Washington

George Washington (1732–1799) entered American history as the "Father of the Nation and the Savior of the Fatherland." A hero of the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, not a very successful planter, a mediocre military leader, and not the most sophisticated politician, he possessed qualities rarely found in statesmen: he was honest, selfless, and not power-hungry, which earned him the love of the people who elected him as their first president, and he became the only head of the US to be elected unanimously.

The story of Washington's life, filled with trials, victories, and defeats, unfolds against the backdrop of the British colonies' struggle for independence and the formation of American statehood, the exposure of spies and preparations for kidnappings, and the interweaving of the destinies of remarkable figures of a tumultuous era, friends and foes of the main character. Thomas Jefferson, who experienced both, acknowledged: "It can be said, without departing from the truth, that never before have nature and fortune come together in such perfect combination to make a man great."