But, he was also slaveowner, and unyielding taskmaster, somewhat vain and a failure of business. Unlike his peers, jefferson, madison, hamilton, and adams who are all college graduates, washington handling the equivalent of a seventh gradeuie education. Brown was born in brooklyn and he is an honors graduate of both yelling cambridge. Hes considered to be one of the most distinguished commentatorse on politics, business, and finance in america today. The st. Louis postdispatch has hailed him as a preeminent partner from the generation in the New York Times calls him and elegant architect of in history. 2000 for his biography won the inaugural George Washington book price for early american history. Mr. Chair now brings political perspective to the turnouttoday. Today. Listen to his words, president washington, like president obama enters the Office Opening for reasonable and sensible discourse. E. Hoping to ensure now partisan politics. The twoparty system emerges rapidly from his own cabinet. Hamilton and jefferson heading up different wings. Headin for two years there seems to be a political honeymoon for washington to do a stature. Once they start in the opposition, the attacks are ferocious and relentless. Tionar washington is accused of being the british double agent during the revolutionary war. Sound familiar . Ladies and gentlemen, lets hear more about George Washington from his biographer. Please join me in welcoming mr. Ron chernow. R. [applause] thank you for that wonderful introduction. Its always so thrilled to bend here at the miami book fair. February 17, 2 months before George Washington was sworn and he received a fascinating letter from europe reporting for the first time in the sudden madness of king george the third. He said that in the kings delirious state he conceived himself to be in no less a personage than George Washington of the continental army. In the morris added, youve apparently done something or another that sticks must in the stomach. Indeed, washington had. Who is this commoner that was such a legend in his own time and ever sense that he managed to invade the feverishctually dreamworld of the drainage royal george. I was interested in this when i was writing my biography. I was writing a series of letters that hamilton wrote that led to hamilton quitting. In these letters, hamilton described working for washingto. And said washington was moody, irritable and temperamental. On s even something informed hiso father and the of more than a touch of youthful bravado. He said, the great anna and i came to an open rupture. He shall repent his ill humor. I remember sitting there stunned. Ill humor . Er did hamilton mean to imply that the saintly father of our country was a sulky, volatile boss . This was far from the truthle about George Washington. S i hope in this book is about lavishing praise to washingtons courage and fortitude patriotism and integrity. In fact, my book was an effort to recreate the charisma and magnetism and so excited washingtons contemporaries that have gotten it lost in the translation to prosperity. Hempstead hamilton painted weree portraits of people. His comments opened a window into George Washingtons emotion, the emotion swirling around inside him. Emotions that he kept in checkth with fermentable selfcontrol. Re i learned George Washington was not this worthy figure plan butt a bit boring taken up residence in the imagination. Revolutionaries are not made of such tame stuff. Ff. I wondered even if there were so many books about washington whether washington, seemingly the most familiar figure in history was perhaps at bottom the least familiar figure. I thought perhaps there are other significant dimensions of his personality that enable me as a biographer to bring them to a vivid and threedimensional life that would make him immediate incomprehensible to people. Im here to report after six years of intensive work that i found a George Washington who is passionate, complex, sensitive, man of many moods, of strong and fiery opinions, a fierceonist wh perfectionist who put the force of his personality under that stork facade that we know so well. In a very laudable desire we sanded down the rough edges of his personality and turned him into an impossibly stiff and lifeless figure where hes standing there with his arm rigidly thrust out. It stands to reason that wooden figure could never have defeated the british empire. The mightiest machine of the 18th century could not have presided over the constitutionae convention. Cannot have forged the office of the presidency. Do all the man was able to do those things mustve been a force of nature, although he kept that force carefully under wraps. In order to fashion a fresh portion of washington you have to take up a sharp machete in the hacking his way through a dense jungle of myths and misconceptions about georgeewayh washington. And mis ive discovered that welleducated americans their minds are so cluttered with all of these tales. So lme retire some of the most egregious errors. You have already heard the cherry tree story was prevention. Was invented charlotte after washingtons death. When washington died theres a tremendous hunger for personal stories that would humanize him. Her friend rushed into that vacuum armed with these fictitious tales. The story has been unfortunate for many reasons. E and mo it has been used to terrorize americas schoolchildren for 200 years now. [laughter] s also created a very misleading image of George Washington as a cold character when he was anything but. Another common myth is the wooden tooth. s estrangement because digestive enzymes would rot would in the mouth. He started losing his teeth in his 20s. By the time he became president he had one tooth left in his mouth. A very brave and lonely left by custard. He had a full set of upper and yower dentures may. Theres a little round hole where the bicuspid was. Theyre painful to examine. I can only imagine how painful they were to wear. They would have been scraping against his gums. They were made from elephant or walrus ivory and inserted with human tooth. In 1784 he