Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation

by Richard Norton Smith Narrated by Nelson Runger

Overview

With the thoroughness of a newspaper of the era, Smith retells the old familiar stories and legends surrounding our nation's first president during the years preceding and during his terms in office. Patriarch brings George Washington to life as few historical accounts have before-showing our country's most celebrated father occupied with the business of the day, and carrying the weight of a nation.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

George Washington's ascent to the presidency of the new republic was at once a personal triumph and a great gamble with something he held most dear--his reputation. Smith (director, Hoover Library) captures well the bittersweet presidential years, when Washington used the vast capital of his personal prestige to cement the bands of a shaky union. With wonderful use of detail and anecdote, Smith argues that Washington was not the mere figurehead that other historians have portrayed but a canny politician who mastered and controlled his brilliant subordinates, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In a lively and engaging style, the author describes Washington's world in New York, Philadelphia, and Mt. Vernon and the major policy issues of the 1790s, especially the vituperative politics of the era. If Norton is not always careful with detail and his chronology is sometimes confusing, this is, nonetheless, history painted in broad strokes with vivid characterization, sure to attract a general readership. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/92.-- David B. Mattern, Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville

OCT 95 - AudioFile

Smith takes a nearly exhaustive look at George Washington’s day-to-day work as president and ex-president to preserve the country from the extremes of absolutism and Jeffersonian democracy. Runger’s reading ranges from lively to formal. Sometimes entertainer and sometimes lecturer, he matches his tone to Smith’s text, which is larded with interesting stories of political squabbling and family trivia. Recorded Books has put together another perfect match between text and reader. P.E.F. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170589432
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/14/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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