As the largest, oldest, and wealthiest of the original thirteen
colonies, Virginia played a central role in the fight for
independence and as a state in the new republic. This importance is
reflected in the number of Virginians who filled key national
leadership positions. Three remarkable Virginians stand out in
their service to the new nation: George Washington as commander in
chief during the Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson as the
philosophic voice of the country, and James Madison as the chief
architect of the nation's new constitutional system. In The Great
Virginia Triumvirate, John Kaminski presents a series of
biographical portraits that bring these three men remarkably to
life for the modern reader.
The passage of time, coupled with the veneration so often
surrounding historical figures, has obscured the subtleties and
complexities of the founding fathers' characters. To cut through
this fog of myth, Kaminski relies on the words of the three
Virginians themselves, sharing with us a trio of eloquent, and
often candid, voices. (Jefferson once told John Adams that he had
not written a history of his times because that history was to be
found in his correspondence, where he could be especially direct
and honest.) Kaminski also turns to the people who personally knew
the three great Virginians--their friends, family, acquaintances,
and enemies. Through their public and private writings, as well as
the observations of their contemporaries, the subjects' distinctive
qualities as individuals can be glimpsed with depth and
immediacy.
Taken from letters, speeches, diaries, and memoirs, the
quotations and vignettes included here shed light on the actual
person behind each public image. George Washington offering a bowl
of hot tea at night to a guest at Mount Vernon who has a cold;
Thomas Jefferson extending condolences to John Adams on the death
of his wife, Abigail; and James Madison bequeathing the
silver-hilted walking cane, left him by Jefferson, in turn to the
third president's grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph--such moments
reveal personality and character in a way that no official act ever
could.
"Much is known to one which is not known to the other,"
Jefferson wrote, "and no one knows everything." The cumulative
effect of many voices, however, can create a portrait of invaluable
insight.
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