Essay --

Joseph J. Ellis is a known historian of early American history, and an award-winning author. In 2001, he won the Pulitzer Prize in History for his book Founding Brothers. Ellis has authored several other history books about the Revolutionary generation, including: The Character and Legacy of John Adams; American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic; His Excellency: George Washington; and many more. Ellis earned his B.A. from the College of William and Mary in 1965. He then received a Master of Arts, a Master of Philosophy, and a PhD from Yale University. Ellis is also a regular contributor to several notable publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker. His Excellency: George Washington was published in 2004, Ellis intended to seek the major periods of Washington's life in order to offer a profile of the man "first in War, first in Peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Ellis sta tes that his goal in writing His Excellency was to not produce a work that examined not George Washington's life, but his personality and how his life shaped it. Ellis focuses on very specific questions here, namely how George Washington’s character influenced his public decisions, and how he came to be the symbol of not just American leadership but, earlier, of the entire Revolutionary cause. He traces Washington's life from his youthful, energetic, impulsive military decisions and a string of near-catastrophic mistakes, to his later, steady leadership of the fledgling American republic. Ellis demonstrates the parts of Washington's character such as his ability to turn down offered powers, which then he turns into not just his own personal success bu... ...uccessful in his initial strategy for the War of Independence, losing almost every engagement fought against the British and their Prussian allies. He serves throughout the entire war unharmed by bullet, blade, or bomb, seemingly lucky or perhaps protected by divine providence. The colonists are joined by France and win a critical battle at Saratoga, New York. Overall 8 long years would pass and the Continental Army would suffer from disease (smallpox), lack of supplies, low morale, and no pay before finally striking the winning blow at Yorktown, Virginia against General Cornwallis. Washington, weary and much aged from the years of battles and deprivation, he then â€Å"retired† to his landholdings and slave labor estates. Despite his previous withdrawal from public life Washington accepts the Presidency when elected and cements his legacy as the â€Å"father of our country.†