His name is carved in granite, his likeness cast in bronze, his legend as large as the role he played as America's first president. But before he was a commander-in-chief, George Washington was a general in a revolution that would decide the future of the people and land he called his own. If victorious, he would gain immortality. If defeated, he would find his neck in a hangman's noose.
Washington knew the sting of defeat-at Brandywine, at Germantown-yet this unwavering leadership and his vision for a new and independent nation emboldened an army prepared to fight barefoot if necessary to win that independence. Wrote an officer after the Battle of Princeton: 'I saw him brave all the dangers of the field and his important life hanging as it were by a single hair with a thousand deaths flying around him.'
Among America's pantheon of Founding Fathers, one man to this day stands out. Author Paul Vickery tracks the unlikely rise of Washington, a man whose stature in command of a young army became prelude to a presidency. As Vickery writes, 'He learned to become the father of our country by first being the father of our military.'
Accompanying images are included in the audiobook companion PDF download.
Orphan. Frontiersman. President. The rise of Andrew Jackson to the highest office in America has become a legend of leadership, perseverance, and ambition. Central to Jackson's historic climblong before the White House-was his military service. Scarred permanently as a child by the sword of a British soldier, Jackson grew into an unwavering leader, a general whose charisma and sheer force of personality called to mind those of George Washington a generation earlier.
As commander of the Tennessee militia in the War of 1812, Jackson became 'Old Hickory,' the indomitable spearhead in a series of bloody conflicts with Creek Indians on the southwest frontier. Slight of frame with silver hair that seemed to stand on command, Jackson once stood down a mutinous brigade as an army of one. Then came New Orleans. Author Paul Vickery chronicles Jackson's defining battle and the decisions a single, impassioned commander made to ensure a growing nation could, once and for all, be free of British might. The hero of New Orleans infused America, for the first time, with a sense of nationalism.
Jackson was decisive and unforgiving, a commander firmly in his element. In his own words, 'One man with courage makes a majority.' The lessons of one extraordinary general endure.
Accompanying images are included in the audiobook companion PDF download.
