American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington

From historian and Pulitzer Prize–finalist H. W. Brands comes a vivid portrait of George Washington, an iconic leader who steered the American army to victory and set our nation on its path to democracy and freedom.

“With this masterly volume, Brands has further solidified his standing as one of our nation’s greatest historians. American Patriarch is by turns brilliant and bold.”
—Justin Vaughn, founder and director of the Presidential Greatness Project

George Washington was a singular figure in American history, and he remains unmatched. In his military career, Washington was more than just a leader; he was the embodiment of the American Revolution. As the first president of the United States, he established expectations that have shaped the presidency ever since. Other men gained military fame; some of these became president. But in American Patriarch , scholar and master storyteller H. W. Brands argues that none so towered above his contemporaries in both war and peace as Washington.

In a compelling narrative that confounds expectations, Brands portrays a Washington who perseveres through a series of failures and setbacks, attributing to him a resolute will and uncovering qualities that made him a model of American virtue. With its dazzling cast of characters—from the French and Indians on the Ohio frontier; to the Marquis de Lafayette, Benedict Arnold and Baron von Steuben on the revolutionary battlefield; to Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton locked in conflict during Washington’s presidency— American Patriarch shows that it is Washington above all who wrested America free from British control, gave credibility to the Constitution and crafted the norms of governing that would steady America as a nation for generations to follow. Drawing on diaries, letters, speeches and broadsides of the day, American Patriarch brings to startling life the man who was called on time and again by his peers to lead.