Newswise — Times Books has announced publication of a new book, "George Washington," ($20.) by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn. The book is the first volume in a new series on the American presidents, edited by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"The Washington we discovered," says Burns, "was a hot-tempered man of courage and intellect. He took on the astonishingly daring and complex task of leading an infant nation in a war for independence against the mightiest power in the world."
Washington, the authors found, was also a supremely ambitious man. Though he claimed to want to shun the spotlight, he always happened to be in the right place at the right time, determined to be at the center of events.
In their book, Burns and Dunn argue that Washington's presidency--his shaping of that office and his consolidation of executive power--was his ultimate achievement. It would legitimate every future president who would seek to offer strong and determined leadership.
Aided by Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams, Madison, and others, Washington's presidency, they conclude, embodied a collective leadership that has never been surpassed in American history.
The authors dissect the strengths and weaknesses of Washington's presidential leadership, from his innovative and lasting foreign and economic policies to his public silence about slavery.
"We wanted to paint the portrait," says Dunn, "of the multi-dimensional man behind the aloof public persona that Washington crafted for himself."
Burns and Dunn are also co-authors of "The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America." Burns won the Pulitzer-Prize for his biography of FDR, "Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom."
Burns is the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government, Emeritus, and Dunn is professor of humanities at Williams College.
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