Washington - a review

I read all kinds of stuff, but surprisingly have never read anything about George Washington. We all know, or at least I hope we all know, that he was our first president, but beyond that and the weird story about a cherry tree, most of us are in the dark.

Washington, by Paul Vickery, has changed how I look at the man we find on our quarter. He was a man who experienced both victory and defeat. He was a man who wanted to quit and who wanted to serve. All of that comes out in this book.

I think what I really enjoyed is the humanity of Washington put front and center. That is not something we usually hear in Elementary Social Studies.

I will say, the book reads a lot like a research paper at times with a lot of quotes and old English, but if you can push through that you'll not only gain a clearer and more healthy picture of our first president, but also a shot of courage and character, two things that are seriously lacking in the leadership of our day.