OPINION:
THE RETURN OF GEORGE WASHINGTON: 1783-1789
By Edward J. Larson
William Morrow, $29.99, 366 pages
While George Washington is one of the most written about of our presidents, the books tend to focus heavily on either his military leadership or his presidency.
Those are the most important parts of his life, but it is hard to find a new angle on them. A significant, and often underexplored, aspect that cries out for more examination is the time between those two landmark periods. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson does just that in “The Return of George Washington 1783-1789.” This is a short, eloquently written exploration of Washington’s role in the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, which saved the country after the disastrous period of governance under the Articles of Confederation.
Because the United States has had a generally successful form of government that helped the country become a world power, it can be tempting to think that this was inevitable. As Mr. Larson and other chroniclers of the period of the post-Revolutionary period point out, it was anything but. The drafting and ratification of the Constitution is analogous to a masterful musical performance in which Founders such as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison were composers, arrangers, principal instrumentalists, singers and writers of the program notes. Their roles are well known because they were effective self-promoters, and subsequent generations of authors focused a great deal of attention on their work during that era.
However, any music aficionado knows that few orchestras or choruses reach their full potential without the leadership of an inspiring and talented maestro. Mr. Larson argues that during this period, Washington was the catalyst for much that happened. “Often working behind the scenes but still very much in the public imagination, he helped to bind the states into a single federal republic. This period in Washington’s public life merits as much attention as those that preceded and followed it. It built on what came before and laid the foundation for what followed,” the author writes.
Washington had great political instincts and he used them to add a dose of reality to many discussions and debates, and he often tempered the enthusiasm of those who wanted to move too quickly to replace the Articles of Federation. In May 1786, a year before the Constitutional Convention, he wrote to John Jay, “I coincide perfectly in sentiments with you, my dear sir that there are errors in our national government which call for correction, but my fear is that the people are not sufficiently misled to retract from that error!’’
At the convention that Washington chaired (after somewhat reluctantly coming out of retirement at his beloved Mount Vernon), he rarely spoke but was active behind the scenes as a mediator and lobbyist. He spoke often to those who crafted key proposals — especially the Virginia Plan, which outlined the structure of the new political system — and made it clear why a strong national government with a powerful Congress and executive were necessary to the success of the new nation. He felt those who disagreed were narrow-minded provincial politicians.
Mr. Larson contends, however, that despite his substantive contributions, Washington’s most important role was as “the personification of nationalism in the United States. His daily presence on the dais spoke louder than the speeches of anyone in the hall.”
Mr. Larson, a professor of both of history and law at Pepperdine University, describes the legal and political deliberations in great detail and synthesizes a vast amount of primary source material with great aplomb. The narrative occasionally bogs down but that is the exception. He truly believes that less is more.
While the book focuses on policy, the author also describes the personalities of some of the key players and has fun doing so. In comparing Franklin and Washington, Mr. Larson writes: “A generation older than Washington and crippled by gout and kidney stones, Franklin nevertheless retained more boyish enthusiasm than the Virginian. Social magnets, both men charmed the ladies — though Franklin purportedly took them to bed while Washington danced them into delirium.”
This combination of serious scholarship presented in an engaging and concise manner makes “The Return of George Washington” worth reading. Even those who have read a great deal about the subject and feel they know a lot about him will gain new insights from this book.
• Claude R. Marx is writing a biography of William Howard Taft.
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