Description: The Political Writings of George Washington includes Washington's enduring writings on politics, prudence, and statesmanship in two volumes. It is the only complete collection of his political thought, which historically, has received less attention than the writings of other leading founders such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton. Covering his life of public service--from his young manhood, when he fought in the French and Indian Wars, through his time as commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army; his two terms as America's first president, and his brief periods of retirement, during which he followed and commented on American politics astutely--the volumes also include first-hand accounts of Washington's death and reflections on his legacy by those who knew or reflected deeply on his significance. The result is a more thorough understanding of Washington's political thought and the American founding.
Brief description: Bradford P. Wilson is Executive Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is co-editor, with Carson Holloway, of The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton, published by Cambridge University Press.
Review Quotes: 'Carson Holloway and Bradford P. Wilson have compiled an extraordinary collection of political writings from America's foremost statesman, George Washington. Holloway and Wilson consider Washington to be, rightly so, a first-rate political thinker. For that reason alone this collection merits the attention of all students of American political thought. The George Washington illuminated in these pages - a man of thoughtfulness, moderation, dignity, and decorum - offers modern Americans a remarkable contrast to the debased politics of the present.' Stephen F. Knott, Author of Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth