between lincoln and his in-laws, the todd family. american history tv airs each weekend here on c-span 3. one of the trickiest things about writing this book for me was thinking through the way, particularly in the international human rights context, rights were both kind of straddled, a moral imperative, and aspirational ideal, and more practical and formal mandate. >> on "after words" from distributing food to the poor in india, to sex trafficking in japan, richard thompson ford defines human rights and how well-meaning person reforms can lead to increased exploitation, saturday night at 10:00 eastern. also this weekend on book tv, saturday at 7:00 p.m., house historian looks at the americans who have served in congress. he is joined by former

congressman ron dellams. and al simpson, written by his press secretary and chief of staff. book tv every weekend on c-span 2. there is a new website for american history tv where you can find our schedules and preview our upcoming programs, as well as access ah tv's history tweets, history in the news and special media from facebook, youtube, twitter and four square. follow american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3, and online at c-span.org/history. coming up next, presidential historian richard norton smith reflects on george washington at the age of 43. he looks at how washington's life experience up to this point, including his command of the continental army and his marriage to martha dandridge custis helps shape him. this lecture is the second of a three-part series taking a

closer look at the evolution of president washington's character throughout his life. this is about an hour. [ applause ] >> well, thank you, gay. i don't remember that last sentence. anyway, thank you very much for that more than generous introduction. and i want to thank everyone beginning with its namesake responsible for the lecture series, not to mention those joining us via c-span. i recognize many a returning face from last month. this means one of two things. either a, you're a student of all things washington, or b, you

are a glutton for punishment. but in any event, i'm delighted to see you. character, said mark twain, is the architect of achievement. it was twain, after all, who famously declared himself to be a greater man than the father of his country for the simple reason whereas george washington couldn't tell a lie, he twain could. on closer examination, the joke isn't on washington at all, but on the humorist and his hero worshipping contemporaries. for the same mark twain who chuckled over a god-like washington came close to defying ulysses grant. above all, twain marvelled at grant's self-possession, the single quality that comes

closest in my opinion to defining washington. but whereas grant seems to have been born with his thermostat set on woe, washington waged a life-long struggle to control his combustible emotions. a warrior of mercurial temperament and grant-like calm, nowhere is this potent combination more explicitly evoked that in the second washington figure created by exhibit designers to introduce a life divided into three distinct parts. last time we tracked an enterprising young colonial into the ohio valley as he mastered the art of surveying and suffered the consequences of his own military inexperience. tonight we encounter washington in middle age. the iconic general astride his mount buskin. and a moment of maximum danger to the cause of american liberty.

you wouldn't guess it from the blandly resolute suppression on his face, but the man on horseback is beset by political intrigues and scheming rivals. riding his cousin to whom he had entrusted the management of mt. vernon, washington let down his guard. quote, i see the impossibility of serving with reputation. and yet i am told that if i quit the command, inevitable ruin will follow. in confidence, i tell you that never was i in such an unhappy divided state since i was born. but i will be done with the subject, washington continued, with the precaution to you that it is not a fit one to be publicly known or discussed. if i fall, it may not be amiss that these circumstances be known and declaration is made in credit to the justice of my character.

and if the men will stand by me, which by the by i despair of, i am resolved not to be forced from this ground while i have life. none of this extraordinary interior dialogue is apparent in the equestrian washington. it is as if the commander in chief, in effect america's civil as well as military leader is already posing for one of those heroic likenesses that will one day grace innumerable parks and other public spaces in the nation that owes him its existence. washington has traveled far in the years since 1754 when we last glimpsed the strapping youth with his face pressed against the window of the british military establishment, and the virginia squirearky that was its civilian counterpart. since then an unlikely consequence of premature deaths and unexpected inherit tenses,

of military defeat and political betrayal, of domestic happiness and public disillusionment, these and more have combined to produce the washington of valley forge. three changes in particular shaped washington's character. the first, and arguably the most significant, was his marriage to martha dandridge custis. indeed, marriage was to be the making of george washington, emotionally as well as economically. modern writers themselves a part of a materialistic culture tend to emphasize the latter at the expense of the former. they stress the 18,000 acres that washington's bride brought to their union, part of a 40,000 pound estate that made her the richest widow in virginia. in wedding martha, they observe the acquisitive colonel washington secured his greatest prize to date. amid these hints of fortune seeking, one can easily forget

that the widow custis was every bit as practical a suitor as george washington. for this she has no one to blame but herself. martha's destruction of all but two of her husband's letters to her is well-known. deprived of documentation, historians have by and large cast her as a sweet, plump grandmotherly bystander more stylized if possible than the man she loved and lived with for 40 years. imagine betsy ross without her flag, june cleaver in a mob cap. worse yet, the silence enforced by her act of historical vandalism has only fed the voguish view of martha as first runner-up to sally fairfax. a careful review of the young widow's expenditures during the courtship challenges the cynical notion of a business transaction masquerading as a love affair.

