WASHINGTON, A LIFE by RON CHENOW (2010)

George Washington often gave credit to Providence for the success of the American Revolution and for the survival of the fledgling United States. Whether by "providence" he meant good fortune or God is sometimes unclear, but it is clear that it was indeed providential that America had George Washington as its first leader. His honesty, dignity, fair-mindedness, apparent lack of personal ambition for aggrandizement, and unfailing dedication to the concept of a democratic union kept the American Revolution from devolving into the chaos following the French Revolution or the elevation of a despot following the Russian Revolution. This very fine biography of our first president presents Washington as a man not without faults but as the perfect man for that crucial time and place.

Washington was not the greatest of generals; he made mistakes and miscalculations and the victory at Yorktown could not have occurred without the help of the French, but he accomplished something nobody else could have -- he held a ragtag army together through harsh winters and insufficient provisions to keep the cause alive. He was not the supreme intellect of the Founding Fathers, but he was apparently the supreme in terms of character.

Here are a few things I learned from reading this biography (which all well-educated people probably already know):

*Relatively few actual battles took place, with relatively few casualties, especially in contrast to the Civil War.
*Rather than enriching himself through his position of power, Washington almost bankrupted himself by accepting the presidency.
*Although he was a slave holder (as were most of the Founding Fathers), Washington always realized the injustice and freed his slaves in his will.
*I already knew that Thomas Jefferson was a two-faced snake of the first order, but I did not previously know that James Madison was almost as bad.

Author Ron Chenow writes in a very readable and graceful style, but I must warn that this biography is very long -- 800+ pages. It took me two weeks to finish this, reading three or four hours a day. It is well researched, and does not make too much use of assumptions by the author as to the intentions and thoughts of the subject, as I have found that some biographers do.

Washington, A Life was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2011.