George Washington 's Personal Leadership Qualities and Their Effect on His Military and Political Career Book Review

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How the Personal Qualities of George Washington and His Particular Circumstances Facilitated His Rise to the Become the First President of the United StatesThe recent nationwide e racial strife that has rocked the United States has galvanized public attention on the nation’s Founding Fathers whose lives have been subjected to increasingly close scrutiny to determine if they are worthy of continued adoration and respect. Indeed, even formerly sacrosanct figures in U.S. history including George Washington, among others, have become the focus of criticism by modern Americans because they owned slaves while simultaneously – and hypocritically – advocating for a new country where everyone was equal. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the relevant literature to identify the personal qualities of George Washington and to determine how these qualities and his particular circumstances facilitated his rise to the first presidency of the Unites States. Following this review, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the personal qualities of Washington and how his particular circumstances facilitated his political career are presented in the conclusion.Review and AnalysisThe current political brouhaha and looming criminal charges over the actions and behaviors of the incumbent commander in chief make it clear that the office of the president of the United States is a high profile position that is subjected to the closest scrutiny possible under the unique circumstances that exist at any given point in time in American history. Entire journals and countless books and scholarly texts have been written about the country’s presidents, but none have received as much attention as George Washington – and for good reason (Ellis 2002). Through a life of public service, Washington succeeded in achieving what few of his British contemporaries thought possible, and notwithstanding the critical assistance that was provided by the French, Cornwallis would never have surrendered at Yorktown had it not been for the military genius of Washington and the Union Jack might be flying over the U.S. capitol today.Although Washington did not have cable television networks and Internet-based social media platforms covering and assessing his every move in detail, the mainstream media of the day was positively fascinated with him and his activities were eagerly reported in the newspapers (Ellis 2004). It is not surprising, then, that Washington’s life and unique qualities have been the focus of a great deal of scholarship over the years due in large part to his contributions to the nation’s founding and its continued existence to the present, a fact that is firm testament to the possession of those leadership qualities that were desperately needed during the critical period in the nation’s history when he served as president from 1789 to 1797.The historical record confirms that he was the right man for the job, and Washington’s contemporaries agreed. Tall even by today’s standards, strikingly handsome and charismatic, it is not surprising that many of Washington’s personal qualities contributed to his ultimate career as U.S. president, but they also account for his early correspondence with a paramour at the same time he was courting the nation’s “first first lady.

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” The manner in which he leveraged these personal qualities to become the nation’s first president, though, makes him stand out from the other Founding Fathers. Indeed, when the layers of people’s outward personas are peeled back like so many layers of onions, there will always be some warts and blemishes, but despite his worst qualities, Washington not only redeemed himself, he helped create a nation and legacy that endure to this day.There are also some other important issues to consider when evaluating Washington’s personal qualities…

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…new hatchet or his brawn by throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac River are apocryphal, the research showed that Washington did in fact deserves the accolades that have been heaped upon over the years. The research also showed that Washington’s numerous positive personal qualities were countered by some negative qualities, but on balance he fully deserves his title as “Father of the Country.” Indeed, notwithstanding the fact that some of his minor personal frailties and the fact that he was, like many of the other Founders, a slave owner, Washington emerged from the critical review of the literature fairly unscathed with his image intact, and even shining brighter than ever, especially when his life is compared to the increasing incivility that has marred modern politics. Humble in his piety but earnest in his commitment to his new country, it is reasonable to conclude that George Washington’s face will be the last one of the president’s visages remaining on Mount Rushmore and his statues will be the last ones remaining standing in the nation’s eponymous capital long after many others have been pulled down by protesters. Although no military leader or politician completes a professional career without some controversy and detractors, the fact that Washington managed to cobble and hold together a coalition of the sometimes-unwilling and succeed in leading it to victory against a global superpower suggests that Washington was like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Joe Biden all rolled into one great man who could have been a king, but chose instead to help forge a new republic where no individual is above the law. In the final analysis, George Washington can be regarded as the gold standard against which all past, current and future presidents will be measured due to his blend of personal qualities that….....

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