within weeks of washington's initial call at the plantation, mrs. custis was ordering from her london agent a new outfit, quote, not to be mourning. this is three months after the death of her first husband. she also dispatched her favorite nightgown to be dyed in a color she deemed fashionable. simultaneously, colonel washington signified his need for, quote, the best super fine blue cotton velvet in sufficient quantity to fashion a coat, waistcoat, and breeches for one of his prodigious height. clearly each wished to impress each other. they need hardly worry. in the estimate of washington's recent biographer, martha was a prize catch, but so was george. her bride groom was a proven manager ready for the responsibilities he married along with her. they suited each other,

affectionately as well as practically. marrying up was a tradition among washington men. it was renewed on a snowy january afternoon in 1759 when the couple stood beneath four white candles at the custis plantation and said their vows. a classic case of opposites attracting, the towering groom was a natural athlete, enthusiastic dancer, and attentive guardian to martha's two surviving guardian by daniel custis. the diminutive bride in her yellow brocade gown barely reached to her lover's shoulder. round where he was angular, spiritua he was sporadic in his church attendance, she was a self-described, quote, old-fashioned housekeeper, steady as a clock, busy as a bee, and cheerful as a cricket. as events were to prove, this hardly did justice to martha's wifely support or public patriotism. and yet even among admirers, few

would describe the washington marriage in terms of passion, not with the working loveliness of sally fairfax a few miles away to remind the strapping groom of what might have been. to historian paige smith, writing in the unbuttoned 1970s, it wasn't hard to tease out powerful emotions in washington's oft quoted letter written to sally at the time of his betrothal to martha. a self-professed to love, washington confides his feelings in language that is anything but confiding. at the end he speaks of, quote, a destiny, which has control of our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of human nature. for smith, the secret of washington's and the essence of his moral force was to be found in a naturally passionate nature

hedged by stoic restraint. milton remarked of oliver cromwell that he learned to govern himself before he could govern england. the same could be said of washington. or if you want a more recent example, his admirers, robert e. lee and dwight eisenhower. contemporary americans are confined to confuse such reserve with emotional constipation. but there is another word for washington's conduct towards the two most important women in his life. that word is judgment. rarely confused with charisma, it may not bring us to our feet, but it is the lifeblood of leadership. judgment supplied the foundation for washington's success as revolutionary and somewhat reluctant executive. it is precisely what was missing in his younger self. far more than a marriage of convenience, the love match that developed over time between the

washingtons bestowed on each partner gifts beyond material wealth or social prestige. deeply domestic by nature, washington found in his agreeable consort an equanimity and transport transcending worldly riches. at the same time there is no doubt that his marriage to martha put the seal on washington's dramatic ascent in the planter aristocracy, which brings us to the second significant change that defines the washington of 1777. simply put, he had matured in more than years, even as he attained the status and position of command that he had craved since boyhood. a month after his wedding, washington made his first appearance as an elected member of virginia's house of burgesss. though he would never sway colleagues with his oratory, he quietly impressed them through his common sense and uncommon insights into military affairs.

readily accepted into the colony's governing elite, washington assumed the responsibilities of his class, becoming a investryman at nearby parish, having his portrait painted in 1772 by charles wilson peal, riding to hounds. his fortune grew with his reputation. indeed, this makes his subsequent commitment to revolutionary principles all the more impressive, given all that he had to lose should george iii and his formidable war machine prevail. by the outbreak of hostilities, the squire of mt. vernon had more than doubled his acreage along the potomac. he was likewise expanding his manor house, constructing an elegant dining room to accommodate a growing stream of visitors, and serve as a stage of sorts for the public man he had become.

