Dimensions
165 x 240 x 32mm
A major new book on George Washington by a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian: Edward J. Larson recovers a crucially important-yet always overlooked-chapter of Washington's life, revealing for the first time in full how Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as president.
In December 1783, having achieved victory over the British, George Washington stepped down as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. The undisputed hero of the American Revolution, he was "the most famous man in the world," according to observers of the era. And yet he planned to retire permanently from public life and return to his Virginia estate at Mt. Vernon. Over the next two and half years, he did just that, growing his operation into one of the most profitable and advanced farms in the country.
Meanwhile with Washington gone from the stage, the new American nation was faltering. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states were very loosely united and the federal government too weak, with little executive leadership. Unable to tax its population or come to any consensus on national policy, the country floundered. Its debts mounted; with no national army or navy, it grew vulnerable. It was time for a reboot. When the Constitutional Convention was called to address these problems, it faced long odds. The states were simply too fractious, and after their experience with the British Empire, they were highly resistant to a strong central government. It became clear to Jefferson, Madison, and the other Founding Fathers that there was only one person in the country capable of bringing the states together: George Washington. Washington himself had grown increasingly concerned with the country's direction. And so in the summer of 1787, Washington rode from Mt. Vernon, out of a contented retirement, to preside over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
Although Washington is often overlooked in most accounts of the Convention, this masterful new history from Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward J. Larson argues that Washington played a vital role in shaping the Constitution--and an absolutely essential role in uniting the states and the delegates to accept the final version. If Washington was for the Constitution, the delegates reasoned, it must be worthy.
For those who remained reluctant, he exerted intense private pressure. When it passed to the individual states for ratification, public opinion was swayed immeasurably by the fact that Washington had indicated his willingness to serve as the first President, allaying fears that the office would become a path to monarchy. In 1788, the Constitution was officially ratified, and the Electoral College unanimously voted for Washington to become president. On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office, and at that moment, the United States of America was truly born.
