Washington on Washington

For most Americans, George Washington is more of a legend than a man-a face on our currency or an austere figure standing in a rowboat crossing the icy Delaware River. He was equally revered in his own time. At the helm of a country born of idealism and revolution, Washington reluctantly played the role of demigod that the new nation required-a role reconciling the rhetoric of democracy with the ritual of monarchy.

Washington quickly understood that every decision he made as president would...