Probing his private life, he explores his fraught relationship with his crusty mother, his youthful infatuation with the married Sally Fairfax, and his often conflicted feelings toward his adopted children and grandchildren. Chernow brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of fiery opinions and many moods. In this groundbreaking work, based on massive research, Chernow dashes forever the stereotype of a stolid, unemotional man.Ī strapping six feet, Washington was a celebrated horseman, elegant dancer, and tireless hunter, with a fiercely guarded emotional life. A laconic man of granite self-control, he often arouses more respect than affection. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the listener through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.ĭespite the reverence his name inspires, Washington remains a lifeless waxwork for many Americans, worthy but dull. (Oct.In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation.

The result is a good book that would have been great if better edited, and if Chernow had trusted that Washington's many merits, even when accompanied by his faults, would speak for themselves. At times it feels as if Chernow, for all his careful research and talent for synthesis, is in the grip of a full-scale crush. Examples of shady dealing are quickly followed by tales of Washington's unimpeachable ethics or impeccable political savvy.

Along the way, however, he mistakes 'visceral' for ardent while he never hides Washington's less than saintly moments or shirks the vexed question of slavery, he often seems to ignore the data he's collected. Chernow makes familiar scenes fresh (like the crossing of the Delaware) and expertly brings the provisional revolutionary and early Republican eras to life. He gives us a Washington who starts with limited education and means and, through a remarkable combination of timely deaths, an incredible capacity for hard work, a shrewd marriage, astonishing physical hardiness and courage, a propensity for land speculation, and a gift for finding influential patrons, transforms himself into a soldier, well-to-do planter, local official, and eventually the only real choice to command the Continental army, preside over the Constitutional Convention, and serve as the first president. Using the recent 'explosion of research,' he wants to render George Washington 'real' and 'credible,' to replace 'frosty respect' with 'visceral appreciation.' In many respects, Chernow succeeds. In his introduction, veteran biographer Chernow is clear about his goals.

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