George Washington Ordinary Man Extraordinary Leader is a revised edition of the author s George Washington published in 1979 Totally updated to include the author s extensive research conducted in the intervening two decades the book is a concise but complete biography of Washington as gentleman planter colonial rebel American general and U S president The book provides a full and even handed portrait of the first president with special emphasis on how he took his rather commonplace talents and transformed them with self discipline into extraordinary leadership in a time of turmoil The book pays special attention to Washington s struggles during the Revolution and his tenure as president and deals with his gradual conversion from advocate of nonpartisan politics to a strict Federalist This book synthesizes the current research in a readable style that affords the general reader an understanding of Washington s special character and his vital role in the making of the United States