FIRST AND ALWAYS

Less a biography than a pleasant collection of isolated essays on the first president.

Although retired from his professorship at George Mason University, Henriques cannot resist writing about his favorite subject, delivering eight expert chapters that hold few surprises but sometimes turn up a gem. The author reminds readers that not only is Washington considered the father of our country and, to many, a godlike figure, but he was also beloved during his lifetime—and he relished it and acted accordingly. “Washington was deeply ambitious, massively concerned with his reputation, and in regular search of an adoring public’s approbation,” writes Henriques. “His drive for honor and fame was integral to his remarkable leadership.” Keeping up with the times, the author’s chapter on his subject’s mother, Mary Washington, notes that she has fared poorly in past scholarship, damned as shrewish, demanding, and uneducated. Some recent feminist historians have disagreed, and Henriques concurs that she was not so bad. At least in theory, the Founding Fathers believed that slavery was wrong, but Washington was the only one whose will freed all of his slaves. Henriques’ descriptions of some of Washington’s slaves turn up surprises—e.g., that they owned property (including guns) and were occasionally entrusted with money. As the only quasi-divine Founding Father, Washington has been ill-served by both admirers and killjoys who, long after his death, have altered the narrative. Henriques quotes former Mount Vernon archivist John Rhodehamel: “A tawdry mythological excrescence oozing Victorian pieties and wooden teeth has gained a greater hold on our national imagination than the epic of Washington’s indispensable leadership.” Many historians devote too much space to disproving the popular myths, and Henriques is no exception. The author also emphasizes that Washington, although lacking formal education, was intelligent and often wise, which he illustrates with a long appendix of quotations.

A historian cleans out his desk with commendable results.