“The most extraordinary man I ever met,” wrote the Prince de Ligne, “constantly reclining yet never sleeping, trembling for others, brave for himself, bored in the midst of pleasure, unhappy for being too lucky, a profound philosopher, able minister, sublime politician or like a ten-year-old child, embracing the feet of the Virgin, or the alabaster neck of his mistress. What is the secret of his magic? Genius, genius and more genius.” This one-eyed giant enchanted and scandalized Europe like a sultan in
Potemkin died in 1791 on an open Bessarabian steppe, weeping over Catherine’s letters. When she heard the news she collapsed: “There’ll never be another Potemkin.” Theirs was one of the great love stories of history, in a league with that of Napoleon and Josephine or Antony and Cleopatra, but more romantic and much more successful than either of those.
WASHINGTON
1732–1799
George Washington, in his general orders to the Continental Army (July 2, 1776)
George Washington, the first president of the United States and commander of the American army in the War of Independence against Britain, remains the paragon of the decent, honest—and hugely gifted—leader. Covered in glory, blessed with all the talents, equipped for the highest office and command, he was a gentleman who combined virtue and modesty with ambition to serve. Legend has it that he turned down a crown, though in fact there was no scepter to offer. He set the standards of probity and honesty for every president who followed him.
Born in Virginia in 1732 to a family of landowners who had emigrated from northern England in 1657, Washington started in public service as a brash young lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia. In May 1754 he commanded a small force in—and perhaps initiated—the opening engagement of the French and Indian War (at the Battle of Jumonville Glen), which would eventually become the worldwide Anglo-French conflict known as the Seven Years’ War. A few days later he built Fort Necessity on the Ohio River, though when it was besieged by a larger French force, he was eventually forced to capitulate—the only surrender of his career. The next year he again fought the French, under British general Edward Braddock.
His natural talents, military and administrative, earned his promotion to colonel and commander-in-chief of the Virginian troops in 1755, at only age twenty-three, and in 1758 he served under General John Forbes in the successful campaign to capture the French Fort Duquesne. Afterward, Washington returned to his Mount Vernon estate, married a wealthy widow, Martha Curtis, and entered politics. In June 1774 he led the Virginia legislature’s call for a continental congress to coordinate opposition to unpopular British colonial policies. In June 1775, after fighting had broken out, Congress unanimously elected him commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
During the War of Independence, Washington managed to train the American army and to hold together all the different personalities and the differing characters of the states that made up the alliance, even in the face of defeat and adversity. Having forced the British to evacuate Boston in 1776, after a year-long siege, he committed mistakes in his defense of New York, losing the Battle of Long Island (the largest battle of the war) to General Howe and retreating, short of men and supplies, into Pennsylvania. Late in the year, however, he crossed back into New Jersey and took the British by surprise, defeating them at Trenton and Princeton.
