flexner decided that washington would be his indispensable man, but flexner became washington's indispensable man because flexner breathed life back into washington. but he did it in kind of an unscrupulous way. flexner was a great writer, he was a great storyteller, and he decided let's not just rely on the documents anymore. i can start telling stories. to make him come alive. so he would start with a document that said -- a letter. washington was sick, he came home from the french and indian war. big deal. flexner writes a story from that of washington sagging on his horse, riding up to the doors of mount vernon, sliding out of the saddle, staggering to the door and pounding on it and crawling up the stairs to his room, throwing himself on his bed. and then a letter arrives from sally fairfax, and he vault out of his bed and suddenly he's full of energy again. [laughter] this was flexner's gift. he was very much like a mason locke weems of the 20th century. he was a story teller, and he was very successful. as we enter into the era of ronald reagan and flexner's biography has turned into a