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His Excellency: George Washington
To this landmark biography of our first president, Joseph J. Ellis brings the exacting scholarship, shrewd analysis, and lyric prose that have made him one of the premier historians of the Revolutionary era. Training his lens on a figure who sometimes seems as remote as his effigy on Mount Rushmore, Ellis assesses George Washington as a military and political leader and a man whose “statue-like solidity” concealed volcanic energies and emotions.
Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculous survival in combat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is the free-spending landowner whose debts to English merchants instilled him with a prickly resentment of imperial power. We see the general who lost more battles than he won and the reluctant president 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 subject but also of the nation he brought into being.
Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculous survival in combat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is the free-spending landowner whose debts to English merchants instilled him with a prickly resentment of imperial power. We see the general who lost more battles than he won and the reluctant president 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 subject but also of the nation he brought into being.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Joseph J. Ellis
36 books1,205 followersJoseph John-Michael Ellis III is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His book American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson won a National Book Award in 1997 and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for History. Both of these books were bestsellers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,429 reviews
October 9, 2012
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.
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.
November 20, 2019
After thoroughly enjoying Dallek's 2017 biography about FDR, I wanted to go back and read about the other two of the Big Three, Washington and Lincoln. Reading here and there on the web, I understood that Joseph Ellis' His Excellency: George Washington - following his excellent Pulitzer-winning Founding Brothers - was considered among the best in class. (I plan to read Chernow's biography of Washington soon as well).
In His Excellency, Ellis paints the great general and first president as an imposing physical presence whose enduring legacy reaches Demi-god status but who nonetheless had a checkered record. He participated in an early massacre of Indians during the French & Indian War in the 1750s, was a southern plantation owner (and therefore owned slaves), and actually lost more battles in the Revolutionary War than he won. However, he had a level of persistence and conviction that was nearly superhuman which helped him rise above internecine politics and keep the larger picture in mind - the founding of a new nation independent from English colonialism. The book does a great job of bringing out the known facts about GW and explaining how the man became the legend. I guess the thing I appreciated the most was how easy it would have been for Washington to pull a Napolean-like move and become an emperor following his victory at Yorktown. It would have been that easy and he would hardly have been blamed. His nemesis during the war, King George III actually said that he would be the "greatest of men" if he stepped away after the victory at Yorktown and this is precisely what he did. The book, of course, continues to draw the picture of the rest of his life: his semi-retirement, his being coaxed into being President, his being coaxed into a second term, his decision (once again, in the "greatest of men" mode) to step down after the second term, and the end of his life. He was a truly remarkable person despite having left little correspondence for history to judge him (his wife Martha burned all of their letters to each other immediately after his death, unfortunately.)
In short, His Excellency is highly readable and a great way to discover this icon of American history in all his incredible humanity. For more on the crossing of the Delaware River and the Trenton and Princeton battles which were turning points in the War of Independence, see Fischer's excellent Washington's Crossing.
In His Excellency, Ellis paints the great general and first president as an imposing physical presence whose enduring legacy reaches Demi-god status but who nonetheless had a checkered record. He participated in an early massacre of Indians during the French & Indian War in the 1750s, was a southern plantation owner (and therefore owned slaves), and actually lost more battles in the Revolutionary War than he won. However, he had a level of persistence and conviction that was nearly superhuman which helped him rise above internecine politics and keep the larger picture in mind - the founding of a new nation independent from English colonialism. The book does a great job of bringing out the known facts about GW and explaining how the man became the legend. I guess the thing I appreciated the most was how easy it would have been for Washington to pull a Napolean-like move and become an emperor following his victory at Yorktown. It would have been that easy and he would hardly have been blamed. His nemesis during the war, King George III actually said that he would be the "greatest of men" if he stepped away after the victory at Yorktown and this is precisely what he did. The book, of course, continues to draw the picture of the rest of his life: his semi-retirement, his being coaxed into being President, his being coaxed into a second term, his decision (once again, in the "greatest of men" mode) to step down after the second term, and the end of his life. He was a truly remarkable person despite having left little correspondence for history to judge him (his wife Martha burned all of their letters to each other immediately after his death, unfortunately.)
In short, His Excellency is highly readable and a great way to discover this icon of American history in all his incredible humanity. For more on the crossing of the Delaware River and the Trenton and Princeton battles which were turning points in the War of Independence, see Fischer's excellent Washington's Crossing.
July 5, 2023
His Excellency George Washington frees Washington from the frozen icon/monument status that has gathered around his name. Instead, it presents him to the reader as an approachable, flesh and blood portrait. Ellis steers cleanly between Charybdis and Scylla, avoiding the twin errors of portraying his subject as a saint, or its opposite, which he describes in his prefaces as:
”the deadest, whitest male in American history."
He accomplishes this in a modest 275 pages, making this book an ideal introduction for those beginning to study the life of Washington.
The central thesis of this work is that Washington's career was driven by an enlightened self-interest, tempered by a hard-earned practical wisdom. Always sticking closely to the available evidence, Ellis shows us a young Washington full of ambition for wealth and social status that he learned to control and temper, but never eliminate. Ellis writes that:
”ambition this gargantuan were only glorious if harnessed to a cause larger than oneself, which they most assuredly were after 1775."
He shows us Washington as a self-educated man, not from books like his illustrious contemporary Ben Franklin, but from practical, visceral experiences of a youth spent fighting the French and Indians in the back country of Pennsylvania. He views Washington's defeat at the Great Meadows and his survival of the carnage of Braddock's massacre as critical events that freed him of illusions, and left him a man who viewed the world through practical realities rather than shimmering ideals. This practical education, working on his natural ambition, created the control mechanisms that allowed Washington to serve his nation long and well.
Ellis writes mainly of the public Washington. He begins the book not with Washington's birth, but at the point in his youth when he first appeared on the world stage. While the short length of the book limits the depth of its inquiry, it does manage to touch on most every important aspect of Washington's public life, including his positions on dealings with the American Indians, and his evolving ideas about the injustice of slavery. Many other books exist that can provide greater in depth, comprehensive accounts of Washington. This book serves as an outstanding, balanced introduction to the man called the father of our country, and is an excellent place to begin.
”the deadest, whitest male in American history."
He accomplishes this in a modest 275 pages, making this book an ideal introduction for those beginning to study the life of Washington.
The central thesis of this work is that Washington's career was driven by an enlightened self-interest, tempered by a hard-earned practical wisdom. Always sticking closely to the available evidence, Ellis shows us a young Washington full of ambition for wealth and social status that he learned to control and temper, but never eliminate. Ellis writes that:
”ambition this gargantuan were only glorious if harnessed to a cause larger than oneself, which they most assuredly were after 1775."
He shows us Washington as a self-educated man, not from books like his illustrious contemporary Ben Franklin, but from practical, visceral experiences of a youth spent fighting the French and Indians in the back country of Pennsylvania. He views Washington's defeat at the Great Meadows and his survival of the carnage of Braddock's massacre as critical events that freed him of illusions, and left him a man who viewed the world through practical realities rather than shimmering ideals. This practical education, working on his natural ambition, created the control mechanisms that allowed Washington to serve his nation long and well.
Ellis writes mainly of the public Washington. He begins the book not with Washington's birth, but at the point in his youth when he first appeared on the world stage. While the short length of the book limits the depth of its inquiry, it does manage to touch on most every important aspect of Washington's public life, including his positions on dealings with the American Indians, and his evolving ideas about the injustice of slavery. Many other books exist that can provide greater in depth, comprehensive accounts of Washington. This book serves as an outstanding, balanced introduction to the man called the father of our country, and is an excellent place to begin.
February 23, 2022
His excellence in all things is so much a matter of record that, in the American imagination, he has lost much of his humanity. George Washington was the general who led the Continental Army to a seemingly impossible victory over British forces, at a time when Great Britain was the world’s lone superpower. Years later, he presided over the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787, and oversaw the drafting of the Constitution that made the United States of America a more perfect union. By universal consensus, he became the first President of the United States; and during his two terms in office, he guided the young nation with wisdom and restraint, and set many of the precedents that we take for granted today as hallmarks of American democracy.
