Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment

Very little in our high school or college histories prepares us for the Washington we encounter in these pages. The roles of revolutionary warrior and first president have been reprised often in other countries so we are now over-familiar with someone being called 'the George Washington of someplace or other'. Wills points out that Washington, by force of his personality and integrity came to stand for the American people and republic before the existence of either was widely acknowledged. Washington was a hero, but he was a hero in times that had a very different idea of what heroism was. Wills' job in this book is to recreate the perspective of the enlightenment and then let us see Washington through that perspective in three great moments of his career. Interestingly, two of these moments-his resignation as Commander of the Army and surrender of the presidency in his farewell address involve the relinquishment of power. The third, his lending his name and prestige to the Constitutional Convention involved the risk of ruining his reputation. How the Age of the Enlightenment set the stage and how Washington and his contemporaries used that stage is a story that's both fascinating and humbling. On a less elevated note, both my copy and one at the Philadelphia Free Library are missing pages 183-198. I hope that when this book is reprinted, they will be restored. Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel and New Short Course in Wine,The

In this magnificent book, Garry Wills presents a shrewd, learned analysis of the reasons for George Washington's central role in the American Revolution and the creation of the American Republic. Far better than Joseph Ellis's HIS EXCELLENCY: GEORGE WASHINGTON, this fine book examines the three critical episodes in Washington's public life -- his resignation in 1783, at the Revolution's close, as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army; his role in the framing and adoption and effectuation of the Constitution; and his decision to retire from the Presidency after two terms of office. Washington was, as Wills calls him, a virtuoso of resignation, and Wills's fine book explains why. It should be restored to print.