Reviews ‘Fresh Portrait’ of First President Washington: a Life
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Reviews ‘Fresh Portrait’ of First President Washington: A Life. Ron Chernow. The figures, such as land baron Colonel date that all major military engage- Penguin Press. 928 pages; black-and- William Fairfax and later Lieutenant ments be approved by a council of white images; index; $40. Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Vir- war greatly hindered Washington’s ginia. initial campaigns. Councils of war fre- By COL Cole C. Kingseed Not surprisingly, Washington’s for- quently breed timidity and contempt, U.S. Army retired mative years reveal a “young careerist” but Chernow readily opines that Wash- driven by often-thwarted ambition and ington’s tactical ability was suspect n what is likely to become the de- questionable political judgment. Overly at the Battle of Long Island in August Ifinitive single-volume biography of sensitive to criticism and suffering from 1776 and in the subsequent cam- George Washington, author Ron Cher- paigns that resulted in the loss of New now explores the complex life of per- York and New Jersey. haps the most enigmatic of the Found- According to Chernow, Washing- ing Fathers. Drawing upon the new ton’s military prowess “cannot be edition of Washington’s private and judged by the usual scorecard of battles public papers compiled by a team of re- won and lost,” but in his ability to hold searchers at the University of Virginia, his ragged army intact for more than in Washington: A Life Chernow seeks to eight years, keeping the flame of revo- create “a fresh portrait of Washington lution alive. Washington’s greatness lay that will make him real, credible, and less in his battlefield brilliance—he charismatic in the same way that he committed some major strategic blun- was perceived by his contemporaries.” ders, and he initially opposed the York- In so doing, Chernow brings “the most town Campaign that served as the cap- famously elusive figure in American stone to his career. In the final analysis, history” to life. Washington lost more battles than he One of this country’s premier biog- won, but he displayed consummate raphers, Chernow is the prize-winning skill as a politician in dealing with his author of Alexander Hamilton and Titan: fellow generals and the Second Conti- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., both of nental Congress. Thus, Washington which were nominated for the Na- emerged from the Revolution as “that tional Book Critics Circle Award in bi- rare general who was great between ography. His other works include The battles and not just during them.” House of Morgan: An American Banking a lifelong need for approval, Washing- Chernow dedicates fully a third Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance ton constantly reconstructed himself. of his biography to Washington’s and The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Cen- By 1770, Washington finally evolved post-military career. To his credit, he tury Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Fam- into the public servant known to his- addresses the less glamorous aspects ily. It is biography, however, where tory. The next five years witnessed of Washington’s life, including his Chernow truly excels. Washington’s transformation from a ambivalent attitude toward slavery. Those readers familiar with John gentleman farmer who endured re- Though he found slave ownership “a Keegan’s The Mask of Command will rec- peated complaints against the British political embarrassment,” the slave ognize the Washington who appears in Crown into a political activist antago- population at Mount Vernon soared to these pages. Chernow’s Washington nized by the dissolution of the Virginia more than 200 by the time Washing- wears a stolid mask that conceals a House of Burgesses on the eve of the ton presided over the Constitutional countenance never betrayed by his in- American Revolution. Convention in 1787. ner feelings. Subject to the strongest and In contrast to many historians, Cher- Washington’s presidential letters re- most ungovernable passions, Wash- now posits that Washington’s selec- veal a growing distaste for slavery, but ington struggled throughout his life- tion as commander-in-chief of the as President, Washington had acted time to control his emotions. To com- Continental Army was a foregone “in accordance with the wishes of pensate for the lack of formal education conclusion. No other figure matched southern slaveholders.” He signed the that characterized the other Founding Washington’s reputation as a colonial 1793 Fugitive Slave Act, enabling mas- Fathers, Washington cultivated the art military leader. In the opening stages ters to cross state lines to recapture of ingratiating himself with influential of the Revolution, a congressional man- runaway slaves. He “remained zeal- February 