bought nine teeth from slaves, possibly his own that were inserted into those ivy frames. The 18th century it wasyo routine for people to advertisen to advertise their buying teeth. They said white teeth for white people. So washington who is doingn waso something if indeed he had nine teeth from his own slaves. What happened over time as the every age it look like wood. Ig the most significant thing i discovered about the dentures, they were connected in the back by curved metal springs. The only way washington couldve held them in a small was byuld d keeping is mouth firmly compressed. So whenever he opened his mouth it relax the pressure on the springs and theres a possibility the teeth would comp flying out of his mouth, whether its incidental or not he gave a large number speeches, only a few paragraphs in length. Another common myth i found universal is that george[l washington more weight. Univers how did he get that strange and distinctive hairdo . He fluffed out the hair and the twin wings on other side. Sprink he then sprinkled powder, grayish powder on his hair, very common at the time. Gr if you look closely if he is wearing a black velvet suit you see a fine grayish dust on his shoulders, assuring the powder had sprinkled down onto shoulders. Most significantly he took the remaining hairs over a snack and tied in a black satin bow. The style that was called aovers ponytail was called acute. Even though his hairstyle looks very quaint and genteel, it wasn considered the manly look. Anyone seen washington walked down the street wouldve said there was a general. S the finally, everyone repeat said he was 6foot three and a half. E ih i discovered as i looked into this, it rested on a single piece of evidence which was after he died and was measured for his casket. He measured 6foot three and half. There was seen to settle the controversy, right. Down in wrong. To an experiment. By down in bed on your back and relax. What you see is here fee will fall for, your toes will point out word. If rigor mortis would decided it would add about three and half inches to your height. I collected about 40 quotations from contemporary letters and diaries of people who commented on washingtons height, and 35 of them guess correctly that he was 6 feet tall. Then came the clincher. N. Washington then ordered his clothing from london. Every six months he sat down and gave his london taylor a precis description of his physique described himself as a man who was exactly 6 feet tall. The one person you cant lie to about your height unless you want to look like a laughingstocks or taylor. We can consider the case close. He was 6 feet tall which was relatively tall for that time. The associated washington with the revolutionary war but he spent five and half years fighting in the french indian ai war. It was so precocious he was kind of a prodigy. By the age of 23 he was a colonel, put in charge of all the military forces in virginia, at a time when virginia was most populous and powerful state in the union. His perseverance, bravery was already the stuff of legends. But the young washington is not the wise paragon of later years. His craft, dogged and pushy in his pursuit of money, status, power. He first rebels against the british for personal reasons. The british tonight him the Road Commission in the army he covets. They sell him shoddy overpriced goods for london. F they been a settlements west of the mounds at a time when washington is amassing real estate there. Theyre bad for business, thereby for your career. So those early sections you feel like youre in the company of historic greatness. Even though their admirable and extraordinary traits that foreshadow wondrous things to come. The bane of his early years was not royal george, but someone infinitely more formidable. His mother. Mary washington. A she is a very selfcentered. Mo we have no comments about herr praising the commanderinchief, if even if she was still a live when he became president. No evidence that she attended the wedding of george and martha washington. No evidence that she visited them in mount vernon although she lived in fredericksburg which was not far away. Historic rumor has take to is the during the war. Georges father died when he was 11. George was the else the sun. Very felt like george should be take care of her rather than pursuing his career. When hes in his 20s on the western frontier he receives a letter from his mother say she urgently needs a new duchess serving ten butter as if he supposed to drop all of his duties and fetches poor mother some butter. Late in the revolutionary war, washington receives a letter from the speaker of the assembly who says something has been going on in the Virginia State capital but nobody has a cruise to tell you about. Your mother has been here for a couple months. She has applied for a specialpi petition for emergency relief claiming poverty and internet abandonment from you know who, the commanderinchief. Washington son have bought his mothers house in fredericksburg and given her a lot of money and that was his reward. I speculate in the book the first great general that he ever had to do battle with was in fact his mother. But this difficult mother to deal with and a father who died when george was 11, its no wonder he doesnt start out as a saint. In the mid 1760s with the out a stamp act and the towns duties in the Boston Tea Party and the intolerable acts, washington realizes on his personal grievances reflect a larger political problem on the deck has been stacked against thests. Colonists. Then suddenly and gloriously all of his feelings about the british are elevated into universal principles of freedom, liberty, and justice. He begins to find his political voice. The voice is strong and militant. Was if ever there was a man who is noble by circumstance. Y a just if ever there is a man fired up by a just and righteous cause, that man was George Washington. He transcends his origin in a way that has few if any perils in american history. If we know and events in the revolutionary war we know him crossing the Delaware Valley forge. Both are