George Washington's Journey: The President Forges a New Nation

With the vitality of a great storyteller, Breen (American Insurgents, American Patriots) recreates the journeys that Washington made between 1789 and 1791 through the original 13 states as the new president introduced himself to his constituents. It's an absorbing portrait of early America's struggles, and Breen points out that neither Washington nor the people he met knew quite what it meant to be a citizen of this new republic. Breen brilliantly attends to the political differences that threatened Washington's newly formed cabinet, as well as to the ways that American citizens had already written Washington into their own political narrative: a Revolutionary War hero hailed as an American Caesar. Yet, Washington sought to deliver a message that this new republic could work only with a "strong and honest federal government and a citizenry committed to the preservation of human rights and liberty." Issues such as slavery would divide the new nation soon enough, but Washington returned home optimistic about the state of the union. Breen's superb chronicle offers glimpses into Washington's love of his country and its people, and his willingness to meet them on their own terms to secure the unity of the new republic. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Jan.)