His Excellency: George Washington

His Excellency: George Washington

Author	Joseph Ellis
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Biography
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date	2004
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages	320 pp (first edition)
ISBN	1-4000-4031-0 hardcover ISBN 1-4000-3253-9 paperback
OCLC	54817026
Dewey Decimal	973.4/1/092 B
LC Class	E312 .E245 2004

His Excellency: George Washington is a 2004 biography of the first President of the United States, General George Washington. It was written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of History at Mount Holyoke College, who specializes in the founding fathers and the revolutionary and federalist periods.

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Transcription

Content

Events and themes

In the text, Ellis focuses on three main areas of Washington's life:

military adventures during the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War)
generalship in the American Revolution
service as first President of the United States.

According to Ellis, Washington was always searching for a means to control his inner passions and his destiny. He fumed under the control that the British held over him during the Colonial America period. In particular, he was frustrated by the lack of respect offered for his military achievements to granting land claim rights in the west. As a general, he bemoaned the lack of control the fledgling Continental Congress had over the colonies which composed it. (Later as President, he supported legislation to ensure control by the federal government over the states.)

As a man forced to make his own destiny, he made the theme of control central to his life. He asserted such control in his decisions at his beloved plantation, Mount Vernon.

Chapters

Preface: The Man In The Moon
Chapter One: Interior Regions
Chapter Two: The Strenuous Squire
Chapter Three: First In War
Chapter Four: Destiny's Child
Chapter Five: Introspective Interlude
Chapter Six: First In Peace
Chapter Seven: Testaments

Quotes

Source:^[1]

He was the epitome of the man's man: physically strong, mentally enigmatic, emotionally restrained.
If his views on slavery were typical of his time and his class, there was one area in which he proved an exception to the pattern of behavior expected of a prominent Virginia gentleman: he was excessively and conspicuously assiduous in the defense of his own interests, especially when he suspected he was being cheated out of money or land.
Because he could not afford to fail, he could not afford to trust. For the rest of his life, all arguments based on the principle of mutual trust devoid of mutual interest struck him as sentimental nonsense.
Ideals were not irrelevant to Washington, but he was deeply suspicious of any idealistic agenda that floated above the realities of power on the ground.
He was that rarest of men: a supremely realistic visionary, a prudent prophet whose final position on slavery served as the capstone to a career devoted to getting the big things right. His genius was his judgment.
Unlike Julius Caesar and Oliver Cromwell before him, and Napoleon, Lenin, and Mao after him, he understood that the greater glory resided in posterity's judgment. If you aspire to live forever in the memory of future generations, you must demonstrate the ultimate self-confidence to leave the final judgment to them. And he did.
Washington's task was to change the improbable into the inevitable.

Reviews

The historian Gordon S. Wood, who has also written about the Revolutionary and federalist periods, wrote in his review in The New Republic that "Ellis's portrait of Washington thus humanizes the man without knocking him off the pedestal where his contemporaries placed him. This Washington is all the greater because he is a real human being with both passions and principles."^[2] He also wrote, "Joseph J. Ellis ... has been a one-man historical machine... Ellis has entered the ranks of that tiny group of popular historians, including David McCullough, Walter Isaacson, and Ron Chernow, who sell copies of their books in the tens and even hundreds of thousands."^[2]

References

^ Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency George Washington. Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
^ ^a ^b Wood, Gordon (16 December 2004). "His Excellency (New Republic book review)". The New Republic (carried at powells.com). Retrieved 2006-08-04.

External links

Steve Inskeep, "New Book Takes Fresh Look at George Washington", Morning Edition, NPR, 25 October 2004
Jonathan Yardley, Review: "'His Excellency, George Washington'", The Washington Post, 28 October 2004
Wood, Gordon (16 December 2004). "His Excellency (New Republic book review)". The New Republic (carried at powells.com). Retrieved 2006-08-04.
His Excellency, George Washington, collected reviews and quotes, Powell's Books
Presentation by Ellis on His Excellency: George Washington, December 16, 2004, C-SPAN
Presentation by Ellis on His Excellency: George Washington, September 24, 2005, C-SPAN