Did he make it all look too easy? Is that why so many of us see him as a stiff, unsmiling figure – a re-animated Gilbert Stuart portrait, strutting robotically across the American stage?
In His Excellency: George Washington, Joseph Ellis restores George Washington’s humanity. In contrast with the hagiographic, cherry-tree nonsense foisted upon the American and international public by so many prior biographers, Ellis works to provide “a more potent, less iconic, portrait” (p. 275). Knowing that the man who did all these extraordinary things was not the Zeus-like figure on the 25-cent piece or the one-dollar bill, but was rather a tall Virginian who constantly fought to control his temper and often doubted his fitness for the positions of importance constantly entrusted to him, makes George Washington’s heroism more human and more real.
Biographer Ellis, of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, seeks constantly to give the reader the inner Washington, the man behind that gravely courteous, aristocratic façade. When, for example, Ellis considers young Washington’s often-expressed feelings of distrust toward Robert Cary, the London mercantilist who received the tobacco from Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation and shipped consumer goods to Mount Vernon in return, Ellis sees Washington’s negative feelings toward Cary as “a stark statement of Washington’s dependence on invisible men in faraway places for virtually his entire way of life. If the core economic problem was tobacco, the core psychological problem was control, the highest emotional priority for Washington, which, once threatened, set off internal alarms that never stopped ringing” (p. 51).
As a military officer, Washington was far from perfect; any visitor to Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania will see at once that Washington placed that French & Indian War fort “in a hopelessly vulnerable position” (p. 17). During the American Revolution, however, Washington showed a strong ability to learn from his mistakes, as Ellis discusses perceptively what Washington realized during a winter encampment at Morristown, New Jersey, in 1777. As Ellis tells it, Washington disliked the “Fabian tactics” of preserving one’s army by avoiding pitched battles because he considered it a tactic of the weak: “Washington did not believe that he was weak, and he thought of the Continental army as a projection of himself. He regarded battle as a summons to display one’s strength and courage; avoiding battle was akin to dishonorable behavior, like refusing to move forward in the face of musket and cannon fire” (p. 101).
Yet Washington was able to change his thinking, and his tactics, in order to achieve the broader strategic goal of wearing down British willingness to continue the war in North America. Many American generals from the 240-plus years since Lord Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, might have benefited from emulating Washington’s example of being able to think anew and act anew.
Ellis’s Washington impresses by his authentic humility; when he surrendered command of the Continental Army and returned to his home at Mount Vernon, Ellis argues, “Washington himself experienced these years as an epilogue rather than an interlude….His public career, he firmly believed, was over, his life nearly so” (p. 150). When what we now know to have been an interlude ended, and Washington answered his country’s call to become the first American President, he wielded power with comparable restraint, choosing, in the realm of domestic policy, “to delegate nearly complete control to his ‘co-adjutors’” because of “his recognition that executive power still lived under a monarchical cloud of suspicion and could only be exercised selectively. Much like his Fabian role during the war, choosing when to avoid conflict struck him as the essence of effective leadership” (p. 200). Good judgment on Washington’s part, especially considering that the “co-adjutors” mentioned by Ellis included James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Henry Knox, John Jay, and Edmund Randolph. What president wouldn’t want a Cabinet like that?
And Washington’s example of dignity and restraint served the country well one last time, when war hysteria against the French swept the young United States during the administration of Washington’s successor as president, John Adams. While Washington, as American political parties began to form, certainly sympathized with Adams and the Federalists, as opposed to Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans, nonetheless his “initial response to the hysteria was characteristically measured. He thought the prospects of a French invasion were remote in the extreme” (p. 250), and his voice of moderation once again made a positive difference.
Ellis does not shy from considering Washington’s relationship with slavery; indeed, as Washington was one of the wealthiest slaveholders in Virginia, the issue demands consideration. Ellis’s verdict regarding Washington and slavery is characteristically fair-minded: while “there was a clear long-term evolution in his thinking toward the recognition that human bondage was a moral travesty”, Washington seems to have tried to balance that moral judgment with “a relentlessly realistic insistence that ideals per se must never define his agenda” (p. 259). We may feel that Washington fell short in not pushing more forcefully for emancipation toward the end of his life, after the example of his fellow luminary Benjamin Franklin; but Ellis sees Washington’s restraint in this regard as “an integral part of the same rock-ribbed realism that had proved invaluable, indeed his trademark quality, as commander in chief and president” (p. 259).
His Excellency: George Washington shows us why a thoroughly human and imperfect George Washington can still be considered “primus inter pares, the Foundingest Father of them all” (p. xiv). As historian Ellis grew up in Alexandria, Virginia – where Washington is honored by a Masonic National Memorial that replicates the classical Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt; where one can walk into Christ Church and sit down in the Washington pew where Washington worshipped -- perhaps this is the book that Ellis was born to write. It is a great work of biography.
Did he make it all look too easy? Is that why so many of us see him as a stiff, unsmiling figure – a re-animated Gilbert Stuart portrait, strutting robotically across the American stage?
In His Excellency: George Washington, Joseph Ellis restores George Washington’s humanity. In contrast with the hagiographic, cherry-tree nonsense foisted upon the American and international public by so many prior biographers, Ellis works to provide “a more potent, less iconic, portrait” (p. 275). Knowing that the man who did all these extraordinary things was not the Zeus-like figure on the 25-cent piece or the one-dollar bill, but was rather a tall Virginian who constantly fought to control his temper and often doubted his fitness for the positions of importance constantly entrusted to him, makes George Washington’s heroism more human and more real.
Biographer Ellis, of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, seeks constantly to give the reader the inner Washington, the man behind that gravely courteous, aristocratic façade. When, for example, Ellis considers young Washington’s often-expressed feelings of distrust toward Robert Cary, the London mercantilist who received the tobacco from Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation and shipped consumer goods to Mount Vernon in return, Ellis sees Washington’s negative feelings toward Cary as “a stark statement of Washington’s dependence on invisible men in faraway places for virtually his entire way of life. If the core economic problem was tobacco, the core psychological problem was control, the highest emotional priority for Washington, which, once threatened, set off internal alarms that never stopped ringing” (p. 51).
As a military officer, Washington was far from perfect; any visitor to Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania will see at once that Washington placed that French & Indian War fort “in a hopelessly vulnerable position” (p. 17). During the American Revolution, however, Washington showed a strong ability to learn from his mistakes, as Ellis discusses perceptively what Washington realized during a winter encampment at Morristown, New Jersey, in 1777. As Ellis tells it, Washington disliked the “Fabian tactics” of preserving one’s army by avoiding pitched battles because he considered it a tactic of the weak: “Washington did not believe that he was weak, and he thought of the Continental army as a projection of himself. He regarded battle as a summons to display one’s strength and courage; avoiding battle was akin to dishonorable behavior, like refusing to move forward in the face of musket and cannon fire” (p. 101).
Yet Washington was able to change his thinking, and his tactics, in order to achieve the broader strategic goal of wearing down British willingness to continue the war in North America. Many American generals from the 240-plus years since Lord Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, might have benefited from emulating Washington’s example of being able to think anew and act anew.
Ellis’s Washington impresses by his authentic humility; when he surrendered command of the Continental Army and returned to his home at Mount Vernon, Ellis argues, “Washington himself experienced these years as an epilogue rather than an interlude….His public career, he firmly believed, was over, his life nearly so” (p. 150). When what we now know to have been an interlude ended, and Washington answered his country’s call to become the first American President, he wielded power with comparable restraint, choosing, in the realm of domestic policy, “to delegate nearly complete control to his ‘co-adjutors’” because of “his recognition that executive power still lived under a monarchical cloud of suspicion and could only be exercised selectively. Much like his Fabian role during the war, choosing when to avoid conflict struck him as the essence of effective leadership” (p. 200). Good judgment on Washington’s part, especially considering that the “co-adjutors” mentioned by Ellis included James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Henry Knox, John Jay, and Edmund Randolph. What president wouldn’t want a Cabinet like that?
