Happy President’s Day! Thought I’d share a personal reflection and a book review.
General George Washington and the Continental Army spent two brutal winters camped near my forefathers home in Morristown, New Jersey. Robert Goble, Esq. was the magistrate of the town (or so the historians believe) and he along with his son Jonas Goble had a farm directly between the town center (where General Washington stayed) and the army barracks just outside of town. The Daughters of the American Revolution have a hand drawn period map of the area in their archives. The region is all part of Morristown National Historical Park now.
My family genealogy has multiple lines leading back to the Revolutionary War. For that matter, we have lines leading back to the Puritans. Almost all of them arrived in the 17th Century and almost all of them arrived from England.
A hand drawn map of Morristown in 1780, showing the farms of Robert and Jonas Goble. The map is part of the DAR archives.
Why do I bring this up? Because I just finished reading Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. It seems odd that yet another biography of Washington would be published, but the demand for such history appears to be insatiable. I suppose that’s appropriate given the importance of the man. Besides, as Chernow says in his opening, the goal was to write a complete biography of the man that delves into his character.
The book may or not deliver on the promise. It really depends on how much you know about our first President. If you have read other biographies, you are unlikely to have a better understanding of the man from this book. You’ll certainly learn more about what he did (the book is over 900 pages so it clearly contains more than the average biography). But the character of the man, the unique person behind the facade, is always hard to grasp with Washington. He’s just too much of a mystery in some ways. George Washington is one of a kind.
What the book makes abundantly clear is how fortunate we are to have him as the father of our country. Having Washington lead the Continental Army, lead the Constitutional Convention, and serve as the first President is only part of our fortune. Our real debt stems from how he filled those positions with character, class, constraint, humility, and skill.
There is almost a biblical proportion to his character. Washington had the opportunity to leverage his revolutionary victory and establish an entirely new monarchy in a rising empire. But he walked away from the chance and went back to his farm. Later asked to be President, a position he could have easily held for the rest of his life, he retired after two terms. How rare is it for a mere human to display such humility not once but twice? When historians search the record for somebody who did the same thing they come up with exactly ONE example: Cincinnatus. You know you’ve done something special in life when there is only one other historical person you can be compared to.
So Washington is a man who deserves our admiration. And he deserves another biography. If you are a fan of American history, you’ll enjoy this book. And if you have deep roots in that history, as I do, you’ll love each page.