a little misleading. Washington deserves full credit in his crossing the delaware argue that washington was at best a midland general, he lost more battles than anyone. But i argue that you cant judge him by the usual scorecard because its a rare case in history what hes doing between battles is arguably more important than what he does on the battlefield. Is singlehandedly holding this army together for eight and a half years in the face of constant shortages of men, money, clothing, blanket shoes, gunpowder, on and on. Only George Washington has thece strength, character, and purpose to maintain the cost. Ther we know about the bleak winter at valley forge, there are many other winters that were just as bleak as valley forge. Nobody but washington wouldve had the courage and stamina to hold this army together. And the met holding the american nation together. Please read the book and write me a letter and tell me who couldve stepped into washington shoes in this battle. There are other generals who were his equal, but they are jockeying for power, there jocktracked, George Washington had a simplicity. If you give him a goal to pursue it would harness the energy and fortitude in his nature to achieve it. Yet a focus, discipline, and drive that was truly unique. Whatever his shortcomings as a politician, he was a genius as politician. Ing this consider this record. He was unanimously elected commanderinchief by the continental congress. He was unanimously elected president of the Constitutional Convention. He was twice unanimously elected president of the United States by the electoral college. Honestly that will never happen, again. He does all of these things without the benefit of a single focus group or Political Action committee. Hes responding to his own instincts. Because he never seem to be grasping for power people were more eager to give it to him. They wanted him out of retirement, the more reluctant he was the more people wanted him. As and t his presence in philadelphia was thtal. The Constitutional Convention was held behind closed doors. Its washingtons position that reassures the skittish publicc outside that no sinister is asing hashed inside. This assumption that washington will be the first president that emboldens the delegates to create a powerful office of the presidency at a time after the war. There is an understandable fear of exaggerated power. Article one of the constitution, by design is about congress people. People felt as the Peoples Branch of government, that should be preeminent. Article two is by design to be short, vague and general. Washington has spent more than eight years dealing with an internally squabbling congress relates no legislature could provide coherent and consistentr leadership in its washington who realizes it will be the executive branch that will spearhead domestic and foreign policy. Were still living with washingtons legacy today. Matt we assume as a matter of course that the president will defineat the political agenda. Theres also no mention in the constitution of the cabinet. T. Washington creates the first cabinet. There were only three members, ms. Alexander hamilton and thomas jefferson, secretary ofa. State. I think per pound the best cabinet will ever have by far, he assembles the american allstar team. Eam. Like all good executives washington was not afraid to hire people who were smarterti than he was. He was very smart indeed and he felt fully confident to be ablee to control these headstrong prima donnas. Ma i know were all gazing back and i think its right to do so in terms of the brilliance and the integrity of these people, but it was a nasty political time. I did a piece of the wall street journal on the founders, for instance john adams and benjamin franklin, his entire life has been a continued insult to decency and good manners. Franklin set of atoms, hess often an honest man but sometimes in some things, out oa his senses. This is good stuff compared to adams they called him the best or brat of a sketch peddler. They said hamilton had a superabundance of secretions which he cannot plan cause enough to draw. Thesnt get stronger than that. Hamilton, hamilton gave as good as he got and he rejoined, shoots similar to say that john adams is as wicked as he is mad. The only one who rises above this namecalling is George Washington. The beginning of his term his a political honeymoon but then the twoparty system brings up in the Opposition Party attacks some relentlessly for plotting to restore monarchy to being accused of being a british double agent of the revolutionary war. R. He thinks some of the chargesths today made in the press are preposterous, i was struck during the book. One was how ambivalent washington felt about his ownu w fame. Wherever he went he was faded. He was not a gladhanding backslapping personality. It is not a good speaker, but wherever he went he had to give a few wellchosen words. When he was president he made a tour of the states, they would send out a delegation of dignitaries and he would drive an hour to earlier to bypassarra them. He would write in his diary, the dignitaries were supposed to come and escort me out of town. S i woke up at 5 00 a. M. Let before they arrive. Also find the aphrodisiac a in wawerful force, washington constantly had beautiful women around him. When he was doing this trip of the 13 states he wrote every night in his diary he would record the number of women. He would say arrived in new haven, there were 62 handsome and welldressed ladies. Then he would write the next night i was in hartford, theres dinner in my honor, there 73 fashionable and elegant ladies. She was going with a tiny entourage. I guarantee one doing the counting of the ladies was the father of our country. The travesty of our home he becomes a prisoner of his celebrity. Hes warned that he should get a special expense account to entertain people. Hundreds, finally thousands to send in mount vernon, washington is an impeccably polite man. He feeds them, houses them. The saddest line in his correspondence he rates, quote dined with only mrs. Washington, which i believe is