And Washington’s example of dignity and restraint served the country well one last time, when war hysteria against the French swept the young United States during the administration of Washington’s successor as president, John Adams. While Washington, as American political parties began to form, certainly sympathized with Adams and the Federalists, as opposed to Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans, nonetheless his “initial response to the hysteria was characteristically measured. He thought the prospects of a French invasion were remote in the extreme” (p. 250), and his voice of moderation once again made a positive difference.
Ellis does not shy from considering Washington’s relationship with slavery; indeed, as Washington was one of the wealthiest slaveholders in Virginia, the issue demands consideration. Ellis’s verdict regarding Washington and slavery is characteristically fair-minded: while “there was a clear long-term evolution in his thinking toward the recognition that human bondage was a moral travesty”, Washington seems to have tried to balance that moral judgment with “a relentlessly realistic insistence that ideals per se must never define his agenda” (p. 259). We may feel that Washington fell short in not pushing more forcefully for emancipation toward the end of his life, after the example of his fellow luminary Benjamin Franklin; but Ellis sees Washington’s restraint in this regard as “an integral part of the same rock-ribbed realism that had proved invaluable, indeed his trademark quality, as commander in chief and president” (p. 259).
His Excellency: George Washington shows us why a thoroughly human and imperfect George Washington can still be considered “primus inter pares, the Foundingest Father of them all” (p. xiv). As historian Ellis grew up in Alexandria, Virginia – where Washington is honored by a Masonic National Memorial that replicates the classical Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt; where one can walk into Christ Church and sit down in the Washington pew where Washington worshipped -- perhaps this is the book that Ellis was born to write. It is a great work of biography.
February 8, 2008
In "His Excellency," Joseph Ellis has written a very readable and concise synopsis on the life of George Washington. Though more recognizable for his works "Founding Brothers" and "American Sphinx" (about Thomas Jefferson), Ellis successfully undertakes the task of illuminating probably the most important figure in American history.
Probably the most apparent burden struck by Ellis, and a theme readily illusive throughout his book, is the author's effort to avoid what he terms a certain "hyperbolic syndrome" that is usually associated with any critical discussion of George Washington. In his introduction, Ellis rhetorically asks how we can "accurately map the terrain" of Washington's life "without imposing the impossible expectations." Ellis appropriately warns that when examining Washington, "if we find ourselves being merely celebratory, or its judgmental twin, dismissive, we should rub our eyes and look again."
Ellis thereby begins with the premise that, as a biographer, anyone ought to begin their quest "looking for a man rather than a statute, and any statutes that are encountered should be quickly knocked off their pedestals." Ellis effectively wipes the Washington-slate clean; he begins tabla rasa and ultimately does a great job at painting a portrait of Washington that, not-coincidentally, is akin to other statutesque conclusions previosuly concluded by others.
My one complaint with the book involves the author's style. Often times, Ellis will draw conclusions about Washington's character and/or ideology which are based on statements to the effect of "... all of the evidence points to thus." In coming across these repeated affirmations, I found myself wanting to know the details; wanting for Ellis to specifically delineate the evidence. Overall though, the author does a great job of inserting Washington's own words and the words of his peers and the book is adequately footnoted.
On a positive note, Ellis, as with every good biography, deviates from the comfortable, all-too-common, historical-narrative-chronology (i.e., 'X' happened, then 'Y' happened, and after that 'Z' happened). Instead, at appropriate times, Ellis grasps certain themes throughout the book and interesting weaves them into the narrative coming back to them repeatedly.
For example (and probably most importantly), one prominent topic throughout the book involved Washington's philosophy regarding slavery. At certain points in the book, Ellis illuminates Washington's then-current view on the topic, or more appropriately Washington's wrestle with and evolving view on the institution. Though anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Washington knows that he ulitmately emancipated his slaves upon Martha's death via his will, Ellis does an outstanding job in ellucidating the nuances of Washington's ever-evolving philosophy.
"His Excellency" is a great starting point for any study of the life of George Washington. Again Joseph Ellis has demonstrated his ability to bring a larger-than-life historical figures to a wide audience. I would highly recommend this book.
Probably the most apparent burden struck by Ellis, and a theme readily illusive throughout his book, is the author's effort to avoid what he terms a certain "hyperbolic syndrome" that is usually associated with any critical discussion of George Washington. In his introduction, Ellis rhetorically asks how we can "accurately map the terrain" of Washington's life "without imposing the impossible expectations." Ellis appropriately warns that when examining Washington, "if we find ourselves being merely celebratory, or its judgmental twin, dismissive, we should rub our eyes and look again."
Ellis thereby begins with the premise that, as a biographer, anyone ought to begin their quest "looking for a man rather than a statute, and any statutes that are encountered should be quickly knocked off their pedestals." Ellis effectively wipes the Washington-slate clean; he begins tabla rasa and ultimately does a great job at painting a portrait of Washington that, not-coincidentally, is akin to other statutesque conclusions previosuly concluded by others.
My one complaint with the book involves the author's style. Often times, Ellis will draw conclusions about Washington's character and/or ideology which are based on statements to the effect of "... all of the evidence points to thus." In coming across these repeated affirmations, I found myself wanting to know the details; wanting for Ellis to specifically delineate the evidence. Overall though, the author does a great job of inserting Washington's own words and the words of his peers and the book is adequately footnoted.
On a positive note, Ellis, as with every good biography, deviates from the comfortable, all-too-common, historical-narrative-chronology (i.e., 'X' happened, then 'Y' happened, and after that 'Z' happened). Instead, at appropriate times, Ellis grasps certain themes throughout the book and interesting weaves them into the narrative coming back to them repeatedly.
For example (and probably most importantly), one prominent topic throughout the book involved Washington's philosophy regarding slavery. At certain points in the book, Ellis illuminates Washington's then-current view on the topic, or more appropriately Washington's wrestle with and evolving view on the institution. Though anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Washington knows that he ulitmately emancipated his slaves upon Martha's death via his will, Ellis does an outstanding job in ellucidating the nuances of Washington's ever-evolving philosophy.
"His Excellency" is a great starting point for any study of the life of George Washington. Again Joseph Ellis has demonstrated his ability to bring a larger-than-life historical figures to a wide audience. I would highly recommend this book.
October 13, 2014
I wish that more biographies were 270 pages. I find that nonfiction is a commitment for me - I read and absorb it much more slowly. Most biographies of people that I'm marginally interested in, then, become totally unrealistic reads. His Excellency: George Washington creates a compelling portrait of one of the most idealized heroes of American history, and it does so while remaining readable. This is a great introduction to Washington scholarship, and an even better portrait of a complex man.
Ellis covers the entirety of Washington's life, sketching out the young soldier, the revolutionary general, and the president. Washington seemed to lead a charmed life; by rights, he should have died early, in the crushing battles at Monongahela during the French and Indian War. But no matter how many battlefields he rode across or how many political tensions threatened to crush the American experiment, Washington persevered - on the correct side of history. He's described a few times as "prescient," and he even semi-accurately predicts the War of 1812. Washington's life and 17th-century American politics are almost interchangeable here, and Ellis does a great job of narrating how Washington was shaped by his extraordinary experiences.
My favorite section of this book was Washington's presidency. Reading about the origins of the two-party system was especially appropriate this weekend, and it was also interesting to watch two future presidents scheme against their own cabinet (Jefferson: the original SNAKE IN THE GRASS). The personalities of this period are no less fascinating in passing, and it's crazy to understand how much power Washington wielded in early America. As Jefferson notes to Madison, "Washington on horseback trumped anything the [opposition] could muster." If he hadn't been so concerned with his mark on history, Washington could have easily been the first benevolent ruler of a much different society.
