His excellency

Honestly, when my wife came home from an estate sale and said she’d bought two books about George Washington for me to read, I looked askew at “His Excellency.” At the time, I was reading a book simply titled, “Washington,” an abridgement by Richard Harwell of the seven-volume series by Douglas S. Freeman. From that reading, I knew the title “His Excellency” was not favored by Washington when, during the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, it was debated how the chief executive should be addressed by Congress or the public. Therefore, I wondered why Ellis would choose these words for the title of his book.

The answer was found in the book’s final chapter. After Washington’s demise in the late hours of Dec. 14, 1799, the country went into mourning. He was eulogized by Henry Lee as, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Gouverneur Morris remembered him as a man fueled by “tumultuous passions.” By citizens, writes Ellis, “he was described as the only indisputable hero of the age, the one and only ‘His Excellency.’” Despite Washington eschewing the title, in the minds of the people, it aptly applied to him and to him only.

Personally, after finishing the book on a Sunday morning at “the Lodge,” I sat and contemplated Washington’s life. Then I wrote in the inside cover of the book: “Did ever a greater man serve his country? Certainly no man ever made greater sacrifices for her.”

When Washington first entered into service of his country, it was not the United States he served but Britain. As an ambitious young man of 21, his first notable action was to deliver a letter from the governor of Virginia to the commander of French troops in the area then known as the Ohio Country.

If one imagines the rough and virtually unexplored wilderness that lay between Virginia and Washington’s final destination, a French outpost near present day Erie, Pennsylvania, one begins to understand the challenge of his orders. Furthermore, the correspondence he carried was not a friendly letter composed “in the Name of His Britanic Majesty.” It was, in fact, a demand for the French to vacate the territory the British considered theirs.

From this exploit forward to Washington’s days serving in the Virginia House of Burgesses, one sees his life being prepared for what lay ahead.

First would be his role as commander of the “Continental Army” during the American Revolution. Although nothing could have fully prepared Washington the eight-year battle with the British, he at least had some experience in actual warfare and leading men into combat. In addition to his character traits, it was a chief reason his peers chose him for the leadership position.

Second would be his role as president of the convention which wrote the U.S. Constitution. In the Virginia House of Burgess, Washington was known to be a man of few words who mostly listened and interjected his opinion only when necessary. His were the attributes needed to serve as moderator of what were, at times, contentious debates.

As president of the United States for two terms, Washington employed both his military and governmental experiences to carry out the duties of the executive branch. Importantly, his actions and decisions served to define an office described in the U.S. Constitution in relatively vague terms.

In America today, I honestly believe we give far too little thought to men like George Washington and the sacrifices they made to establish our republic. On the contrary, we often pummel them in history lessons over practices like slavery or denying suffrage to women. However, in reading a book like “His Excellency,” one’s mind can be opened to the complexities of the issues they faced. Ellis, for example, addresses Washington’s change of mind with respect to slavery as he passes the reader through Washington’s life.

A friendly piece of advise in closing: less screen time/more book reading.

A former member of the San Carlos City Council and mayor, Matt Grocott has been involved in political policy on the Peninsula for 17 years. He can be reached by email at

mattgrocott@comcast.net.