His Excellency: George Washington
by Joseph J. Ellis
A shorter, interpretive Washington: the ambition under the reserve, the realism, and the decisions (resigning his commission, leaving after two terms) that made the republic. Ellis is elegant and brisk.
Read it if…
you want Washington in three hundred pages.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you want every detail; see Chernow.
Try instead: Truman →
Three things you will actually use
- Character is made visible in what you decline.
- Realism beats ideology.
- Leave before they ask.
Do this first
Read the chapter on the surrender of command.
Our verdict
Washington, brisk.
See the book →
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