's 1796 portrait of Washington The prelude of
Washington: A Life draws a parallel between
Gilbert Stuart's portraits of George Washington and Chernow's attempts to give a fresh portrait of his character in a biography. Stuart, Chernow argues, was not deceived by Washington's "aura of cool command", but painted him as "a sensitive, complex figure, full of pent-up passion"; Chernow states his intention to do the same, presenting Washington as "real, credible, and charismatic in the same way he was perceived by his contemporaries". Chernow presents Washington as "a man capable of constant self-improvement", rising from a provincial childhood to the presidency of the United States. Beginning with his boyhood, the biography discusses the major events of Washington's life in largely chronological order: his early life and service during the
French and Indian War; his career as a planter and his growing dissatisfaction with British rule of the American colonies; his service in the
Continental Congress and as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the
American Revolution; his resignation and brief retirement following the revolution's successful conclusion; his return to public life at the
Constitutional Convention; his two terms as the first president of the United States, in which he set a number of important precedents for the office; and the final years of his life. Chernow describes Washington's accomplishments as president as "simply breathtaking": He had restored American credit and assumed state debt; created a bank, a mint, a coast guard, a customs service, and a diplomatic corps; introduced the first accounting, tax, and budgetary procedures; maintained peace at home and abroad; inaugurated a navy, bolstered the army, and shored up coastal defenses and infrastructure; proved that the country could regulate commerce and negotiate binding treaties; protected frontier settlers, subdued Indian uprisings, and established law and order amid rebellion, scrupulously adhering all the while to the letter of the Constitution ... Most of all he had shown a disbelieving world that republican government could prosper without being spineless or disorderly or reverting to authoritarian rule. Several chapters also detail Washington's complex feelings about slavery, an institution on which he relied but which he also despised; he left provisions for his slaves to be freed after his death, the only slave-owning founding father to do so. The personal aspects of Washington's life covered by Chernow include the design, creation, and management of
Mount Vernon; his leisure activities and hobbies; his difficult relationship with his mother; his personal relationship with the married
Sally Cary Fairfax, with whom Washington fell in love just before his marriage to
Martha Dandridge Custis; and his relationships with his adopted children, stepchildren, and grandchildren. Chernow also describes the relationships between the childless Washington and a succession of "surrogate sons" such as Alexander Hamilton, the
Marquis de Lafayette, and
Tobias Lear. ==Critical response==