George Washington: The 1st President, 1789-1797

A premier leadership scholar and an eighteenth-century expert define the special contributions and qualifications of our first president

Revolutionary hero, founding president, and first citizen of the young republic, George Washington was the most illustrious public man of his time, a man whose image today is the result of the careful grooming of his public persona to include the themes of character, self-sacrifice, and destiny.

As Washington sought to interpret the Constitution's assignment of powers to the executive branch and to establish precedent for future leaders, he relied on his key advisers and looked to form consensus as the guiding principle of government. His is a legacy of a successful experiment in collective leadership, great initiatives in establishing a strong executive branch, and the formulation of innovative and lasting economic and foreign policies. James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn also trace the arc of Washington's increasing dissatisfaction with public life and the seeds of dissent and political parties that, ironically, grew from his insistence on consensus. In this compelling and balanced biography, Burns and Dunn give us a rich portrait of the man behind the carefully crafted mythology.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
Published: 01/07/2004
ISBN: 9780805069365
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.80w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2003 pg. 1346
Publishers Weekly 12/15/2003 pg. 62
Booklist 01/01/2004 pg. 813
New York Times 02/15/2004 pg. 24