washington had already completed a second private wing containing his study and a bedroom for he and martha. in short, he had arrived in the very colonial society he now proposed to upend. along with the emotional security provided by his marriage and the social position occupied by the successful soldier, planter, and civic-minded gentleman, there is a third factor setting general washington apart from his younger self. almost in spite of himself, he had become a leader of men, and not just on the battlefield. his patriotism was not unrelated to his pocketbook. to modern ear, it has the sound of an oxymoron. but george washington was an established revolutionary, willing to sacrifice everything but honor in a war to ensure property rights as well as human rights. truth be told, washington was never so prickly as when he

suspected others might be taking advantage of him. it made no difference if the culprit was a thieving speculator or a king on his throne at windsor. in the years immediately following his marriage, he paid little notice to the serpent in his garden, a british mercantile system that mocked his illusions of control. for with every foreign shipment marked robert carey and company, washington diminished his fortune and the independence that he associated with wealth. he found himself increasingly trapped in a transatlantic card game played with marked cards. he ordered busts of his military heroes, julius caesar, alexander the great, sweden's charles the xii and frederick the great. offered him homer and plato instead. he said no thanks. ill-fitting clothes dramatized his dependence on distant

tailors while playing havoc with his need for neatness and order. farm apartments would arrive with parts missing, ships' holds were devoid of the toys promised martha's daughter patsy. self-sufficiency governed washington's politics. as an innovator, he replaced soil-depleting tobacco with wheat and corn. he experimented with a variety of untested crops from the teeming potomac he harvested shad, perch, bass and perch. some for his own table, the rest salted down to vary the corn bread and buttermilk diet of his slaves. the washingtons used only locally produced cheese or port. mt. vernon manufactured its own cloth. it's proprietor traded local flour and fish with french outposts in the west indies. yet even as he made strides towards economic independence, washington was hit with fresh english duties on paper, paint,

glass, lead, and tea. inevitably, this brought him into conflict with a system that monopolized his crops for english use, while draining his pockets of english import duties, freight charges, insurance premiums, and storage costs. the money he borrowed to buy lands and slaves was english money. the mortgages into which these loans were converted joined the dismal list of financial obligations he owed to men 3,000 miles away. in 1763, king george iii arbitrarily closed lands west of the appalachians to american speculators. quote, i can never look upon that proclamation in any other light, wrote washington, than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of the indians. what he might reasonably have asked was the point of the french and indian war so recently completed at such

extravagant cost. what was to become of his own western lands, much of them carved from a 200,000 acre grant voted to virginia's colonial defenders. as noted by joseph ellis, the royal restrictions coincided with washington's greatest land speculation, a 2.5 million acre feudal kingdom in the ohio river valley that was rejected by the british govemeof existing treat with the iroquiois and cherokee tribes. one can washington's reaction a few years later when the same london overseers granted permission for english investors to stake their claims in the same region. as resentment hardened into resistance, washington assumed a role of political leadership far in advance of his fellow planters. in 1765, he welcomed the unprecedented action of the 13

united colonies in protesting the stamp act, which he denounced as, quote, legal thievery. he didn't stop there. quote, at a time when our lordly masters in great britainhing len the deappreciation of american freedom, he told his neighbor george mason, it seems highly necessary that something should be done to avoid the stroke and maintain the liberty which we have derived from our ancestors. resolve to break the crown's commercial as well as political stranglehold, he lent his name to the virginia association, a voluntary boycott of imported goods so long as britain's despised taxes remained in effect. he endorsedfor a provinceal congress to weigh a general ban on british imports and american exports. when british patriots staged their tea party and the london ministry closed the port in

retaliation, washington opposed the repressive law even more than yankee lawlessness. a corner had been inuly 1774, h mason, working in tandem in the new study at mt. vernon, drew up the celebrated fairfax resolves, a nonimportation pact with teeth, sure to enrage london as a virtual declaration of economic war. presided over the alexandria meeting at which the resolves were formally adopted. though american independence had yet to be proclaimed, washington himself had long since broken th to do anything less would be out of character for this self contained, self-respecting, and above all self governing patriot. by now in the vanguard of english subjects who were coming

to see themselves as american his conversion through the blue and buff uniform he designed in the autumn of 1774 after several independent companies of virginia militia proclaimed him their commander of choice. in time this same outfit would be adopted to a much larger force continental in scope. the growing rift divided families and destroyed friendships. quote, unhappy it is to reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast wrote washington in the wake of lexington and concord, and that the once happy and peaceful plains of america are either to be drenched in blood or inhospitaled by slaves. sad alternative. but can a vertuous man hesitate in his choice? adding to the poignancy of his celebration was the

