George Washington was not destined to be great. He was the middle son of a middling Virginia family; he had land but seldom much cash. As a young militia leader, he did not win often.What he had, writes David O. Stewart in an astute biography, was ambition and the will to study the political skills of listening and compromise. Late in life, Washington focused on the horrors of slavery--yet never spoke against it publicly during eight years as America’s first president.Stewart's biography is, "George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father."

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