Book review: The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon
Review by Raymond Dagueposted July 18, 2009
The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon by John Ferling
The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon by John Ferling
(June 2009, Bloomsbury Press)
This is not a biography about George Washington. That is good, since Washington has been the subject of so many that a reader might sigh, ‘Why do we need another biography of Washington.’ It is instead an analysis of the Washington’s growth as a politician, and how he carefully crafted his public persona so as to create an almost mythical image of himself, and hence capture the title, Father of Our Country.
“Phenomenal luck is required to become a national hero,” writes Ferling, and Washington had that luck. That a Virginia slave-owning aristocrat would rise to the preeminent position in American political life is a wondrous story.
Washington had a lot of things working against him. Unlike many of the Founding Fathers he did not have a formal education. He was not a great writer, nor was he a brilliant orator. In the continental congress he rarely spoke, and unlike Adams and Jefferson, he was not a intellectual driving force behind this new American revolution. His military successes in leading the Continental Army were far outnumbered by his failures on the battlefield. He was often indecisive in battle, and had a tendency to blame others for his failures, and to steal the credit for success when others deserved it. So how did he manage to be regarded, both by his contemporaries and us today as the leading citizen of this new nation? That is the story which Ferling tells.
Washington was a brilliant observer. He learned from his many failures. He was tall and dashing in his military uniform, and he inspired the men he led. He was a survivor. His Continental Army should have dissolved into desertion many times, but he always held them together to fight another day.
Washington was highly ambitious for power and position, but was extremely adept at convincing those around him that he acquiesced to any position he was offered only for the good of the cause. He was a highly skilled politician who was able to convince those around him and the generations which followed that he was a dispassionate statesman who had no interest in his own public esteem, but was only out for the good of America. And he was just plain lucky. Or as some would have said in that day, perhaps Providence decreed that this man needed to succeed so that this new nation could be founded.
Ferling has a way of writing about Washington which pulls back from making conclusions about his character, but rather gives the reader the raw material with which to make those conclusions. If one desires to think of Washington as the honest man who would never tell a lie (like the apocryphal story about telling his father about chopping down the cherry tree) this is not a good book to read. Ferling probes the letters of Washington for the many ways in which he spins a story to favor himself, and leaves his readers with the inescapable conclusion that here was a highly ambitious man who was not adverse to twisting the facts to make himself look better. He was a politician from the beginning to end. But he played the game so well, that he was seen by others not to be a politician, but rather one who rose above the petty weaknesses of others.
This book is highly readable and never bogs down in detail, but rather the author weaves his many facts about Washington’s life to tell an engaging story. That story shows that Washington’s greatness was indeed mythical, but not quite in the way all have imagined for over two hundred years. Washington self-consciously painted his own portrait with the same skill with which Gilbert Stuart painted him. He was a master of making the image that we see today. He emerges from Ferling’s book as flawed, human, and ambitious, but also as a figure who exhibited weakness, yet triumphed over it,...all to our benefit as Americans. Ferling peels away the myth, yet we still see Washington as deserving of a place in our hearts as the Father of Our Country.
This is not a biography about George Washington. That is good, since Washington has been the subject of so many that a reader might sigh, ‘Why do we need another biography of Washington.’ It is instead an analysis of the Washington’s growth as a politician, and how he carefully crafted his public persona so as to create an almost mythical image of himself, and hence capture the title, Father of Our Country.
“Phenomenal luck is required to become a national hero,” writes Ferling, and Washington had that luck. That a Virginia slave-owning aristocrat would rise to the preeminent position in American political life is a wondrous story.
Washington had a lot of things working against him. Unlike many of the Founding Fathers he did not have a formal education. He was not a great writer, nor was he a brilliant orator. In the continental congress he rarely spoke, and unlike Adams and Jefferson, he was not a intellectual driving force behind this new American revolution. His military successes in leading the Continental Army were far outnumbered by his failures on the battlefield. He was often indecisive in battle, and had a tendency to blame others for his failures, and to steal the credit for success when others deserved it. So how did he manage to be regarded, both by his contemporaries and us today as the leading citizen of this new nation? That is the story which Ferling tells.
Washington was a brilliant observer. He learned from his many failures. He was tall and dashing in his military uniform, and he inspired the men he led. He was a survivor. His Continental Army should have dissolved into desertion many times, but he always held them together to fight another day.
Washington was highly ambitious for power and position, but was extremely adept at convincing those around him that he acquiesced to any position he was offered only for the good of the cause. He was a highly skilled politician who was able to convince those around him and the generations which followed that he was a dispassionate statesman who had no interest in his own public esteem, but was only out for the good of America. And he was just plain lucky. Or as some would have said in that day, perhaps Providence decreed that this man needed to succeed so that this new nation could be founded.
Ferling has a way of writing about Washington which pulls back from making conclusions about his character, but rather gives the reader the raw material with which to make those conclusions. If one desires to think of Washington as the honest man who would never tell a lie (like the apocryphal story about telling his father about chopping down the cherry tree) this is not a good book to read. Ferling probes the letters of Washington for the many ways in which he spins a story to favor himself, and leaves his readers with the inescapable conclusion that here was a highly ambitious man who was not adverse to twisting the facts to make himself look better. He was a politician from the beginning to end. But he played the game so well, that he was seen by others not to be a politician, but rather one who rose above the petty weaknesses of others.
This book is highly readable and never bogs down in detail, but rather the author weaves his many facts about Washington’s life to tell an engaging story. That story shows that Washington’s greatness was indeed mythical, but not quite in the way all have imagined for over two hundred years. Washington self-consciously painted his own portrait with the same skill with which Gilbert Stuart painted him. He was a master of making the image that we see today. He emerges from Ferling’s book as flawed, human, and ambitious, but also as a figure who exhibited weakness, yet triumphed over it,...all to our benefit as Americans. Ferling peels away the myth, yet we still see Washington as deserving of a place in our hearts as the Father of Our Country.
posted by Pat Dague @ 11:04 PM
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