A very interesting bio of Washington, showing his political views, his moral and practical concerns about slavery, his role in the founding and sustaining of the new country, and his concerns with his long-term reputation. This is the first book in my new presidential bio challenge.

Don't ever read this book. Horrible history. Ellis is a modern secular liberal who does all he can to force Washington into that mold.

This book is absolutely STEEPED in bias. The author paints Washington as a self important dufus who owes all of his success to chance and deception. The amount of speculative and subjective statements is astounding for a piece of historical nonfiction. Pass.

I love how much this author brings history to life, showing the founders as people, flawed and all. Why did everyone agree that Washington was the only symbol of America, despite differing ideals? And that’s exactly what Ellis answers, as well as he can.

I will say because of its brevity, much was glossed over, especially with the minutiae of the machinations of daily presidential life and his cabinet. On Native American affairs. Etc. But, it’s still great.

This book is so fascinating on who the legend of Washington really was. A great man, flaws and all.

I just returned from a visit to Washington, D.C. and Mount Vernon, so I'm in a patriotic mood. This is a very readable, enjoyable biography that attempts to explain Washington's character and motivations and to describe the influences which shaped his decisions.

The book is fairly short and is written at a bird's-eye view, mostly lacking in the kind of human detail that I usually enjoy in a biography. It left me hungry for more details: I wanted to know more about his personal experience during that winter at Valley Forge; I wanted to know more about his relationship with Martha, and perhaps it's petty, but I wanted to know more about his teeth.

In the museum at Mount Vernon there is an entire alcove devoted to Washington's lifelong dental troubles, yet this book contains perhaps two sparse sentences concerning this issue which must have had a tremendous impact on his quality of life.

The best Biography out there - a comprehensive retelling of his life that leaves you inspired and in awe, understanding of both the humanity and godliness of this figure that shaped the history of this country.

I've been into the Revolutionary War Era lately. I found this book to be a good overall biography of George Washington without being too intense. It read more like a novel than a textbook. The author did a good job of drawing you in. He tried to analyze what Washington's character was like and what drove him, which I found as an interesting angle. I also learned about how his ideas on slavery changed over the course of his life. While George Washington has always seemed larger than life, this book made me able to grasp a little more who he was as a man.

When the world shut down from the Crowdstrike update, I found myself on an impromptu roadtrip from New York to DC. Arriving late into the night, I was exhausted and ready for bed, but being so close to the National Mall, I had to stop by on my way to sleep. From the hill I was standing on, the White House was in full view but that's not where my attention was drawn. Lit like recently fallen snow, the Washington Monument towered over me and engulfed the sky. The White House - and the nation it represents - seemed small when compared with the monument - and the man it represents.

However, what I appreciated most about Joseph J. Ellis' biography of George Washington was that he put forward a man, not a monument. Refusing to color Washington as simply a hero, or the caricature of a villain, Ellis succeed with a careful portrait of a man that few today would actually recognize because it's more man than myth.

The myth of a young Washington and the cherry tree - unlike the figure it proposes to represent - can in fact 'tell a lie.' The very stature of the man - like a modern day Saul - convinced onlookers of a certain military prowess in a way that was closer to myth than reality. According to Ellis' telling, Washington lost more military battles in his carrer than any winning general in modern history. Washington was prone to make bull-headed tactical mistakes, like when he marched his troops on Quebec in the dead of winter, the historical result of which Lin Manuel-Miranda got right "we have resorted to eating our horses." Some of the consequenes - like a ravaging smallpox epidemic - Washington couldn't have prevented, but as Ellis pointed out, this was an 'honor driven world of fragile egos.' And Washington was not immune.

However, there is a reason why we still know the name of Washington. For all of his faults - and he has more than the marble of Mount Rushmore - he still managed to manage the Contenential Army to "somehow defeat a global superpower" (sorry, more Lin-Manuel). As Ellis argued, 'the war of independence was like a marathon and Washington's power was endurance.' In a brutally honest remark, Ellis claimed that Washington's mind was 'uncluttered by sophisticated intellectual preconceptions.' In other words, Washington wasn't a genius. But, he was still brilliant, and his brilliance laid in his judge of genius in others who he willingly and willfully employed in his confidence.

It seems to me that at risk of oversimplification, the primary cause of our remembrance of President Washington was in his entrance and exit. The decorum afforded, the appointments conferred, and the unity won are certainly to be celebrated, but in the face of the burgeoning two-party system and vitriolic attacks from political enemies, Washington's peaceful transition of power shows that he truly was an "aficionado of exits."

Though the Washington monument looms larger in our imaginations than the man perhaps deserved, still the role that the General played in Independence and the way that he presided over the uncharted map of a new nation surely warrants a special trip to stand in awe of the monument than represents a man who was still just a man.

I'm glad I read this book, but I'm glad I'm finished it too. I'm not sure if I'll read any others by this author. He interjects too much of his own opinions and spent lots of time denigrating his subject! Although I learned a lot, it was pretty dry and did not include enough flesh on the bones of history for me. No comparison to Walter Isaacson's conversational style, which I read just prior to this. Had I not, I may have enjoyed this one a whole lot more.

Now on to John Adams! May the force be with me!

This is the first in a deliberate attempt to read every president’s bio—at least the ones I haven’t read already. I am actually surprised that I have not read a full length adult biography of George Washington until now. I learned quite a bit and recommend this one. I was shocked at the lack of military prowess, particularly in the early days (Fort Necessity). This is a good snapshot of a complex man.

Joseph Ellis doesn't cover everything here, but he covers the important parts of Washington's life in a very teachable way and with gorgeous prose. This is a masterful and beautifully written biography of America's greatest hero. George Washington is certainly not the best man this country has produced, but he is no doubt the greatest. Read it for a balanced, academic treatment of this amazing life. I loved reading this book and was sorry when I was finished.

3.75! Twas gooooood, I just know for a fact that I’m gonna enjoy Ron Chernows book better. But for a first time read on Washington, it was very well written, very poetically written, and kept me intrigued! Would definitely recommend it though! I wish stupid Goodreads would let me do .xx stars