identification of washington's correspondent, george fairfax who with his wife sally had sailed for home in 1773, never to return. in their about a session the virginia gazette led the course of praise for the man of the hours. in spite of carlton's canadian troop, brave washington will give the word and make them howl and whoop. in philadelphia, destiny intervened once more, much to the dismay of john hancock, who coveted military glory for himself. on june 15th, congress raised washington to the command of an army and a nation that existed mostly in its imagination. waiting three days to break the news to martha, the newly elevated brigadier general revealed his inexpressible concern, worsened by the uneasiness his new assignment was bound to cause his wife. "so far from seeking

disappointment, he assured her, i have used every power in to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part from you and family, but from the unconsciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity and that i should enjoy more real happiness and felicity in one month with you at home than i have the most distant prospect of reaping abroad if my story was to be seven time seven years." justifying his actions to martha, washington claimed, "it was utterly out of my power to refuse this appointment without exposing my character to such censures as would have reflected dishonor upon myself and given pain to my friends." observers then and since have read into washington's frequently expressed qualms,

less self denial than self deception. . after all, had any other delegate to congress so blatantly advertised his qualifications by wearing his uniform to the philadelphia conclave at which someone must be entrusted with military command. washington's protestations of inadequacy, coupled with his repeated predictions of disappointment and shattered reputation, should things go awry, appeared to modern eyes contrived. with the same skepticism that leads us to question his rejection of a salary in favor of expenses only, we find it hard to accept such gestures in the spirit he intended. the centuries come between us, the appeal to posterity eludes us. but that only reveals more about our value system and our expectations of scripted focus grouped virtue than it does about washington's sincerity. is it not possible that

washington's self-deprecation was his painfully honest way of confronting gnawing insecurities and a fear of failure bred into one who had never commanded any military unit larger than a regiment? the same duality flavors much of his private correspondence. in august 1775, washington, the champion of popular sovereignty, informed general gage, the british commander in boston, that he ha was "embarrassed with the numbers who crowd to our camp, animated with the purist principles of virtue and love of their country." the very next day, he spoke somewhat more frankly to his virginia cousin. quote, the people of this government, by which he meant the men of new england, have obtained a character today by which they by no means deserve. their offices, generally speaking, are the most indifferent kind of people i

ever saw. i dare say the men would fight very well if properly officered, although they are in an exceedingly dirty and nasty people. experience would teach washington to be more guarded in his supposedly private assessments. shared privation, heroism in the ranks and aristocratic pretenders such as charles lee and thomas conway all led washington to embrace the more egalitarian sentiments he had expressed to general gage the day before his comments on the "nasty and dirty" new englander. this is, i submit, the real washington. certainly, at the end of the war, and arguably at the beginning of the war, this is washington to general gage -- quote, you effect, sir, to despise all rank not derived from the same rank as your own.

gage, of course, had been commissioned by the king. "i cannot conceive any more honorable than that which flows from the uncorrupted choice of a brave and fine people, the purest source and original fountain of all power." if washington harbored any doubts on this score when he wrote these fine phrases, the war and its attendant sacrifice banished them for good. initially, he appeared to pick up from where the frontier colonel of the 1750s had left off. three things prompted men to perform their duty, he argued -- natural bravery, hope of reward and fear of punishment. consistent with this outlook, washington laid down harsh structures against profanity and drunkenness and equally firm rules requiring punctual attendance at divine service. officers were directed to keep their men neat and clean, to guarantee them straw to lay on, to limit furloughs and enforce strict military discipline.

victory, no less than virtue, would be imposed from above. naturally aggressive, washington's urge to take the battle to the enemy caused him early in the war to devise brash tactics that worked better on paper than in practice. he contemplated a frontal assault on british-held boston. he was not the only american by any means to believe that french canada would fall like ripe fruit before benedict arnold and his ragtag invasion force. "perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages," he declared. they could not, however, take the place of gunpowder, rations or shoes, all of which were in woefully short supply. accusing the french of their bloody world war i tranches were to learn the limits of the idea of willpower triumphing over everything else. so, washington discovered that his was to b