2011 I ARMY 67 ous in tracking down his own fugitive aries between those two branches of cal intrigue. Perhaps so, but Chernow’s slaves.” He did, however, make provi- government.” Fully cognizant of his Washington is a far more complex sions for the emancipation of his role as the nation’s first chief executive, leader of the American republic. How slaves upon his wife’s death. Washington wrote, “I walk on untrod- does the reader judge this celebrated den ground. There is scarcely any part figure? Perhaps Abigail Adams, speak- f special significance is Chernow’s of my conduct which may not here- ing of Washington after his death, Oportrayal of Washington as Presi- after be drawn into precedent.” Wash- comes closest to the real Washington. dent. Washington’s accomplishments ington certainly had not achieved the “Simple truth,” she states, “is his best, are far too numerous to be listed here. national political unity that he desired, his greatest eulogy.” Chernow un- Suffice it to say, Washington securely but he demonstrated that he had been doubtedly concurs. laid the federal government on a solid “the ideal figure to lead the new nation foundation and “established the presi- from its colonial past into a more de- COL Cole C. Kingseed, USA Ret., dency instead of Congress as the dri- mocratic future.” Ph.D., a former professor of history at ving force behind domestic and foreign Washington considered himself a the U.S. Military Academy, is a writer policy and established sharp bound- dedicated public servant above politi- and consultant. ‘Fitting Tribute to a Great Soldier’ Dogface Soldier: The Life of General memoir of any written by an American An outstanding polo player, Truscott Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. Wilson A. Heef- general of that generation.” In chroni- was fiercely competitive and noted for ner. University of Missouri Press. 392 cling Truscott’s life from his early years his flamboyant uniform consisting of a pages; maps; black-and-white photo- through his time in the Army and his leather jacket, silk cavalry scarf and his graphs; index; $34.95. post-military life, Heefner’s research “lucky” cavalry boots. He was known included primary sources such as inter- as a demanding commander with a By LTC Carlo D’Este views with family members and for- gravelly voice, the result of having ac- U.S. Army retired mer associates. cidentally ingested acid as a child. During his steady march up the lthough it is now more than 65 chain of command, Truscott earned a Ayears since the end of World War well-deserved reputation for fearless II, too little has been written about one leadership. In 1942, he was the archi- of the U.S. Army’s finest and most suc- tect of the Ranger force before becom- cessful combat commanders, Lucian K. ing Eisenhower’s point man in Tunisia. Truscott Jr. For all of his superb accom- In 1943, he was promoted to command plishments during a 30-year career, he of the Third Infantry Division, which has remained one of the most neglected he led in Sicily and at Anzio. This was commanders of the war. Truscott, who followed by command of the VI Corps, served successively at all levels of com- Fifth Army and, after the war, Third mand—from regiment to field army— Army, after the relief of GEN Patton in has long needed a comprehensive biog- Bavaria in October 1945. raphy, but none has been forthcoming Partly because he toiled in Sicily and until now. Wilson Heefner’s Dogface Italy—both largely forgotten cam- Soldier fills the gap. paigns—and partly because he never A former Army doctor and author drew attention to himself, Truscott of Twentieth Century Warrior: The Life never became well known, unlike other and Service of Major General Edwin D. commanders who served in the Euro- Patrick and Patton’s Bulldog: The Life pean Theater of Operations in 1944–45, and Service of General Walton H. Walker, A career cavalry officer who enlisted even after appearing on the cover of Heefner became deeply interested in in the Army in 1917 at the age of 22 af- LIFE magazine in October 1944. Truscott after meeting military histo- ter teaching for six years in one-room Tough, profane and an unforgiving rian Martin Blumenson in 1992 during schoolhouses in Oklahoma, Truscott disciplinarian, Truscott would not suf- a tour of World War II battlefields in was a throwback to the time of the old fer fools and would unhesitatingly ex- Italy. Blumenson told him that he con- horse Army and yet another of the press his sentiments to his superiors sidered Truscott to be one of the great- one-time cavalrymen like George S. when he believed they were wrong. est American World War II combat Patton Jr., Terry de la Mesa Allen and These included both Patton and Mark commanders and “his memoir, Com- Ernie Harmon, who excelled on the Clark. He once said to his son, “Let me mand Missions: A Personal Story, the best battlefields of World War II.