By John P. Kaminski
John Kaminski, founder of The Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, paints an intimate word portrait of the Father of America, George Washington, in this collection of quotations by and about the man who fellow founding figure Henry Knox eulogized as: "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
Perhaps no other person could ever achieve the preeminent position in American history and culture occupied by George Washington. Born in 1732, Washington’s life–long commitment to self-improvement and discipline helped him become a legend in his own lifetime. Whether as a statesman, military man, or America’s first president, Washington created a legacy that has scarcely diminished in over two centuries. Yet the passage of time and the superlatives reserved for Washington have knit together and made it difficult to find the real man. During his decades of research on the U.S. Constitution and America’s founding figures, historian and editor Kaminski has amassed an extraordinary body of quotations that brings us closer to the essence of this great leader.
This book is the second in Kaminski’s Word Portraits Series for the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. His first portrait, Alexander Hamilton: From Obscurity to Greatness, can be found here: Alexander Hamilton
