When Washington led the Continental Army through the Revolutionary War, he had learned from his youthful blunders of two decades earlier during that morning ambush. He drew upon his harsh experience along with his own wisdom to formulate principled approaches to dilemmas that are eerily similar to those we face today. By confronting—and eventually conquering—these challenges, he defined the American way. His epic role in leading the states to independence would forever shape the new nation.
As the United States’ first and only commander in chief prior to the drafting of our Constitution, Washington personified our Founders’ intent when they ratified the Constitution’s precious few words proclaiming “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States . . . .”38 The unquestioned choice to be the first president, he served as the model for the office at its creation. The founding generation looked to Washington’s Revolutionary War leadership as their guide for designating the presidential powers in their new government. This book analyzes General Washington’s specific actions and beliefs as he forged the very meaning of our Constitution amid the heat of battle for independence.
We all know how the war ended. What is surprisingly unknown are the specifics of how we achieved that grand victory. This book reveals the Revolutionary War precedents for America’s modern crises.39 It delves into some of the overlooked—and often lurid—details that are especially applicable to today’s most contentious debates. To best discuss the varied episodes in America’s chaotic triumph, this book organizes the chapters by topic. Rather than just providing an ordinary “play-by-play” of the war, it groups the discussions according to the topics most relevant to today: prisoner abuse, congressional interference in war policy, military tribunals, and Americans’ rights.
By drawing from reams of primary source documents, this book brings to light facts that have been largely overlooked (and sometimes intentionally buried) by history. The subsequent pages hold such forgotten materials as the Founders’ warnings against government debt, General Washington’s letters justifying prisoner abuse to save American lives, a vivid eyewitness account of the military commission that swiftly executed a captured enemy operative, and evidence of a power struggle between Washington and Congress over war tactics. These surprising stories help fill the void in our understanding of our ingenious Founders’ pragmatic approach to governing an America at war.
The book begins after the United States’ victory. It traces the formation of our democratic republic, with Washington serving as the prototype for the presidency. The chapters in Part I answer the “why should we care?” question at the outset of the book: we should care about our history because the supreme law of the United States was shaped by these very events. By establishing that Washington’s Revolutionary War powers were the same ones that the Framers intended for the presidency, this part encourages the reader to actively deduce the direct modern constitutional relevance of Washington’s surprising precedents discussed in Parts II–V.
The subsequent parts address Washington’s approach to hot-button issues of post-9/11 America: prisoner abuse (Part II), congressional war power (Part III), military tribunals (Part IV), and Americans’ rights (Part V). The final part brings us full circle back to the end of the war. It discusses the founding generation’s idolization of Washington and their hearty approval of his leadership chronicled in Parts II–V. This serves as a capstone, leading up to Washington’s role in forming the postwar government and the practical implications of his wartime actions for our Constitution. Finally, the Epilogue discusses the modern legal significance of this forgotten history, showing the practical means by which the precedents explored in this book have a direct impact on modern law.
These pages emphasize the many colorful characters of the Revolution in order to tell the vivid stories of the war based on the people who lived them. Instead of taking a high-level approach, the book shows the personal impact of the Revolution on the human beings directly affected. To do so, it relies heavily on primary sources from both the American and British sides in order to provide rich eyewitness accounts.40 Delving into some of these previously lost documents, this book injects incendiary new facts into the present discussion and is intended to serve as fodder for debate.
No longer is Washington “entombed in his own myth—a metaphorical Washington Monument that hides from us the lineaments of the real man.”41 The following pages depict a great human being who struggled with dilemmas similar to those we face today. With tremendous strength of character, he successfully led his countrymen through deep crises and helped found the most prosperous nation on earth. Over two centuries later, we still have more to learn from him.
“I am free to acknowledge that His Powers are full great, and greater than I was disposed to make them. Nor, Entre Nous, do I believe they would have been so great had not many of the members cast their eyes towards General Washington as President; and shaped their Ideas of the Powers to be given to a President, by their opinions of his Virtue.” 1
—PIERCE BUTLER, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1788
Even as the embers of war still smoldered, he found peace. Standing alongside the blue-gray waters of the Potomac River, the gentleman farmer gazed across his sprawling estate. The lush foliage of billowing weeping willows and blossoming laurel dotted the softly rolling fields, which glimmered in the fiery light of the rising sun. A silent spring breeze grazed his weathered face, sending the aromas of earth and grass into the air. Over the farmer’s impressive frame, still powerfully built after fifty-five years of backbreaking use, soared his mansion’s majestic white columns. They rose two stories to meet a striking red roof, topped by two large chimneys, pointed dormers, and an ornately domed cupola. Beneath this grandiose architectural crown, a white, neoclassical Georgian-style mansion provided a comfortable home for the gentleman and his beloved wife, along with her two rambunctious young grandchildren who had been orphaned during the war.
He had fought courageously for his country and had earned this peaceful life with his loved ones. And he enjoyed it immensely. But as the sun’s first rays appeared to ignite the horizon, his serenity was shattered by the clacking hooves of an approaching horse. The messenger brought dire—but not unexpected—news: the gentleman farmer’s nation was crumbling and it needed him. Emerging from his retirement, he would save the country. Again.
The chapters in Part I explore the creation of the United States Constitution.