Ellis covers the entirety of Washington's life, sketching out the young soldier, the revolutionary general, and the president. Washington seemed to lead a charmed life; by rights, he should have died early, in the crushing battles at Monongahela during the French and Indian War. But no matter how many battlefields he rode across or how many political tensions threatened to crush the American experiment, Washington persevered - on the correct side of history. He's described a few times as "prescient," and he even semi-accurately predicts the War of 1812. Washington's life and 17th-century American politics are almost interchangeable here, and Ellis does a great job of narrating how Washington was shaped by his extraordinary experiences.
My favorite section of this book was Washington's presidency. Reading about the origins of the two-party system was especially appropriate this weekend, and it was also interesting to watch two future presidents scheme against their own cabinet (Jefferson: the original SNAKE IN THE GRASS). The personalities of this period are no less fascinating in passing, and it's crazy to understand how much power Washington wielded in early America. As Jefferson notes to Madison, "Washington on horseback trumped anything the [opposition] could muster." If he hadn't been so concerned with his mark on history, Washington could have easily been the first benevolent ruler of a much different society.
October 29, 2022
I found this to be an unusually good biography where the author's work would have stand out even on an ordinary subject. Combine the timeless imminence of Washington with the Ellis ability to research and boil down a massive historical record and the kind of astuteness at finding psychological patterns that one would expect from a therapist rather than a biographer, and this book is special. The reader genuinely feels as though he could extract with some certainty how Washington would react to a new situation and what his thought processes would be in so doing. Ellis pointed out in one of his previous books that Americans tend to have an attitude toward our Founders that rings of adolescents – swinging between worship and total dismissal. As one would expect of the author who points out our own pattern, he avoids both of these extremes in looking at Washington as a man of his times.
October 18, 2021
This was a great biography. I always enjoy Professor Ellis' writing. His author's voice is down to earth, relevant to today and quick with an ironic or humorous quip. This was a study with analysis of what made "His Excellency" "tick". As a great study of the players and issues of that time, Ellis kept my interest as he insightfully revealed George Washington and his interactions with the others. Each history book elucidates the others and while most "facts" are not new, the perspective and background the author uses is always a fun part of reading history. Professor Ellis is highly skilled at pointing out the perspectives, background facts and tying it all together in an enjoyable and educational story.
December 5, 2010
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!
Now on to John Adams! May the force be with me!
January 11, 2020
Fun fact about George Washington’s: His last words were ‘Tis well’ and his last action was to feel his dying pulse!
June 10, 2024
An excellent and well-written bio of our first president, George Washington. I read it in record time as I enjoyed the writing --and the story of this great man whom we have very little sense about who he was as a person as compared to, say, Lincoln. George is the stern unsmiling face on Mt. Rushmore and the dollar bill. What I like most about Ellis' book is that it brings Washington to life.
Some interesting points about G.W. He was lucky. As a young soldier, he accompanied the British army that moved toward the Ohio country and was ambushed by the mixed force of French and Indians. Men fell all around him- the commander, Gen. Braddock, was killed-but Washington survived--and rallied soldiers to make an orderly retreat. Needless to say, if the young colonial had died on that killing field, how different would American history have been? Another point about the man--he could be reckless. As the commander of the American army, he took a stand on Long Island in 1776, challenging the British to come for him. They did--and almost destroyed his army. He was later able to win a victory at Trenton, but it was a risky move. Certainly, if Washington had lost that gamble, the Revolution would have been "game over." Another point-Washington was not a Christian in the traditional sense. God was an impersonal force for him and whether or not there was an afterlife was a mystery to him...
Some interesting points about G.W. He was lucky. As a young soldier, he accompanied the British army that moved toward the Ohio country and was ambushed by the mixed force of French and Indians. Men fell all around him- the commander, Gen. Braddock, was killed-but Washington survived--and rallied soldiers to make an orderly retreat. Needless to say, if the young colonial had died on that killing field, how different would American history have been? Another point about the man--he could be reckless. As the commander of the American army, he took a stand on Long Island in 1776, challenging the British to come for him. They did--and almost destroyed his army. He was later able to win a victory at Trenton, but it was a risky move. Certainly, if Washington had lost that gamble, the Revolution would have been "game over." Another point-Washington was not a Christian in the traditional sense. God was an impersonal force for him and whether or not there was an afterlife was a mystery to him...
November 15, 2015
"...his trademark decision to surrender power as commander in chief and then president, was not...a sign that he had conquered his ambitions, but rather that he fully realized that all ambitions were inherently insatiable and unconquerable. He knew himself well enough to resist the illusion that he transcended human nature. Unlike Julius Caesar and Oliver Cromwell before him, and Napoleon, Lenin, and Mao after him, he understood that the greater glory resided in posterity's judgment. If you aspire to live forever in the memory of future generations, you must demonstrate the ultimate self-confidence to leave the final judgment to them. And he did.”
― Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington
A good Ellis. Probably 3.5 stars. Like with American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson Ellis knows his subject has been written about before and probably better. He isn't looking to redo or modernize the biography of George Washington. He only wants to do a couple things. He wants to narrowly explore the character of George Washington AND write a slick and easily digestible biography that will sell well. I know this sounds a bit harsh, but Ellis, while an academic historian, aims both bigger and smaller. He wants to be read. He wants to be bought. So, his biographies and histories tend to be smaller, easier to digest, and built to be sold on the Costco book tables. That isn't a bad thing.
Joseph Ellis is in the same shelf as that popular pantheon of Founding biographers: Walter Isaacson, Jon Meacham, David McCullough, Edmund Morris, Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin. He seems to be center mass of this group. Not as solid as Chernow or Morris, not as slick as Meacham or Isaacson.
Anyway, my only real complaint about this biography is stylistic. I hated, HATED, his periodic asides (he called them Sittings). I almost dropped a star just because of those. Ugh. It reminded me of the trend with weeklies or newspapers of blocking a quote from the text (callouts?). But this was worse. It was done like a third person observation of George Washington. They were uneven and just kinda stupid and weak. They weren't necessary, were distracting, and diminished the text.
― Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington
A good Ellis. Probably 3.5 stars. Like with American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson Ellis knows his subject has been written about before and probably better. He isn't looking to redo or modernize the biography of George Washington. He only wants to do a couple things. He wants to narrowly explore the character of George Washington AND write a slick and easily digestible biography that will sell well. I know this sounds a bit harsh, but Ellis, while an academic historian, aims both bigger and smaller. He wants to be read. He wants to be bought. So, his biographies and histories tend to be smaller, easier to digest, and built to be sold on the Costco book tables. That isn't a bad thing.
Joseph Ellis is in the same shelf as that popular pantheon of Founding biographers: Walter Isaacson, Jon Meacham, David McCullough, Edmund Morris, Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin. He seems to be center mass of this group. Not as solid as Chernow or Morris, not as slick as Meacham or Isaacson.
Anyway, my only real complaint about this biography is stylistic. I hated, HATED, his periodic asides (he called them Sittings). I almost dropped a star just because of those. Ugh. It reminded me of the trend with weeklies or newspapers of blocking a quote from the text (callouts?). But this was worse. It was done like a third person observation of George Washington. They were uneven and just kinda stupid and weak. They weren't necessary, were distracting, and diminished the text.
November 11, 2016
3 Stars - Good book
Let me start by saying that this has been a rough few days. I'll admit I had a hard time reading this because of the current political situation in America. I think that put me in a sour mood, especially reading about the presidency. Not a fan of a certain and I became quite harsh. My tolerance for historical decisions that are rooted in racism and white superiority is nonexistent right now. I angrily sped through the last 150 pages (not necessarily a reflection of the book/Washington but based on my emotional state). I'm trying not to let that affect my reading of this book but I wanted to put that out there.
