George Washington as a Military Leader - Annotated Bibliography Example

Annotated Bibliography Barlow, Casey B., Mark Jordan, and William H. Hendrix. “Character of assessment: An examination of leadership levels,” Journal of Business and Psychology 17 (Summer 2003): 563 – 569. This paper relates leadership styles in the military to leadership styles in business, using George Washington as one of the examples through which the point is made. Through an exploration of the trait of personal character, the paper seeks a further exploration of how this effects leadership and what changes in the decision making process is experienced when ‘character’ is a part of an arsenal of traits from which leadership emerges. In creating an understanding of the ways in which personal traits effect public performance, a greater understanding of leadership is formed, thus creating a deeper foundation from which to explore the leadership of George Washington. Chadwick, Bruce. George Washingtons War: The Forging of a Revolutionary Leader and the American Presidency. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks, 2005. This book creates an engaging narrative on the military history of President George Washington and how it related to his eventual Presidency. Through almost fictionalized story-telling, Chadwick brings the events to life in order to explore the events that thrust Washington to the leadership position. In creating a foundation for the events of the early years of developing the new idealized form of governing, he uses the military history of the man in order to create an understanding of how military decision making is translated into political maneuvering in order to create a foundation of strength for a young nation as it emerges from the ashes of war. The book is a biography that gives context to the leadership of the nation’s first President. Clary, David A. George Washingtons First War: His Early Military Adventures. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. This book chronicles the first military endeavors of George Washington. Although it is not presented with much true analysis of the events that led to the emergence of a great leader, it does go through those events and create a well-balanced narrative of the events which gives context to his early beginnings in his military career. Although more detailed information is necessary to fully understand much of what is discussed, it gives a foundation from which to formulate more advanced analysis and to integrate into the other literature that will provide deeper meaning to what is within this work. Fredriksen, John C. American Military Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 1999. This book has an overview of American military leaders from which a broader understanding of military leadership can be gained. Individual leaders, and their histories, are approached through an analysis of their experiences, with George Washington being among the individuated explorations. Washington is discussed in terms of reverence, with the ways in which he performed as a good leader listed within the written history of the events. Unfortunately, the one thing that is lacking is a balance that shows both his strengths and weaknesses, which will need to be found through other means. Lanning, Michael L. The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Military Leaders of All Time. New York, NY: Citadel Press, 2002. Lanning creates a list of the most influential military leaders, being specific through his use of George Washington as the number one most influential that this is not the same as stating that he is not the most brilliant strategist that the nation has had in leadership, nor is he the greatest battle captain. This is not said to diminish Washington, but to clarify what qualifies him over others to hold the first spot in his book. The influence that Washington had on changing the nation is what qualifies him to hold the number one spot in Lanning’s book and that is defined by his mostly civilian army that he took in to defeat a formidable force that belonged to the British, making political relationships and negotiating terms that helped to from the break from the British control. Laver, Harry S, and Jeffrey J. Matthews. The Art of Command: Military Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell. Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 2008. This book contains a series of articles that discuss the nature of military leadership, starting with George Washington and moving forward through a series of military leaders throughout US history. The benefit of this information is to see both a historical progression of military leadership strategy and to compare subsequent leaders within the United States as they compare to the leadership provided by George Washington. As George Washington was a military leader through both his involvement in war and through his leadership through the presidency, the benefits of his style and strategy can be seen in comparison to those who followed him in both types of capacities, and through a variety of differing experiences. Lengel, Edward G. General George Washington: A Military Life. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007. This book creates a dramatic narrative of the life of President George Washington, creating context for the events of his life and providing for a personalized story of his life. The book is a biography, but has included research that has been used little in the literary history of the exploration of the first leader of the United States. Lengel does not merely pander to his heroism, but shows both weaknesses and strengths, accomplishments and failures in order to flesh out the humanity of the almost now mythic figure of the nation’s first President. Through the use of Washington’s military papers, existing literature, and a great deal of primary resources, this author has created a well-rounded history of Washington as a General. Loss, Richard. “The Political Thought of President George Washington,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 19 (Summer 1989): 471-490. Loss contends that President Washington has been accused of having no real political thought, that he utilized only ancient republicanism, or that he was engaged entirely in modern republicanism. Loss contends that he sees the political thought of Washington as being represented of a mix of both ancient republicanism and modern republicanism, a far more sophisticated blend that provided for the emerging ideologies of the nation, while focusing on the idea of an educated system of the classic frameworks of republican beliefs. McNeilly, Mark. George Washington and the Art of Business: Leadership Principles of Americas First Commander-in-Chief. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008. This interesting take on the concept of leadership is developed on the idea that the use of Washington’s principles of leadership can be used in order to outline a method for approaching business problems. Similar to the Art of War by Sun Tzu has been transposed to be relevant to business, the life of President Washington and the way in which he held his leadership has been converted into business concepts. The benefit of this book in discussing the military leadership skills of President Washington is that it looks at the motivations behind many of his actions and defines the ways in which in he took action, not just a discussion of those actions. This shows how he accomplished what he did during his lifetime, rather than just listing what was accomplished. Peabody, Bruce G. “George Washington, Presidential Term Limits, and the Problem of Reluctant Political Leadership,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 31 (September 2001): 439-453. This paper discusses the reasons behind the insistence by Washington to create presidential term limits. Peabody presents a different perspective on the creation of term limits for the Presidency, suggesting that looking at Washington from his public image and defining his choices through the moralistic perspective that as applied to his political efforts clouds the truth. While there is nothing nefarious concerning the political choices made, there is some application of virtue on the history that somewhat changes the perception of how and why certain political choices were made and implemented. He uses examples of the development of religion and mythology in order to explain the applications of moral and virtuous decision making to the career of Washington in which his choices were made for good reasons, but not perhaps solely from a sense of moral superiority. Randall, Willard S. George Washington: A Life. New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1998. This book is a detailed biography of the life of George Washington, which begins at the point at which the revolutionary war ends, but then goes back to rediscover all that led up to that point and then extend beyond. The work creates a solid foundation with some insights into the leadership of the man, while discussing motivations and intentions in relationship to events. His life is explored through a network of information that includes primary resources and other secondary resources of repute. Schwartz, Barry. “George Washington and the Whig Conception of Heroic Leadership,” American Sociological Review 48 (February 1983): 18-33. This paper discusses the concept of leadership as it relates to time period and cultural meaning. Schwartz discusses the change that Washington endured during his military service in which his public image was transformed from a military leader into a moral representative of the public interests. The belief of the corrupt nature of power and authority was balanced against his image as a moral symbol, a man whose virtue was the foundation for his achievements and thus represented the departure that was desired by the public from the monarchy. Schwartz sees the antithesis of Max Weber’s theory on charismatic leadership in Washington, instead seeing hero worship as the basis of his public image from which military and political success was created. This study analyzes the public image of Washington and how it affected his career. Read More