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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In four pages this paper presents a review of Ellis’ acclaimed 2004 historical biography on the first President of the United States that considers how the author selected his choice of subject, the questions the author seeks to answer, the thesis the author argues, and how successful he is at presenting his case and shaping the reader’s view of this period of early American history. There are no additional sources listed in the bibliography.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGhegeowash.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and its study occupies much of his leisure time. He has written critically acclaimed and commercially popular texts on early American history including American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas
Jefferson for which he won the 1997 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation for which he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for History. With
perhaps the lone exception of David McCullough, Ellis has earned the reputation of one of the countrys foremost authorities on American history. When he decided to write a biography
of George Washington, he recognized he was tackling a formidable challenge the size of Mount Rushmore. Washington is so indelibly etched in the American psyche and in popular folklore
that any attempts to humanize him are daunting to say the least. However, in His Excellency: George Washington, Ellis accomplishes the seemingly impossible - he strips off the illusion
of the nations first President and reveals a man of insecurities who needed a considerable ego to cover them all. He wanted to know what motivated Washington to greatness,
"separating the general who was first in war from the president who was first in peace" (Ellis 260). Ellis thoughtful thesis is that George Washington was fueled foremost by
ambition. He wrote, "Ambitions this gargantuan were only glorious if harnessed to a cause larger than oneself" (Ellis 474). He also explains away Washingtons perceived arrogance as portrayed
by his aloofness and frequent silence as "protective tactics developed to prevent detection of the combustible materials simmering inside" (Ellis 474). This is not only an insightful observation of
George Washington, but might also be reflective of the author himself. In His Excellency: George Washington, Joseph J. Ellis makes the conscious decision to focus not on Washingtons early years
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