quickly won me over. While no where near the depth of Chernow's tome, Ellis covers all the main themes of Washington's life from youth, to bumbling but ambitious officer in the French and Indians wars, to much-maligned, beleaguered Revolutionary war hero, to his service as President -- and truly father of his new nation -- for the first two terms of the new federal government (whose survival was by no means guaranteed).

It's impossible to not be in awe of Washington, who, unlike many great men throughout history, failed to control ambition and its interaction with the achievement of great power. He truly was a man of disciplined self-control who understood throughout his life that his place in history would be solely judged by how he responded to guiding the post-British new nation. It is quite obvious that had Washington chosen to serve as an enlightened King (of which many understood there was no such thing), he could have with widespread support. The new nation had no tradition of democracy and would have gladly welcomed their war hero -- our first true national celebrity -- as a welcomed benign sovereign chastened by a revolutionary re-definition of the relationship of power between ruler and ruled.

Yet Washington understood the historic moment and his place in it and seized it for the better, much to our nation's historic benefit. He also understood the blot of human bondage and was determined to free his slaves upon his death, much to the chagrin of his family and fellow Virginia planters. (In fact, even the liberty obsessed Jefferson failed to match Washington's intellectual acknowledgement of the fundamental contradiction of slavery and democracy.)

A highly pleasurable read and the perfect introduction to the life and times of George Washington. Highly recommend it.

I was fairly disappointed with this book. George Washington is the figure in American history who I admire the most, and I have no problem with criticism, however in this case the author's criticism was an irritant and distraction, and which only made me dislike the author, not the subject. His writing style was also inappropriate for a historical biography, reading more like a magazine article or newspaper editorial. However, he did a good job of researching and presenting the facts, only he then failed in doing a good job of presenting his analysis and criticism.
In my opinion, the author seems to be jealous of Washington's abilities and accomplishments. He also has an obvious lack of military experience, but tries to come off as an expert, instead sounding more like a bitter academic. He seemed to want to focus more on the sensational tidbits, than on the actual meaningful events.
My impression of the author is that he is inherently deceitful, ambitious and godless cannot understand how someone can be ambitious but still serve others, and looks for examples to justify his own insecurities. He seems to fail to realize that hindsight is 20/20 and he makes moral judgements from a modern perspective, instead of truly considering the situation at the time.
Regardless, it is still a good book to understand the situation surrounding Washington's life and service, as well as a well researched compilation of his many activities and accomplishments. I would only recommend this book to someone who previous had a sound basis of knowledge regarding early American history, as well as the maturity and ability to see past the author's presentation.

I say this was a sludge to get through. And I am a major biography reader. The authors tone speaks louder than the historical portrait he paints, which obstructs your view and spoils the experience of learning about this man and his times. Truly this book is a disservice for the biography space. Instead of being immersed into the time and riding along one of the most inspiring and courageous American journeys, we are lambasted throughout the entire book by the authors disdain and utterly unwarranted opinion of Washington. I was nothing but mad and frustrated.

I’m beginning a quest to read at least one book about each of the US presidents in chronological order of their time in office. So, of course my first step begins with George Washington. “His Excellency: George Washington" by Joseph J. Ellis provides, what I took to be, an honest portrayal of the first President of the United States.

The book is structured chronologically, covering Washington’s early years, his role in the Revolutionary War, his tenure as the first President, and his life after leaving office. The author humanizes Washington, showing as much of his personality, while recognizing that the world tends to view him not so much as a man, but as a marble statue to be remembered with reverence.

Ellis presents Washington as a complex figure. He was a progressive leader who fought against tyranny, yet later sought to unify the nation by using a centralized form of government many railed against.

The author successfully contextualizes Washington’s decisions and actions within the broader landscape of 18th-century America. He illustrates how Washington’s leadership was shaped by his experiences during the French and Indian War, and his observations of British military tactics. Ellis also explores Washington’s relationships with other Founding Fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, revealing the political maneuvering and ideological conflicts of the era.

Overall, this is an extremely thoughtful and well-researched biography that provides a balanced portrait of George Washington. He was a leader whose greatness lay in his humility and sense of duty, and his actions helped form the foundations of America.

Having just completed The Real George Washington, I thought it would be interesting to continue my study of the Founding Fathers with another book about Washington.

I have to admit I didn't get very far. I read the first few chapters and then scanned the rest of the book. The book is lacking in a number of ways.

First Ellis thinks that because he says it, it must be so. His references to primary materials is spotty at best. He is high on opinion, with little to back it up. For example, Ellis claims little is known about Washington's earlier years. The Real George Washington finds plenty of material from which to build a portrait of Washington as a young man.

My major complaint about this book is that Ellis views Washington and his actions through a prism of current social justice philosophy. History needs to be viewed in the context of the period and culture of that time and place. Certainly, opinion can be stated, but it should be done in a way that places it outside the actual events and is clearly defined as such.

If you have time to read but one Washington biography, try The Real George Washington. Although the book may appear intimidatingly large, about half of it is notes, references, and original Washington writings.

The statement "He is in our wallets but not in our hearts." could not be more true. Dispelling the myths and meeting the man brought me much closer to our first President. Washington feels distant, untouchable and difficult to know. When compared to Jefferson and most notably Franklin, Washington feels like the odd man out in the founding fathers club.

This book gave me a well rounded glimpse of his failings and achievements while at the same time showing the true weight he carried on his journey to being an icon in American History.

Alas. Ellis wrote a fine (Pulitzer-winning) biography of Thomas Jefferson, who fell out with Washington during the latter's presidency: perhaps Ellis has inherited a bias against Washington from his earlier Jeffersonian scholarship? Who knows.

After a few chapters left an odd taste I began skimming the book, heading to those situations where some anti-Washington writers have tended in the past to excoriate Washington simply because they could, finding that Ellis, while less blatantly scornful, doesn't shy from slyly casting Washington in a dubious light at every opportunity.

Ellis scatters historically inexcusable and unexplained negatives (e.g., 'scheming,' 'awkward', and the like) in his text, and early on he proposes an utter fiction, as though it is a legitimate historical theory:

n  "It is quite possible the he [Washington] copied out the [Rules of Civility] as a mere exercise in penmanship."n

No one the least bit familiar with Washington could honestly embrace such a fiction: Washington carried his personal palimpsest of these Rules with him until his death, and the results of his assiduous practice of them was often noted by contemporaries during his life. In brief, Ellis takes a well-known feature of the Washington persona and implies that its root was irrelevant. This is not scholarship.

In lieu of this somewhat presentist and slyly sniping volume, otherwise generally well-researched as far as those actual facts chosen for presentation are concerned, I'd recommend instead any of Richard Brookhiser's works specific to George Washington.

Disappointed!