Читать книгу Blood of Tyrants - Logan Beirne - Страница 15

Even as the embers of war still smoldered, he found peace. Standing alongside the blue-gray waters of the Potomac River, the gentleman farmer gazed across his sprawling estate. The lush foliage of billowing weeping willows and blossoming laurel dotted the softly rolling fields, which glimmered in the fiery light of the rising sun. A silent spring breeze grazed his weathered face, sending the aromas of earth and grass into the air. Over the farmer’s impressive frame, still powerfully built after fifty-five years of backbreaking use, soared his mansion’s majestic white columns. They rose two stories to meet a striking red roof, topped by two large chimneys, pointed dormers, and an ornately domed cupola. Beneath this grandiose architectural crown, a white, neoclassical Georgian-style mansion provided a comfortable home for the gentleman and his beloved wife, along with her two rambunctious young grandchildren who had been orphaned during the war.

He had fought courageously for his country and had earned this peaceful life with his loved ones. And he enjoyed it immensely. But as the sun’s first rays appeared to ignite the horizon, his serenity was shattered by the clacking hooves of an approaching horse. The messenger brought dire—but not unexpected—news: the gentleman farmer’s nation was crumbling and it needed him. Emerging from his retirement, he would save the country. Again.

The chapters in Part I explore the creation of the United States Constitution. They examine Washington’s crucial role in its formation and how his wartime precedents shaped the powers of all future American presidents.