v t e George Washington
1st President of the United States (1789–1797) Senior Officer of the Army (1798–1799) Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (1775–1783) Delegate to the Second Continental Congress (1775) Delegate to the First Continental Congress (1774)
Military career Revolutionary War	Military career French and Indian War Jumonville Glen Battle of Fort Necessity Battle of the Monongahela Forbes Expedition Washington in the American Revolution Commander-in-chief, Continental Army Aides-de-camp Washington's headquarters office and sleeping tent Boston campaign Siege of Boston New York and New Jersey campaign Delaware River crossing Battle of Trenton Battle of the Assunpink Creek Battle of Princeton Philadelphia campaign Battle of Brandywine Battle of Germantown Battle of White Marsh Valley Forge Battle of Monmouth Battles of Saratoga Sullivan Expedition Yorktown campaign Siege of Yorktown Culper Spy Ring Newburgh Conspiracy Newburgh letter Asgill Affair Evacuation Day Resignation as commander-in-chief Badge of Military Merit Purple Heart Washington Before Boston Medal Horses Nelson Blueskin
Other U.S. founding events	Initiated, co-wrote, 1769 Virginia Association Initiated, 1774 Fairfax Resolves Continental Association Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture 1785 Mount Vernon Conference Chairman, 1787 Constitutional Convention George Washington's political evolution
Presidency (timeline)	1788–89 United States presidential election First inauguration inaugural bible 1792 presidential election Second inauguration Reception at Trenton Title of "Mr. President" Cabinet of the United States Secretary of State Attorney General Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of War Judiciary Act of 1789 Nonintercourse Act Whiskey Rebellion Militia Acts of 1792 Coinage Act of 1792 United States Mint United States Capitol cornerstone laying Proclamation of Neutrality Neutrality Act of 1794 Jay Treaty Pinckney's Treaty Slave Trade Act of 1794 Residence Act Thanksgiving Proclamation Farewell Address State of the Union Address 1790 1791 1792 1793 1796 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments John Rutledge Supreme Court nominations
Views and public image	Presidential library The Washington Papers Religious views Washington and slavery Town Destroyer Legacy
Life and homes	Early life Birthplace Ferry Farm boyhood home Mount Vernon Fishery Gristmill Whiskey distillery Woodlawn Plantation Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site Hasbrouck House First Presidential Mansion Second Presidential Mansion President's House, Philadelphia Germantown White House Custis estate Potomac Company James River and Kanawha Canal Mountain Road Lottery Congressional Gold Medal Thanks of Congress President General of the Society of the Cincinnati Washington College Washington and Lee University Electoral history of George Washington Post-presidency of George Washington
Memorials and depictions	Washington, D.C. Washington state Washington Monument Mount Rushmore Washington's Birthday Purple Heart The Apotheosis of Washington Washington Monument (Boonsboro, Maryland) Washington Monument (Baltimore) George Washington (Houdon) plaster copy George Washington (Ceracchi) George Washington (Canova) George Washington (Greenough) George Washington (Trumbull) George Washington and the Revolutionary War Door Revolutionary War Door Washington Crossing the Delaware The Passage of the Delaware General George Washington at Trenton Washington at Verplanck's Point General George Washington Resigning His Commission Surrender of Lord Cornwallis Unfinished portrait Lansdowne portrait The Washington Family portrait Washington at Princeton paintings George Washington Taking the Salute at Trenton Reception at Trenton painting Statues Trenton Battle Monument Princeton Battle Monument Point of View sculpture George Washington on Horseback Austin statue Baltimore statue Boston statue Mexico City statue Morristown statue Newark statue New York City statue Wall Street statue Paris statue Perth Amboy statue Philadelphia statue Portland statue Washington, D.C. statue West Point monument George Washington University Washington University in St. Louis Washington Masonic National Memorial George Washington Memorial Parkway George Washington Bridge Washington and Jefferson National Forests Washington Square Park Arch U.S. Postage stamps Washington-Franklin Issues 1932 bicentennial Currency Washington quarter 50 State Quarters D.C. and territories quarters America the Beautiful quarters American Women quarters Washington dollar Lafayette dollar Silver bullion coins Washington nickel Washington half eagle 250th Anniversary half dollar Mount Rushmore Anniversary coins Mount Washington Cultural depictions George Washington (1984 miniseries 1986 sequel) A More Perfect Union (1989 film) The Crossing (2000 film) We Fight to Be Free (2006 film) Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–2017 series) The War that Made America (2006 miniseries) Washington (2020 miniseries) Hamilton (film)
Related	Bibliography List of articles Founders Online Founding Fathers of the United States Republicanism Federalist Party Federalist Era Virginia dynasty Coat of arms Cherry-tree anecdote River Farm Washington's Crossing Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route 1751 Barbados trip Category Syng inkstand General of the Armies Conway Cabal American Foxhound American Philosophical Society American Revolution patriots Betsy Ross flag Mount Vernon Ladies' Association Mount Vernon replicas George Washington Memorial Building Attempted theft of Washington's skull
Family	Martha Washington (wife) John Parke Custis (stepson) George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson, adopted son) Eleanor Parke Custis (step-granddaughter, adopted daughter) Augustine Washington (father) Mary Ball Washington (mother) Lawrence Washington (half-brother) Augustine Washington Jr. (half-brother) Betty Washington Lewis (sister) Samuel Washington (brother) John A. Washington (brother) Charles Washington (brother) Lawrence Washington (grandfather) John Washington (great-grandfather) George Reade (2nd great-grandfather) Bushrod Washington (nephew)
John Adams → Category

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