George Washington:Founding Father

Rating:
Summary: Great primer -- but don't stop here!
Review: Towering over his compatriots and fellow founders of the American republic in image as much as in physical stature, George Washington was *the* father of all Founding Fathers: primus inter pares, the closest thing the United States ever had to a king. Yet, relinquishing power both as commander in chief of the revolutionary army and as president, he, like nobody else, not only set the parameters but also the boundaries of the office of President of the newly founded democratic union. ("If this is true, he is indeed the greatest of men," none other than British King George commented when he heard that Washington had voluntarily resigned from his position as commander in chief at the end of what we now know as the War of Independence.)

This 1994 video, part of A&E's "Biography" series, reintroduces viewers to the man whom Henry Lee once described as "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." It traces Washington's life from his birth and all too brief childhood in Virginia through his first experiences as a surveyor, an officer in the British army's Virginia Regiment, a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses and a farmer, to his role in the American Revolution and the positions that brought him national and international fame. A fifty-minute documentary such as this is, of course, not enough to explore Washington's politics and underlying philosophy in all their depth. But equally drawing on Washington's own written word and on contributions from modern day experts, it touches on many of the major events of his career and portrays the persons and experiences that helped shape the future commander in chief and first American president. On-camera comment is provided by National Review Senior Editor and Washington biographer Richard Brookhiser ("Founding Father") and other scholars (Peter Henriques of George Mason University and Michael Barone of the Almanac of American Politics), by the administrators of Washington's Mount Vernon estate (Executive Director James Rees and Linda Ayres of the Mount Vernon Collections), by General David Palmer (former Superintendent of West Point), by Howard Fast, author of the book "The Crossing" (on which the 2000 A&E movie of the same name is based, and which dramatizes the crucial battle of Trenton and stars Jeff Daniels as Washington), and last but not least by John A. Washington, a descendant of the first president's family (George Washington himself had no children of his own). Visuals include live camera shots of Washington's Mount Vernon estate, excerpts of his manuscripts, as well as historical portrayals of the major events of Washington's life, and his close family, friends, and contemporaries.

The publication of biographies such as David MacCullough's much-acclaimed work on John Adams, and Joseph Ellis's Pulitzer Prize winning "Founding Brothers," seems to have generated a new interest in the events that led to the birth of the United States, and the men who shaped the new nation's constitution, politics, and destiny. This video is an excellent starting point for such a trip down history lane. Equally recommended, though: the A&E "Biography" series's other installments on the Founding Fathers ("Thomas Jefferson" and "Benjamin Franklin"), the History Channel"s "Founding Fathers" documentary series, and the mini-series based on Joseph Ellis's "Founding Brothers." And then, of course, there are written biographies like the ones mentioned above or Edmund S. Morgan's new work on Benjamin Franklin ... and for a first-hand impression, nothing beats the Library of America's collections of the Founding Fathers' writings themselves.