You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

by Alexis Coe

I began to dig into the primary sources they cited and was, almost immediately, vexed by some of their interpretations and the opportunities they missed. They seemed bound to follow rote protocols, distancing us from a man we really ought to know better. And then we, in turn, end up inadvertently perpetuating so many stereotypes and exaggerations.

Everyone knows that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, a woman is probably a shrew. And shrews, of course, need taming.

Yet Washington and the chiefs had one thing in common: an enmity toward the French. As he well knew, the Half-King believed they had captured, cooked, and eaten his father. He exploited this the first chance he got.

“If [Washington] does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

When France experienced its own, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, he did not step down from power, but rather declared himself emperor. Years later, he would say, “They wanted me to be another Washington.”13 But he couldn’t be. No one could.

Above all, he firmly believed in religious freedom; during his presidency, he would write as much to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island.

He loved renovations and was excited to oversee the construction of Federal City.