History enthusiasts and admirers of Team of Rivals will rejoice in this magisterial account of the extraordinary Americans who served the nationrsquos first chief executive Together they created the presidency for a country disgusted by crowns and the people who would wear them In as George Washington became the first president of the United States the world was all but certain that the American experiment in liberty and representative government would founder More than a few Americans feared that the world was right In Washingtonrsquos Circle we see how Washington and his trusted advisers close friends and devoted family defied the doomsayers to lay the foundation for an enduring constitutional republic This is a fresh look at an aloof man whose service in the Revolutionary War had already earned him the acclaim of fellow citizens Washington was easy to revere if difficult to know David S Heidler and Jeanne T Heidler reveal Washingtonrsquos character through his relationship with his inner circle showing how this unlikely group created the office of the presidency Here is a story of cooperation confrontation triumph and disappointment as the president Congress and the courts sorted out the limits of executive power quarreled over funding the government coped with domestic strife and faced a world at war while trying to keep their country at peace Even more it is a story of remarkable people striving for extraordinary achievements Many of these characters are familiar as historic icons but in these pages they act and speak as living individuals the often irked and frequently irksome John Adams in the vice presidency the mercurial Alexander Hamilton leading the Treasury Department the brilliant deceptively cunning Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state James Madison who was Washingtonrsquos advocatemdashand his eyes and earsmdashin Congress and Washingtonrsquos old friend and former brother-in-arms Henry Knox at the administrationrsquos beleaguered War Department Their stories mingle with those of Edmund Randolph John Jay Gouverneur Morris and the others who stood with a self-educated Virginia farmer to forge the presidency into an institution protective of its privileges but respectful of congressional prerogatives Written with energy wit and an eye for vivid detail Washingtonrsquos Circle is the fascinating account of the people who met the most formidable challenges of the governmentrsquos earliest hours with pluck ability and enviable resourcefulness When the world said they would fail they rolled up their sleeves This is their storyPraise for Washingtonrsquos Circle ldquoA fine readable history of the first presidency David and Jeanne Heidler provide not only a lively history but a group portrait of Washington and the various figures vying to influence himrdquomdashThe Wall Street Journal ldquoWashingtonrsquos Circle positively glows with narrative exuberance This is a book that will make even the most jaded student of the American Revolution bark little laughs of pure delight while readingrdquomdashOpen Letters MonthlyldquoTraditional accounts portray Washington as a solitary actor in the drama of American nationhood as chilly and featureless as the marble shaft that dominates his namesake capitol In fact he was the intensely human lead in one of historyrsquos most colorful and contentious ensembles David S Heidler and Jeanne T Heidler bring the whole cast to unforgettable life in this character studyndashcumndashgroup portraitndashcumndashold-fashioned page-turnerrdquomdashRichard Norton Smith author of On His Own TermsFrom the Hardcover edition.
