{"product_id":"the-invention-of-george-washington","title":"The Invention of George Washington","description":"\u003cp\u003eBY TRACING George Washingtons deliberate development from colonial planter and soldier to republican icon  Paul Longmore answers the riddle of Washingtons simultaneous fame and aloofness  arriving at a portrait of Washington as a self-fashioning representative of his turbulent time. As a young Virginia planter  Washington aspired to virtues associated with the colonial gentry  but as the British system of patronage threatened his own ambitions  he adopted the radical Whig patriotism that would lead him to take up arms. As a national hero of the Revolutionary War  and in accepting the presidency  Washington defended civilian control of the military and other ideals of republican government because his own image was inextricably tied to their success. The Invention of George Washington  first published in hardcover in 1988  explores the character of our first president in modern terms  but as Longmore shows  Washingtons assiduous cultivation of his own public image does not ultimately diminish his extraordinary achievements as general and statesman.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44845365821493,"sku":"ByrdShop_0813918723","price":39.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780813918723.jpg?v=1770848451","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-invention-of-george-washington","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}