Rediscovering George Washington Founding Father

Rediscovering George Washington Founding Father - Book Review

Richard Brookhiser

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser is an American journalist, biographer, historian and a senior editor at National Review and columnist for the New York Observer. However, he is most commonly known for a series of biographies of America's founders, which includes Alexander Hamilton, Governor Morris, and George Washington (Bacevich, 1996).

Moreover, he has written other books also that dealt either with the nation's founding, or the principles of America's founders, for instance, What Would Our Founders Do" This book described how the founding fathers would approach topical issues that generated controversy in modern-day America.

Introduction

The first half of the book covers Washington the General during the war, then moves on to the drafting of the Constitution and lastly discussed his role as President. The second half of the book has been dedicated to the personality and character of George Washington (Bacevich, 1996). The author Brookhiser, thus, gave his readers a good look into how a man who never fathered children of his own could turn out to be a successful and well-liked father of a nation.

Giving his readers a concise glance at Washington's Christianity, his proclivity of presenting life as a theatre play, and his establishment of a standard of how things are conducted in nation's capital. For example, how Washington declined to turn over to the House sensitive information regarding Jay's Treaty.

A.J. Bacevich. Book Review: National Review, March 11, 1996. www.findarticles.com

Additionally, the book details a good bit on Washington's Farewell Address (Bacevich, 1996).

On the whole, the book is a pleasant read for anyone with a thorough knowledge of the father of the country.

Analysis of the Book

The book "Rediscovering George Washington Founding Father" is basically the description of an attempt to set right this state of affairs. According to the author, Brookhiser, his slender volume is called as "a moral biography," on the model of Plutarch's Lives. The author did not put his effort on a comprehensive life of Washington; rather, he gave his concern with Washington's character and the values that formed his life and performance (Bacevich, 1996).

The "Founding Father" by Richard Brookhiser is one of a few latest biographies of America's revolutionary generation that aims to depict what he believes was the core of George Washington's knowledge and character (Bacevich, 1996). Thus, Brookhiser offered moral lessons for this new American generation to which he believes that Washington has not been fully exposed to these virtues, and so could benefit by drawing lessons from Washington's life and career. However, at some point "Founding Father" can be seen as a reaction to Brookhiser's repulsion at the current state of history in the nation's universities (Bacevich, 1996).

He tried to bring Washington back to his readers not by taking them back to what he did on the battlefield or in the White House, even though he provided both examples but yet he examined the type of person he was (Bacevich, 1996). According to Brookhiser's believe:

Washington's life still has the power to inspire anyone who studies it."

The book is structured into three parts. The first part, "Career," as the title describes itself

A.J. Bacevich. Book Review: National Review, March 11, 1996. www.findarticles.com consists of a chapter each on Washington's military career, his responsibility in the implementation of the United.States Constitution, and his Presidency (Bacevich, 1996). The second, "Character," dedicate chapters to Washington's "Personality," "Ethics," and "Ideas." And lastly the third section, titled as "Founding Father," talked about Washington's mythic identity as Father of his Country, as it mainly related to America's contemporary crisis of fatherhood (Bacevich, 1996).

At the end of the book, the author quoted John Marshall speaking to the House of Representatives which was soon after Washington's death as saying:

Our WASHINGTON is no more! The hero... lives now only in his own great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted people."

However, Brookhiser was more concerned that now Washington no longer lives in our hearts and our affections. As he writes:

He is in our textbooks and our wallets, but not our hearts."

This, the book is an attempt to correct that state of affairs, not by "humanizing" him down to the Oprah level, but by bringing our perception up to the level of his extraordinary achievements (Bacevich, 1996).

Strengths & Weaknesses

The book is not a full-fledged biography; in fact it is more or less a series of essays on the general subject of George Washington. It focused upon Washington's career, his character, and his place in the memories and hearts of Americans. While, reading the book, some of his given highlights are especially good while some we might not even heard or thought of it before (Bacevich, 1996).

A.J. Bacevich. Book Review: National Review, March 11, 1996. www.findarticles.com

For example, his fondness for the theater had never been brought out to us before, nor that he was subscribed to ten newspapers.

According to the author, Washington was physically powerful, brave, daring, a good listener, a leader with great self-respect, and had always been conscious of doing the honorable thing, and last but not the least he was a patriot (Rainey, 1996).

The author very beautifully has listed many of the events of his life with enthusiasm and style and as reader one feels proud to know such a great man. For example, Brookhiser described and very well explained as to how adamant Washington was on secrecy at the Constitutional Convention (Rainey, 1996). when someone dropped a copy of some resolutions being considered where outsiders could have stolen it. Washington got back the copy, gave a lecture to the Convention on the need for secrecy, then threw the paper down on the table, and asked whoever owned it to take it (Rainey, 1996). Apparently, the owner of the paper was scared of Washington that he never dared to claim it (Rainey, 1996)

Brookhiser has done a marvelous job of introducing Washington into his historical and intellectual framework. The strength of the book is that it re -narrates an old, but in today's era oft forgotten truth. After reading this book, one may not take Washington as a genius but he was a man of firm, rock-solid character (Rainey, 1996).

However, the weakest section of the book is the third part "The Founding Father." The author attempted to show Washington as the father of his country and a metaphor which captures some of the truth. But he did stubbornly lead the country through the war that resulted in separation from Britain and independence of her.

Monty Rainey. Book Review. Junto Society.

A www.juntosociety.com/

As Brookhiser writes:

We are not sure, what the fathers of families do, much less fathers of countries (Rainey, 1996)."

The purpose of this book can be noted from author's introduction as: "a moral biography" rather than "a life history." According to him there is a "distancing" between the people and Washington; that he became more legend and metaphor than a man.

Conclusion

Richard Brookhiser in his book has illustrated selected stories of George Washington. These stories, he believes are serve the general public interest, above and beyond anything else. Other writers, such as Mason Weems in "The Life of Washington," too have attempted to sketch his life's work as well, but Richard Brookhiser's work stands out because of the viewpoint assumed and also because its display of morals and virtues of George Washington (Kuegler).