George Washington: Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Leader

Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Leader: George Washington, A Biography is a revised edition of the author’s George Washington, published in 1979. Totally updated to include the author’s extensive research conducted in the intervening two decades, the book is a concise but complete biography of Washington as gentleman planter, colonial rebel, American general, and U.S. president. The book provides a full and even-handed portrait of the first president, with special ernphasls on how he took his rather commonplace talents and transformed them with self-discipline into extraordinary leadership in a time of turmoil. The book pays special attention to Washington’s struggles during the Revolution and his tenure as president and deals with his gradual conversion from advocate of non-partisan politics to a strict Federalist. This book synthesizes the current research in a readable style that affords the general reader an understanding of Washington’s special character and his vital role in the making of the United States.