His Excellency: George Washington

What would American history be without George Washington? He led the Continental Army to ultimate victory, presided at the Constitutional Convention, and served as the first President of the United States. Washington is often viewed as a mythic figure, unlike more accessible founding fathers such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton. In his one volume biography His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis (Vintage Books, 2005), the Pulitzer Prize winning author lays out Washington’s life: his triumphs, his defeats, his strengths, and his weaknesses. No stone or wooden idol, Washington was deeply involved in, and deeply felt, all the major issues of the time including the fraught issue of slavery. He left a political (as well as material) legacy that resonates even today, 220 years after his death. Join us in reading and discussing Ellis's nuanced biography of George Washington as we delve into the complex man behind the public figure.