I appreciate that Ellis is upfront about how we romanticize historical figures but especially Washington. Washington has become this untouchable figure in American history and I’m guilty of romanticizing him as well. He was by no means perfect but he was horrible either. We need to understands all sides of the person before we can really make a decision about their character.
I had a problem with Ellis’s discussion of Washington’s slaves. Not the facts but how he analyzed them. I know he owned slaves and that’s part of the problem when people romanticize him, they forget that. But Ellis seems to be stating the facts and then trying to justify it by saying well, Washington didn’t treat them horribly. In fact, he treated them well and he really only say it as business, nothing personal. When Ellis does this, it seems to take away from his goal to deromanticize Washington.
Overall, it's a short and relatively concise biography. It's not hard to read but is heavy on the facts.
Let me start by saying that this has been a rough few days. I'll admit I had a hard time reading this because of the current political situation in America. I think that put me in a sour mood, especially reading about the presidency. Not a fan of a certain and I became quite harsh. My tolerance for historical decisions that are rooted in racism and white superiority is nonexistent right now. I angrily sped through the last 150 pages (not necessarily a reflection of the book/Washington but based on my emotional state). I'm trying not to let that affect my reading of this book but I wanted to put that out there.
I appreciate that Ellis is upfront about how we romanticize historical figures but especially Washington. Washington has become this untouchable figure in American history and I’m guilty of romanticizing him as well. He was by no means perfect but he was horrible either. We need to understands all sides of the person before we can really make a decision about their character.
I had a problem with Ellis’s discussion of Washington’s slaves. Not the facts but how he analyzed them. I know he owned slaves and that’s part of the problem when people romanticize him, they forget that. But Ellis seems to be stating the facts and then trying to justify it by saying well, Washington didn’t treat them horribly. In fact, he treated them well and he really only say it as business, nothing personal. When Ellis does this, it seems to take away from his goal to deromanticize Washington.
Overall, it's a short and relatively concise biography. It's not hard to read but is heavy on the facts.
Read
January 11, 2010First response: Ellis pontificates beyond my comfort level. I enjoy grand sentences, but this is way to much. His flourishing, over-bloated style does little to represent Washington (who, Ellis admits, was not a high intellectual.)
He definitely covers the highs and lows, but he offers an incredible amount of personal opinion and unsubstantiated analysis, and even second-guesses motives. I am glad to know about Washington's life, and to have insight about him, but I have enjoyed very little of this book. Unfortunately, I am reading directly after finishing John Adams and Team of Rivals, and it does not compare.
He definitely covers the highs and lows, but he offers an incredible amount of personal opinion and unsubstantiated analysis, and even second-guesses motives. I am glad to know about Washington's life, and to have insight about him, but I have enjoyed very little of this book. Unfortunately, I am reading directly after finishing John Adams and Team of Rivals, and it does not compare.
August 18, 2017
A great single-volume biography of the Father of Our Country (in the U.S.A., that is) that seeks to tell the honest truth about the man and the legends around him, showing his flaws and extolling his virtues, Joseph J. Ellis states that while there are multi-volume biographies that are more comprehensive, his purpose was to try to condense the available information into one book, sifting information and filtering it while revealing more recent discoveries.
And, for the most part, Ellis succeeds. He paints Washington as a great man but not a man without flaws and weaknesses, but that helps us respect the great man even more – knowing that he accomplished all that he did with his flaws.
Part of the reason for that is that, although he had deeply held beliefs, he was adaptable. A case that Ellis talks about is Washington’s military strategy, where Washington always wanted to fight a decisive battle similar to the battle of Breed’s Hill where he forces the British to confront his forces in a frontal assault. However, at various times, he had to adopt both a “posting” strategy – letting the British own most of the territory while strategically attacking in small skirmishes – and a guerilla strategy (as employed in the campaigns in the South, although Washington did not lead those) because circumstances required changes to the grand strategy.
His recognition of this change was tested after Saratoga and the fall of Philadelphia in 1777. At this time, he was being urged to be more aggressive like Gates had been against Burgoyne, but circumstances would have made this a poor choice. Washington patiently bade his time, even in the face of talk (called the Conway Cabal) that Washington should be replaced.
He set many precedents during his presidency, defining the office with restraint while resisting (in most cases) the urges of his Federalist advisors and cabinet secretaries to a more monarchical role while defending the role from the Republican influences of Madison and Jefferson (whose French Revolution-inspired sympathies were to a more anarchical philosophy), and he stepped down after two terms despite enjoying good health and popularity (notwithstanding the criticisms of Republican newspapers editors of the time, such as Benjamin Franklin Bache, in addition to Jefferson and Madison). The schism in his cabinet between the two factions led to the creation of political parties in American politics.
Topical at the time I finished this book, the focus of his post-presidency years was on a complex financial scheme that involved selling off parcels of his property that would enable him to free all of the slaves under his control. (It is doubtful that the slaves that were part of Martha’s dowry could be released, and she may not have felt the benevolence that Washington did). Viewed in the microscope of history, it doesn’t seem significant that he released the slaves he controlled at his death (with stipends and housing to provide for their basic needs, as well as education to help them be gainfully employed), but consider that he was the only one of the vaunted Virginia framers to actually live up to the promise of the Declaration of Independence by doing so.
Political intrigues with Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and others as the Republicans and Federalists began to split into parties drove him from politics, and he had hoped to live into the 1800s (he missed the end of 1799 by just a few weeks). Yet he was able to be the leading figure in both the fight for independence and the struggle for nationhood – the Father of Our Country, indeed.
In all, a comprehensive biography - as Ellis intended - and fair in its assessments. I probably would go with 4.5 stars, (or 9 out of 10) but have rounded up for Goodreads.
And, for the most part, Ellis succeeds. He paints Washington as a great man but not a man without flaws and weaknesses, but that helps us respect the great man even more – knowing that he accomplished all that he did with his flaws.
Part of the reason for that is that, although he had deeply held beliefs, he was adaptable. A case that Ellis talks about is Washington’s military strategy, where Washington always wanted to fight a decisive battle similar to the battle of Breed’s Hill where he forces the British to confront his forces in a frontal assault. However, at various times, he had to adopt both a “posting” strategy – letting the British own most of the territory while strategically attacking in small skirmishes – and a guerilla strategy (as employed in the campaigns in the South, although Washington did not lead those) because circumstances required changes to the grand strategy.
His recognition of this change was tested after Saratoga and the fall of Philadelphia in 1777. At this time, he was being urged to be more aggressive like Gates had been against Burgoyne, but circumstances would have made this a poor choice. Washington patiently bade his time, even in the face of talk (called the Conway Cabal) that Washington should be replaced.
He set many precedents during his presidency, defining the office with restraint while resisting (in most cases) the urges of his Federalist advisors and cabinet secretaries to a more monarchical role while defending the role from the Republican influences of Madison and Jefferson (whose French Revolution-inspired sympathies were to a more anarchical philosophy), and he stepped down after two terms despite enjoying good health and popularity (notwithstanding the criticisms of Republican newspapers editors of the time, such as Benjamin Franklin Bache, in addition to Jefferson and Madison). The schism in his cabinet between the two factions led to the creation of political parties in American politics.
Topical at the time I finished this book, the focus of his post-presidency years was on a complex financial scheme that involved selling off parcels of his property that would enable him to free all of the slaves under his control. (It is doubtful that the slaves that were part of Martha’s dowry could be released, and she may not have felt the benevolence that Washington did). Viewed in the microscope of history, it doesn’t seem significant that he released the slaves he controlled at his death (with stipends and housing to provide for their basic needs, as well as education to help them be gainfully employed), but consider that he was the only one of the vaunted Virginia framers to actually live up to the promise of the Declaration of Independence by doing so.
Political intrigues with Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and others as the Republicans and Federalists began to split into parties drove him from politics, and he had hoped to live into the 1800s (he missed the end of 1799 by just a few weeks). Yet he was able to be the leading figure in both the fight for independence and the struggle for nationhood – the Father of Our Country, indeed.
