Chernow Drops by for Book Signing
It may have been Columbus Day weekend, but all attention at Mount Vernon was centered on George Washington on Friday when biographer Ron Chernow stopped by for a book signing and lecture on his new tome, “Washington: A Life.”
Dispelling a few myths — no Washington didn’t chop down a cherry tree, his dentures weren’t made of wood and he didn’t wear a wig — Chernow cut to the chase on the essence of George Washington.
“Let me assure you folks this was one tough hombre, not some grown-up choir boy,” Chernow said.
With more than 135,000-something Washington documents available to carry him though his research, Chernow was able to chart a few paths into the enigmatic first president’s internal psyche.
Historians have not uncovered any statements or letters in which Washington’s mother took pride or pleasure in his achievements, which Chernow posits was a driving force behind Washington’s behavior.
“I suspect that the first great general that Washington encountered in battle was his mother,” Chernow said to laughter.
Chernow described everything from Washington’s “inspired simplicity” to occasionally bawdy sense of humor. But in the end and a whole book’s worth of research later, Chernow still concedes that certain aspects of Washington are at best, a mystery.
“George Washington who seems to be one of the most familiar figures in American history was perhaps, at bottom, one of the most unfamiliar,” Chernow said.
With his 904-page book in hand, however, most readers are bound to get to know the first president a little better.
October 12th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
I may have missed something but I would have LOVED to see Ron Chernow, his Alexander Hamilton book was spectacular. I so wished that Mount Vernon publicized this as I live close enough to come.