Known as the Father of His Country, George Washington is viewed as
a demigod for what he was and did, not what he thought. In addition
to being a popular icon for the forces of American nationalism, he
served as commander-in-chief of the victorious Continental Army.
That he played a key role in securing the adoption of the
Constitution is well known, but few credit him with a political
philosophy that actively shaped the constitutional tradition.
In this revisionist study, Glenn Phelps argues that Washington's
political thought influenced the principles informing the federal
government then and now. Disinclined to enter the debates by which
the framers hammered out a consensus, Washington instead sought to
promote his way of thinking through private correspondence, and the
example of his public life.
From these sources Phelps draws out his political ideas and
demonstrates that Washington developed a coherent and consistent
view of a republican government on a continental scale long before
Madison, Hamilton, and other nationalists-a view grounded in
classically conservative republicanism and continentally-minded
commercialism. That he was only partially successful in building
the constitutional system that he intended does not undercut his
theoretical contribution. Even his failures affected the way our
constitutional tradition developed.
Phelps examines Washington's political ideas not as they were
perceived by his contemporaries but in his own words, that is, he
shows what Washington believed, not what others thought he
believed. He shows how Washington's political values remained
consistent over time, regardless of who his counselors or "ghost
writers" were. Using letters Washington wrote to friends and
family--written free from the constraints of public
politics--Phelps reveals "a man with a passionate commitment to a
fully developed idea of a constitutional republic on a continental
scale."
In recent years scholarship about Washington has seemed to focus
on mythmaking. For readers interested in the founding period, the
framing of what Hamilton called the "frail fabric," and
constitutionalism, Phelps explores the substance behind the
myth.
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