In all, a comprehensive biography - as Ellis intended - and fair in its assessments. I probably would go with 4.5 stars, (or 9 out of 10) but have rounded up for Goodreads.
May 31, 2022
His Excellency: George Washington published in 2004 is a solid single volume account of our nation’s first president. Checking in at a mere 320 pages, you are not going to walk away knowing everything you should, but it would serve as a solid introduction. Joseph Ellis manages to cram a great deal into such a short book, including some very insightful observations on Washington’s character. Being relatively new, this book acknowledges modern criticisms (i.e. his status as a southern slaveholder) and explores these facets of his life with a great deal of honesty, but without jumping on the cynical cancel-culture bandwagon that is so prevalent in modern America. Solid 3 stars.
What follows are some notes on the book:
[Note: My notes here are relatively sparse, at some point I plan to re-read Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, which I consider to be THE definitive single volume biography of Washington, at which point I will make more comprehensive notes].
The book is broken down into several major sections, covering his military service as a young man in our nation’s interior. His central role in the outbreak of the French and Indian War. His status as a colonial officer and the grievances this produced when the British regulars treated him as a second class citizen.
His flirtation with Sally Fairfax and eventual marriage to the widow Martha Custis (and the fortuitous financial benefits that came with this marriage). His long service in the Revolutionary War (including many failures and brilliant breakthroughs (Trenton, Yorktown).
He discusses how Washington, who lagged behind many of his contemporaries in some key areas, became THE indispensable man (“Benjamin Franklin was wiser; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; James Madison more politically astute, yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior.” pg xiv). Ever since his arrival at the first Continental Congress, he towered over his peers and was the unquestioned leader of the Revolutionary movement.
He explores Washington’s peculiar personality quirks, and how his tenacity and demands that others fulfill their obligation meant he was one of the few Virginia planters who did not die in crippling debt.
Washington’s treatment of his slaves (he treated them well and strove to keep families together, but as in all his business dealings he was harsh if he felt he was being cheated (i.e. he paid ransoms to capture runaways)). Ellis explores Washington’s efforts to free his slaves and the legal complications inherent in doing so (many of the slaves belonged to his wife’s estate and he had no legal basis on which to manumit them).
The book addresses Washington’s time as president and his efforts to keep the Federalist and Republican factions (led by Hamilton and Jefferson respectively) from tearing the new government apart. While Washington’s stature was such that he was rarely attacked directly (though he was accused of being deceived by Hamilton) he was so indispensable that even Jefferson and the Republicans pleaded that he not step down after a single term. Furthermore, the author covers Washington’s efforts to keep the peace with his proclamation of neutrality at a time when Revolutionary France was wreaking havoc both in Europe and in American politics.
In his dealings with Native Americans, Washington strove to honor treaties and absorb the Indians into anglo-American culture (an outlook that would prove disturbingly naïve in hindsight).
The book briefly mentions his participation in Free Masonry and spends more time discussing his role in the Society of the Cincinnati (a hereditary fraternity of Revolutionary War Officers that proved unpopular because of its un-Republican structure).
The author covers his Farewell Address at length (and Hamilton’s contribution as editor).
What follows are some notes on the book:
[Note: My notes here are relatively sparse, at some point I plan to re-read Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, which I consider to be THE definitive single volume biography of Washington, at which point I will make more comprehensive notes].
The book is broken down into several major sections, covering his military service as a young man in our nation’s interior. His central role in the outbreak of the French and Indian War. His status as a colonial officer and the grievances this produced when the British regulars treated him as a second class citizen.
His flirtation with Sally Fairfax and eventual marriage to the widow Martha Custis (and the fortuitous financial benefits that came with this marriage). His long service in the Revolutionary War (including many failures and brilliant breakthroughs (Trenton, Yorktown).
He discusses how Washington, who lagged behind many of his contemporaries in some key areas, became THE indispensable man (“Benjamin Franklin was wiser; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; James Madison more politically astute, yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior.” pg xiv). Ever since his arrival at the first Continental Congress, he towered over his peers and was the unquestioned leader of the Revolutionary movement.
He explores Washington’s peculiar personality quirks, and how his tenacity and demands that others fulfill their obligation meant he was one of the few Virginia planters who did not die in crippling debt.
Washington’s treatment of his slaves (he treated them well and strove to keep families together, but as in all his business dealings he was harsh if he felt he was being cheated (i.e. he paid ransoms to capture runaways)). Ellis explores Washington’s efforts to free his slaves and the legal complications inherent in doing so (many of the slaves belonged to his wife’s estate and he had no legal basis on which to manumit them).
The book addresses Washington’s time as president and his efforts to keep the Federalist and Republican factions (led by Hamilton and Jefferson respectively) from tearing the new government apart. While Washington’s stature was such that he was rarely attacked directly (though he was accused of being deceived by Hamilton) he was so indispensable that even Jefferson and the Republicans pleaded that he not step down after a single term. Furthermore, the author covers Washington’s efforts to keep the peace with his proclamation of neutrality at a time when Revolutionary France was wreaking havoc both in Europe and in American politics.
In his dealings with Native Americans, Washington strove to honor treaties and absorb the Indians into anglo-American culture (an outlook that would prove disturbingly naïve in hindsight).
The book briefly mentions his participation in Free Masonry and spends more time discussing his role in the Society of the Cincinnati (a hereditary fraternity of Revolutionary War Officers that proved unpopular because of its un-Republican structure).
The author covers his Farewell Address at length (and Hamilton’s contribution as editor).
February 6, 2024
Ellis’s motivation for this book includes a new compilation of Washington’s correspondence providing new material. Ellis sees how the current crop of historians and the universities treat the Founders. In the past, history was less critical and treated them as icons. Not today. The narrative believes America is a:
Ellis succeeds in bringing Washington to life as a real person, not some cold, distant icon. 5 Stars
Ellis is intrigued…and so am I. Where does Washington fit among the Founding Fathers:
….It seemed to me that Benjamin Franklin was wiser than Washington; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; Thomas Jefferson was more intellectually sophisticated; James Madison was more politically astute. Yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior. Within the gallery of greats so often mythologized and capitalized as Founding Fathers, Washington was recognized as primus inter pares, the Foundingest Father of them all. Why was that? In the pages that follow I have looked for an answer, which lies buried within the folds of the most ambitious, determined, and potent personality of an age not lacking for worthy rivals. How he became that way, and what he then did with it, is the story I try to tell.
George Washington was lucky, if not very successful at soldiering, in his early military service. And he gets attention:
Colonel George Washington, 23 years old, commands the Virginia Regiment. By Ellis’s account, Washington focused training on understanding how to fight like the Indians. He seeks Cherokee and Catawba braves to support his troops but the French have the Native Americans’ support or at least neutrality. His expectations are high and he values discipline:
Washington did not aggressively seek to command the Continental Army but reluctantly agreed. Pretty amazing that he spent 1775 to 1782 in the field with the soldiers:
Washington had 3 strategic options available to fight the British. 1) Withdraw to the west and fight a guerilla campaign; 2) take a "Fabian" strategy of withdrawing whenever his forces were threatened; or 3) fight a set-piece European style decisive battle. He would never take option 1-cowardly; he wanted option 3 (his New York defeat was his first attempt). What happened:
When the French join the fight, the Continental Congress wants another invasion of Canada. Washington had enough the first time, a major defeat. Washington also formulates a key principal of national strategy:
When Washington left his command and retired to Mt Vernon, he expected he would not live much longer. The Washington line of men did not have long lives. He is convinced to come out of retirement for the Constitutional Convention. The new nation was failing under the "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union" adopted as the first framework of government. After the Constitution was put in place, the only logical choice for President is Washington. Everything in his first term sets "precedence", including what to call him:
As it turned out, even ceremonial occasions raised troubling questions, because no one knew how the symbolic centerpiece of a republic should behave, or even what to call him. Vice President Adams, trying to be helpful, ignited a fiery debate in the Senate by suggesting such regal titles as “His Elective Majesty” or “His Mightiness,” which provoked a lethal combination of shock and laughter, as well as the observation that Adams himself should be called “His Rotundity.” Eventually the Senate resolved on the most innocuous option available: the president of the United States should be called exactly that, no more and no less.
