Includes bibliographical references (p. [859]-867) and index.

Prelude: the portrait artist -- PART ONE: The frontiersman. A short-lived family -- Fortune's favorite -- Wilderness mission -- Bloodbath -- Shades of death -- The soul of an army -- A votary to love -- Darling of a grateful country -- PART TWO: The planter. The man of mode -- A certain species of property -- The prodigy -- Providence -- A world of his own -- The Asiatic prince -- A shock of electricity -- PART THREE: The general. The glorious game -- Magnificent bluff -- Land of freedom -- The heights -- All London afloat -- Disaster -- An indecisive mind -- The crossing -- The busy scenes of a camp -- Darkness visible -- Rapping a demigod over the knuckles -- A dreary kind of place -- The long retreat -- Pests of society -- The storm thickens -- The traitor -- Mutiny -- Plundering scoundrels -- The world turned upside down -- Man of moderation -- Closing the drama with applause -- Cincinnatus -- PART FOUR: The statesman. American celebrity -- Gentleman farmer -- Devil's bargain -- The ruins of the past -- A masterly hand -- A house on fire -- Rising sun -- Mounting the seat -- PART FIVE: The president. The place of execution -- Acting the presidency -- The cares of office -- Rays of genius -- The traveling presidency -- The state of the president -- Capital matters -- Southern exposure -- Running into extremes -- A tissue of machinations -- Citizen Genet -- Bring out your dead -- Hercules in the field -- Crowns and coronets -- Mad dog -- The colossus of the people -- The master of farewells -- Exiting the stage -- PART SIX:The legend. Samson and Solomon -- A mind on the stretch -- Freedom -- Homecoming.

In "Washington : a Life" celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation, dashing forever the stereotype of a stolid, unemotional man, and revealing an astute and surprising portrait of a canny political genius who knew how to inspire people.