Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-242) and index.

George Washington, says Barry Schwartz, was "neither brilliant nor self-confident, and his experience (which did not include leadership of large armies) was not precisely suited to the needs of his time... other leaders of the Revolution were at least as well endowed with talent and charm as he." Yet before a single shot was fired under Washington's command, America had begun to transform the man into a unifying, larger-than-life legend. How can this adulation be explained? In this first sustained history of America's veneration of George Washington, Schwartz probes the distinctive shape of our national vision and illuminates the process by which Americans made hero worship safe for democracy -- and made Washington the symbol of America's moral sentiments for centuries to come. Until now, an analysis of America's love affair with George Washington was one of the most unwritten stories in American history. This brilliant exploration fills the void left by myriad biographies on the man America has consistently idealized; the man who continues to endure as the national paragon of political virtue. -- From publisher's description.

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