One eulogy for the first President:
So much more is covered in this book. Very highly recommended.
Ellis succeeds in bringing Washington to life as a real person, not some cold, distant icon. 5 Stars
Ellis is intrigued…and so am I. Where does Washington fit among the Founding Fathers:
….It seemed to me that Benjamin Franklin was wiser than Washington; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; Thomas Jefferson was more intellectually sophisticated; James Madison was more politically astute. Yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior. Within the gallery of greats so often mythologized and capitalized as Founding Fathers, Washington was recognized as primus inter pares, the Foundingest Father of them all. Why was that? In the pages that follow I have looked for an answer, which lies buried within the folds of the most ambitious, determined, and potent personality of an age not lacking for worthy rivals. How he became that way, and what he then did with it, is the story I try to tell.
George Washington was lucky, if not very successful at soldiering, in his early military service. And he gets attention:
Colonel George Washington, 23 years old, commands the Virginia Regiment. By Ellis’s account, Washington focused training on understanding how to fight like the Indians. He seeks Cherokee and Catawba braves to support his troops but the French have the Native Americans’ support or at least neutrality. His expectations are high and he values discipline:
Washington did not aggressively seek to command the Continental Army but reluctantly agreed. Pretty amazing that he spent 1775 to 1782 in the field with the soldiers:
Washington had 3 strategic options available to fight the British. 1) Withdraw to the west and fight a guerilla campaign; 2) take a "Fabian" strategy of withdrawing whenever his forces were threatened; or 3) fight a set-piece European style decisive battle. He would never take option 1-cowardly; he wanted option 3 (his New York defeat was his first attempt). What happened:
When the French join the fight, the Continental Congress wants another invasion of Canada. Washington had enough the first time, a major defeat. Washington also formulates a key principal of national strategy:
When Washington left his command and retired to Mt Vernon, he expected he would not live much longer. The Washington line of men did not have long lives. He is convinced to come out of retirement for the Constitutional Convention. The new nation was failing under the "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union" adopted as the first framework of government. After the Constitution was put in place, the only logical choice for President is Washington. Everything in his first term sets "precedence", including what to call him:
As it turned out, even ceremonial occasions raised troubling questions, because no one knew how the symbolic centerpiece of a republic should behave, or even what to call him. Vice President Adams, trying to be helpful, ignited a fiery debate in the Senate by suggesting such regal titles as “His Elective Majesty” or “His Mightiness,” which provoked a lethal combination of shock and laughter, as well as the observation that Adams himself should be called “His Rotundity.” Eventually the Senate resolved on the most innocuous option available: the president of the United States should be called exactly that, no more and no less.
One eulogy for the first President:
So much more is covered in this book. Very highly recommended.
December 23, 2009
Joseph Ellis' "His Excellency: George Washington" is a well done brief biography of George Washington. Washington, surely, could be the subject of one of those massive bios, such as Chernow's "Alexander Hamilton" or "Titan" or Nasaw's "Andrew Carnegie" or Cannadine's "Mellon." On the other hand, not all biographies need to be so massive. Ellis' work is insightful, provides a sense of Washington the person, and outlines the growth of his character, as he controls his ambitions. In 275 pages, we get a pretty good perspective on "the father of our country."
This biography tries to steer a middle course between two different approaches to Washington. As Ellis says (page xi): "In Washington's case the arc moves from Parson Weems' fabrications about a saintly lad who could not tell a lie to dismissive verdicts about the deadest, whitest male in American history." In placing him among other of the Founders, Ellis makes, I think, an insightful point (page xiv): "It seems to me that Benjamin Franklin was wiser than Washington; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; James Madison was more politically astute. Yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior." By the way, lines such as these make me scratch my head as to the critics of this book who attack the author for denigrating Washington. Parson Weems and his fantasies should not guide our consideration of Washington. He was a human being, not a demigod. And this book demonstrates why we should hold him in high esteem (while also realizing his human foibles and weaknesses).
In his death and afterwards, Washington also demonstrated why he stood apart from other Founders. Jefferson was uncomfortable with slavery, but did nothing about his discomfort. Washington was uncomfortable, and worked to free his slaves upon his death. His will represented (page 263) ". . .his personal rejection of slavery. As we have seen, he had been groping toward this position for many reasons and for more than thirty years, more gradually than we might prefer, more steadily than most of his fellow slave owners in Virginia. He was, in fact, the only politically prominent member of the Virginia dynasty to act on Jefferson's famous words in the Declaration of Independence by freeing his slaves."
The book provides a straightforward narrative of Washington's life. From the travails of his youth, to his efforts at developing a trade (e.g., as a surveyor), to his effort to becoming a military officer (culminating in both disaster and reputation in the French and Indian War), to his involvement in debates over independence in his own colony (Virginia), to his accession to general in the Continental Army, to his holding the army together under straitened circumstances, to his role in moving toward a Constitutional Convention, to his service as the first President. Noteworthy is the treatment of his learning to be the primary military commander during the Revolutionary War. Early on, his instincts told him to be aggressive; a number of defeats followed from this. Given the context of the war, this was not a winning strategy. He learned to be more careful and, following a more Fabian strategy, grew as commander and ended up triumphant at Yorktown.
In his conclusion, Ellis notes that Washington had a towering ambition, a foul temper, and, understanding this, Washington fought to contain both of these characteristics with his single minded strength. He left office after two terms as president when he could have stayed on. He stepped down as General after the Revolutionary War when he need not necessarily have behaved as Cincinnatus. As a result, he set an example that reverberated through the next century of American history.
This is a nice, although brief, rendering of Washington's life. The author makes nuanced judgments of Washington as a person and his legacy. As a result, he comes across as more than a cardboard caricature and as someone who genuinely deserves our respect and appreciation. As Ellis concludes (page 275), ". . .he understood that the greater glory resided in posterity's judgment." Unlike Napoleon, Caesar, Mao, and Cromwell, he did not hold on to the end, thus eroding his historical reputation and his ultimate effectiveness to the country that he had helped found.
This biography tries to steer a middle course between two different approaches to Washington. As Ellis says (page xi): "In Washington's case the arc moves from Parson Weems' fabrications about a saintly lad who could not tell a lie to dismissive verdicts about the deadest, whitest male in American history." In placing him among other of the Founders, Ellis makes, I think, an insightful point (page xiv): "It seems to me that Benjamin Franklin was wiser than Washington; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; James Madison was more politically astute. Yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior." By the way, lines such as these make me scratch my head as to the critics of this book who attack the author for denigrating Washington. Parson Weems and his fantasies should not guide our consideration of Washington. He was a human being, not a demigod. And this book demonstrates why we should hold him in high esteem (while also realizing his human foibles and weaknesses).
In his death and afterwards, Washington also demonstrated why he stood apart from other Founders. Jefferson was uncomfortable with slavery, but did nothing about his discomfort. Washington was uncomfortable, and worked to free his slaves upon his death. His will represented (page 263) ". . .his personal rejection of slavery. As we have seen, he had been groping toward this position for many reasons and for more than thirty years, more gradually than we might prefer, more steadily than most of his fellow slave owners in Virginia. He was, in fact, the only politically prominent member of the Virginia dynasty to act on Jefferson's famous words in the Declaration of Independence by freeing his slaves."
