Appearance
The earliest known portrait of Washington was painted in 1772 by Charles Willson Peale. A long line of painters and sculptors followed, and their work is reproduced in Gustavus A. Eisen et al., Portraits of Washington, 3 vol. (1932); and criticized in Justin Winsor (ed.), Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. 7 (1888, reprinted 1967). Washington himself thought highly of the likeness by Joseph Wright, painted in 1782. According to Winsor, the favourite profile is Jean-Antoine Houdon’s, while Gilbert Stuart has been popularly preferred for the full-face portrait and John Trumbull’s florid paintings for the whole figure. Stuart’s pictures are somewhat idealized, while all the later portraits suffer from the fact that the artificial teeth worn by Washington in later years altered the expression of his face. Houdon’s statue hardly does justice to Washington’s imposing stature, dignified carriage, and great poise. But the Houdon bust, modeled from life, is excellent.
Washington’s writings
John C. Fitzpatrick (ed.), The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799, 39 vol. (1931–44, reprinted 1972), is a full compilation, excluding only the diaries; these were published separately as Diaries of George Washington, 1748–1799, 4 vol. (1925, reissued 1971); and Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig (eds.), The Diaries of George Washington, 6 vol. (1976–79). Dorothy Twohig (ed.), The Journal of the Proceedings of the President, 1793–1797 (1981), is an annotated executive daybook covering years for most of which the diaries have not been found. A more recent edition of Washington’s correspondence and documents is The Papers of George Washington, in four separate series: W.W. Abbot et al. (eds.), Colonial Series (1983– ); Philander D. Chase (ed.), Revolutionary War Series (1985– ); W.W. Abbot et al. (eds.), Confederation Series (1992– ); and Dorothy Twohig (ed.), Presidential Series (1987– ).
Biographies
Much the fullest and best biography and a corrective to earlier works is that by Douglas Southall Freeman, George Washington, A Biography, 7 vol. (1948–57)—vol. 7 was written by J.A. Carroll and M.W. Ashworth. M.L. Weems, A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits, of General George Washington (1800), was the first edition of the utterly unreliable but most widely distributed early biography, which has been reissued in numerous later editions, often titled The Life of Washington; the 5th ed., retitled The Life of George Washington the Great (1806), introduced the fictitious anecdote about the hatchet and the cherry tree. Among the best modern works are Shelby Little, George Washington (1929, reissued 1962); John C. Fitzpatrick, George Washington Himself (1933, reprinted 1975); James Thomas Flexner, George Washington: The Forge of Experience, 1732–1775 (1965), George Washington in the American Revolution, 1775–1783 (1968, reissued 1972), George Washington and the New Nation, 1783–1793 (1970), George Washington: Anguish and Farewell (1793–1799) (1972), and Washington: The Indispensable Man (1974, reissued 1984); Marcus Cunliffe, George Washington, Man and Monument, rev. ed. (1982); and Richard Brookhiser, Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington (1996). Other works dealing with Washington’s life and career are Charles Cecil Wall, George Washington, Citizen-Soldier (1980), emphasizing his personal life; John R. Alden, George Washington: A Biography (1984), focusing on his role in the military and as president; Robert F. Jones, George Washington, rev. ed. (1986); John E. Ferling, The First of Men: A Life of George Washington (1988), seeking the correlation between the man and his career, and Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution (2000); Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington (2004); David Hackett Fischer, Washington’s Crossing (2004); and Peter R. Henriques, Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington (2006). Rosemarie Zagarri (ed.), David Humphreys’ Life of General Washington: With George Washington’s “Remarks” (1991), compiles biographical details written in 1787–89 by a Washington aide-de-camp, complete with Washington’s comments and corrections.
Presidency and political career
Washington’s presidency is examined in Thomas G. Frothingham, Washington, Commander in Chief (1930); Forrest McDonald, The Presidency of George Washington (1974, reissued 1988), a study of the political and economic aspects of his administration; Frank T. Reuter, Trials and Triumphs: George Washington’s Foreign Policy (1983), a useful introductory study; and Richard Norton Smith, Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation (1993), a detailed treatment of Washington’s presidential days. Washington’s role in determining the focus and development of the U.S. Constitution is discussed in John Corbin, The Unknown Washington (1930, reprinted 1972); and Glenn A. Phelps, George Washington and American Constitutionalism (1993).
Military career
Analyses of his military career can be found in Charles H. Ambler, George Washington and the West (1936, reprinted 1971); Hugh Cleland, George Washington in the Ohio Valley (1955); George Athan Billias (ed.), George Washington’s Generals (1964, reprinted 1994), with an essay on Washington’s generalship; Burke Davis, George Washington and the American Revolution (1975), an account of his role as military commander; Edmund S. Morgan, The Genius of George Washington (1980), a brief study; Don Higginbotham, George Washington and the American Military Tradition (1985), an examination of his public life and life in the military prior to his becoming president; and Thomas A. Lewis, For King and Country: The Maturing of George Washington, 1748–1760 (1993), with emphasis on the French and Indian War.
Special topics
Valuable studies on special aspects of Washington’s life include Paul Leland Haworth, George Washington, Farmer (1915, reissued as George Washington, Country Gentleman, 1925); Eugene E. Prussing, The Estate of George Washington, Deceased (1927); Halsted L. Ritter, Washington as a Business Man (1931); Charles Wyllys Stetson, Washington and His Neighbors (1956); Fritz Hirschfeld, George Washington and Slavery: A Documentary Portrayal (1997); and Henry Wiencek, An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America (2003).
Paul Leicester Ford, The True George Washington (1896, reprinted 1971; also published as George Washington, 1970), is a classic examination of all sides of Washington’s career and personality. Charles Moore, The Family Life of George Washington (1926), is a look at the president’s private life. Paul K. Longmore, The Invention of George Washington (1988), is a study that suggests that Washington created his own public image. That public image and its meaning are further analyzed in Garry Wills, Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment (1984); and Barry Schwartz, George Washington: The Making of an American Symbol (1987).
Anne Hollingsworth Wharton, Martha Washington (1897, reprinted 1968), is an excellent biography of Washington’s wife; it is supplemented by Paul Wilstach, Mount Vernon: Washington’s Home and the Nation’s Shrine (1916, reissued 1930). Correspondence to and from Martha Washington, 1757–1802, is found in Joseph E. Fields (compiler), Worthy Partner: The Papers of Martha Washington (1994).
Allan Nevins The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
