Review – Washington: The Indispensable Man

Washington: The Indispensable Man, by James Thomas Flexner.

My wife is on a quest to read biographies of each president. I don’t feel the same urge, but I did read one: George Washington.This treatment by James Thomas Flexner is a very sympathetic portrayal of his life.

Washington started in “the minor gentry” but ended up connecting to the family of Lord Fairfax (a big deal in colonial times). Washington parlayed connections and hard work into becoming a surveyor, then a soldier, and president.

The second Continental Congress named him Commander in Chief of the American army, which consisted of… himself. I was struck by how many challenges he had with people he trusted who were really working against him. The Revolutionary War was a narrow win, but a win. Washington came out well respected.

He was initially unwilling, but let himself be persuaded to participate with the Constitutional Convention, the first and then the second presidency. (He had been hoping to retire.) His struggles never really ended.

Washington had hoped the country could avoid partisanship, but it nearly did in his presidency.

Flexner keeps his story moving well. It’s told sequentially from youth to death, with occasional breakouts for context. I’m not inspired to move on to his 4-volume version, but I’m glad I read this one.