Founding Father?

George Washington is a bit of an enigma to me.  I mean, we all know he is considered great, and the father of our country.  But still, for all that, I realize I don't really know too much about him.  Not in an adult sense.  I love Lincoln.  Lincoln seems self-evidently a great president, a great man, yet Washington, while I'm sure worthy, is opaque to me.  

Any thoughts on the Lincoln-Washington comparison?

I'm realizing this when reading, Founding Brothers, by Joseph Ellis, a book I saw recommended at my local library.  It is rather good, almost sneakily so.  And it has made me realize I'd like to learn more about Washington in the same way that I have recently explored Lincoln.  

Any suggestions on a good Washington biography?

Michael Beschloss: Hippest Historian Alive?

Remember Palmer Joss, the super-cool scientist played by Matthew McConaughey in Contact? He's the Presidential Science Adviser who's so cool and hip you know he gets autographs outside the White House and at Harvard.

Well, Michael Beschloss, presidential historian, would be the real-world Palmer Joss of History. You may have seen Beschloss on PBS. I have. Best I can tell, he's provided commentary for the presidential debates in the last three elections - beginning as third chair historian for Bush v. Gore, then second chair for Bush v. Kerry, and now NPR's first chair presidential historian for the current contest. He's handsome, dresses cool, has an ususual voice, always smiles, and regularly hasn't something insightful to say that actually has to do with history. But not too "historical." Accessible history ... know what I mean?

Michael Beschloss, friends, quite possibly the hippest historian alive.

I'm probably busy when ...

instead of blogging, I just update my Facebook status. That's not good.