num_pages: 438
description: Perhaps the most revered American of all George Washington has long been considered a stoic leader who held himself above the fray of political infighting. What has gone unnoticed about the much-researched life of Washington is that he was in fact a consummate politician as historian John Ferling shows in this revealing and provocative new book. As leader of the Continental Army Washington's keen political savvy enabled him not only to outwit superior British forces but--even more challenging--to manage the fractious and intrusive Continental Congress. Despite dire setbacks early in the war Washington deftly outmaneuvered rival generals and defused dissent from officers below him ending the war with the status of a national icon. His carefully burnished reputation allowed Washington as president to lead the country under the guise of non-partisanship for almost all of his eight years in office. Washington Ferling argues was not only one of America's most adroit politicians he was easily the most successful of all time--so successful in fact that he is no longer thought of as having been political.
language: English
title: The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon
publisher: Bloomsbury Press