A look at George Washington as the first U.S. President
Rating:
5 / 5
For this juvenile biography of George Washington for the Our President series Ann Graham Gaines plays up the idea of the first President's humility. In the opening sentence Gaines declares that Washington never wanted to be the first President, event though most Americans considered him perfect for the role. Instead, Gaines insists that Washington most wanted to be a farmer, like his father. If that is the case, then Washington certainly lived a most disappointing life as detailed in this book.Unlike any other book in the series I can remember reading (and I have going through them in alphabetical order which is why I am only getting to the first President at this point), Gaines covers Washington's entire life and military career in the first chapter. The second is devoted to what happened after the American Revolution when the Constitution was being written and Washington ended up being elected president by a unanimous vote. The other two chapters in the book are devoted to Washington's two terms, with the last chapter detailing how he spent the few years after leaving office before he died. The emphasis here is on how Washington set the tone and traditions for the presidency in his eight years in office. Young readers will also find informative sidebars, including an extended one on the issue of slavery in Washington's time and life, and margins filled with Interesting Facts about Washington. The result is a lot of information crammed into this particular volume, which is illustrated with historic paintings, including one of Mary Bell Washington that makes it clear George Washington looked like his mother big time. The Our Presidents series is uniformly excellent, as are most of the offerings in the Spirit of America series, and are a step up from a purely introductory level juvenile biography.
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