The book provides a straightforward narrative of Washington's life. From the travails of his youth, to his efforts at developing a trade (e.g., as a surveyor), to his effort to becoming a military officer (culminating in both disaster and reputation in the French and Indian War), to his involvement in debates over independence in his own colony (Virginia), to his accession to general in the Continental Army, to his holding the army together under straitened circumstances, to his role in moving toward a Constitutional Convention, to his service as the first President. Noteworthy is the treatment of his learning to be the primary military commander during the Revolutionary War. Early on, his instincts told him to be aggressive; a number of defeats followed from this. Given the context of the war, this was not a winning strategy. He learned to be more careful and, following a more Fabian strategy, grew as commander and ended up triumphant at Yorktown.
In his conclusion, Ellis notes that Washington had a towering ambition, a foul temper, and, understanding this, Washington fought to contain both of these characteristics with his single minded strength. He left office after two terms as president when he could have stayed on. He stepped down as General after the Revolutionary War when he need not necessarily have behaved as Cincinnatus. As a result, he set an example that reverberated through the next century of American history.
This is a nice, although brief, rendering of Washington's life. The author makes nuanced judgments of Washington as a person and his legacy. As a result, he comes across as more than a cardboard caricature and as someone who genuinely deserves our respect and appreciation. As Ellis concludes (page 275), ". . .he understood that the greater glory resided in posterity's judgment." Unlike Napoleon, Caesar, Mao, and Cromwell, he did not hold on to the end, thus eroding his historical reputation and his ultimate effectiveness to the country that he had helped found.
August 19, 2017
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.
March 7, 2022
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 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
August 6, 2009
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.
April 9, 2018
“He was that rarest of men: a supremely realistic visionary.” (A brilliant politician with a moral compass and the ability to imagine the judgements of posterity.) Like Lincoln, like Grant - and the three are companions on an old Cuban cigar box lid, “Los Inmortales.” To me Washington seems a heroic template for Lincoln and Grant, showing how one disciplines “a truly monumental personal ego” and “a massive personal agenda” - and, in Grant’s case, a primal ease in violence - to larger national interests, to themes of the common good. All three saw their opportunity in failing systems and were quick to pounce; they used their opportunity to establish and restore the United States; none established dynasties - Washington very purposefully so, sterile, he minced his estate among many heirs and freed his slaves.
“Washington’s powers of judgement derived in part from the fact that his mind was uncluttered with sophisticated intellectual preconceptions”; cue, for contrast, Jefferson and his fatuous self-deception, his agile intellectual masturbation; “the self Washington made was less protean and more primal because his education was more elemental,” the education of “an adventurer and soldier.” “Without ever reading Thucydides, Hobbes, or Calvin, he had concluded that men and nations were driven by interests rather than ideals, and that surrendering control to another was invariably harmful, often fatal.”
“Washington’s powers of judgement derived in part from the fact that his mind was uncluttered with sophisticated intellectual preconceptions”; cue, for contrast, Jefferson and his fatuous self-deception, his agile intellectual masturbation; “the self Washington made was less protean and more primal because his education was more elemental,” the education of “an adventurer and soldier.” “Without ever reading Thucydides, Hobbes, or Calvin, he had concluded that men and nations were driven by interests rather than ideals, and that surrendering control to another was invariably harmful, often fatal.”
July 5, 2017
His Excellency: George Washington is another solid biography by Joseph Ellis, arguably the best contemporary historian of America's Founding Fathers. As with Ellis's other work, it's less a traditional biography than a non-linear character study, using specific events and incidents to probe Washington's personality and character. Ellis views Washington as torn between his high-born, princely arrogance and a sense of modest propriety that prevented him from becoming a mere dictator; he argues that this contradiction, while often maddening to Washington himself, enabled him to become the iconic American and help keep the Republic together in its fragile early days. Whether one comes away from Ellis's book with enhanced respect for Washington, or frustration at his foibles, is up to the reader, but it's a commendable job at humanizing a figure who's still treated with godly deference today.
July 13, 2017
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.
December 4, 2018
Very readable biography of GW.
July 20, 2023
I've read other biographies on George Washigton, most notably Ron Chernow's 'Washington: A Life' back in 2020. Although Ellis' book is not the 900 plus page behemoth Chernow's work is, it certainly covers the highlights of Washington's life. Ellis also spends more effort in covering some of Washington's early military exploits that maybe weren't so laudatory. Throughout life Washington seemed to be able to attain all the goals he aimed for. None of it was easy. Often through his military campaigns and presidency he had to restrain his inner temper and drive to try and attain a balance, and the best possible outcome for the armies under his command as well as the nation he served. Ellis' book is a quick read, although it seems to me he spent quite some time analyzing Washington's motives and thinking. In my opinion as much as I loved Chernow's work, most of that book is reporting on Washington's role in historical events. Conclusion after reading, Washington perhaps was the last apolitical president or political leader our country will have, and he tried to keep our country that way. Jefferson on one side, Hamilton and Adams on the other seemed to bring our two-party political system to life. There have been times where bipartisan leadership has guided the US momentarily, but it never seems to last. Currently it seems forever broken.
Strangely enough, I didn't plan on reading this since I had read the Chernow book, but it was included with several books I brought back from my sister-in-laws house. I'm glad I did, and now I can recommend it to people who want to read about Washington, but don't have the time for Chernow. If you've read Chernow, this might seem repetitive at times but you might gain more insight into Washington as a person.
Strangely enough, I didn't plan on reading this since I had read the Chernow book, but it was included with several books I brought back from my sister-in-laws house. I'm glad I did, and now I can recommend it to people who want to read about Washington, but don't have the time for Chernow. If you've read Chernow, this might seem repetitive at times but you might gain more insight into Washington as a person.
December 19, 2022
I guess after reading Chernow’s Washington masterpiece and Alexis Coe’s excellent alternate look at Washington (while having a crack at “The Thigh Men”), Ellis was on a hiding to nothing.
That said, it never gripped me and I found myself thankful it is a relatively brief affair. And Ellis is a card carrying Thigh Man (so called because he and other all male authors rave about Washington’s amazing thighs, among other things).
Clearly I should have read this before the other two, but never mind. It was OK without hitting any standard I would expect from someone so well renowned.
That said, it never gripped me and I found myself thankful it is a relatively brief affair. And Ellis is a card carrying Thigh Man (so called because he and other all male authors rave about Washington’s amazing thighs, among other things).
Clearly I should have read this before the other two, but never mind. It was OK without hitting any standard I would expect from someone so well renowned.
July 18, 2010
I promised myself to read this while living in the Washington area and I'm glad I picked it up in my final summer here. This Joseph Ellis biography of his excellency George Washington was a delightful read. Lots of reminders: a balanced non-partisan first president and the early beginnings of the modern political party with the split between Jefferson and Hamilton. Lots of new information: the connection to the Fairfax family and early northern Virginia history. Washington's desire to establish a federal city "where men could come to congregate and 'rub off' their sectional habits and accents", and his belief in a national city, national bank, university, chief executive, and expansion of the army/navy (251) all puts today's politics in perspective, especially that of the radical anti-federal groups. When looking at this earl U.S. history, today's "tea-party" groups are more like the Shay rebellion or the whiskey debt rebellions of 1794 which Washington referred to as "self created societies" that "represented a tyranny of the minority against the will of the majority, that their only revolutionary principle was that every man can cut and carve for himself" (224). In the first and only time in American history a sitting president led soldiers into the field and crushed the whiskey insurrection; and surely he'd scoff just the same at today's so called Libertarians. Another interesting note about Washington was he was the only founding father to free his slaves in his will. Ellis shows Washington's inner problems with slavery and his great concerns about protecting the native Americans, what could be considered failures of Washington. In fact, failure itself was more prevalent in the first president's life than success: more losses than wins in battle. Of course, he won the critical ones and never gave up. In his dying hours, evidence of agnosticism or just a lack of concern for religion is demonstrated where most men of this stature would be surrounded by Christian artifacts and a minister, which of course reinforces how Washington was a man of logic and reason. In his final words he breathed, "Tis well." One other fun fact I found was how he warned hunters in the area that the deer on and near his property had become domesticated and must not be hunted (242).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2010
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.
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.
March 20, 2008
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 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.
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