A Revolutionary Friendship

Shows how [Washington and Jefferson] in different ways, struggled with moral hypocrisy—the conflict between their lofty ideals and the fact that their elevated social positions depended on slave labor. They both sought a republic of liberty in America but disagreed over what it should look like. As we know too well today, friendships become fragile when political differences are unbridgeable. -- William Anthony Hay * Wall Street Journal *
Cogliano considers the relationship between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in this measured and clarifying account…This deeply researched and accessible narrative sheds new light on a consequential friendship. * Publishers Weekly *
Perhaps the most profound feature of Mr. Cogliano’s book is his treatment of how Washington and Jefferson developed their anti-slavery positions without ever, in fact, freeing their slaves while the two men were alive…[his] method is another vindication of Plutarch’s understanding of what is to be gained by juxtaposing one biography against another. The balance Mr. Cogliano maintains between the personalities and politics of Washington and Jefferson is pitch perfect. -- Carl Rollyson * New York Sun *
It is hard to believe no one has written a detailed account of the difficult friendship between the two Virginian revolutionaries George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. We now have Cogliano’s meticulously researched, insightful, and fluidly written account of their history with each other. This book is just what we need as we approach the 250th anniversary of what these two men helped put in motion, the American Revolution. -- Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
Superb, compelling history. Deftly interweaving the personal and the political, Cogliano shows that Washington and Jefferson had a much closer relationship than is typically acknowledged, first as political allies, then as trusted friends and confidants, but the party strife of the young republic made them bitter opponents. -- Eliga H. Gould, author of Among the Powers of the Earth: The American Revolution and the Making of a New World Empire
A persuasively argued, well-written biography that illuminates and enlivens its subjects and their relationship. Avoiding the pitfalls of both the celebratory national narrative and its revisionist counterpoint, Cogliano enables readers to make better sense of the complicated circumstances—and complicated people—who revolutionized America, for better and for worse. -- Peter S. Onuf, author of Jefferson and the Virginians: Democracy, Constitutions, and Empire
A fantastic work of comparative history. Washington and Jefferson’s collaboration endured for three highly productive decades, but then, as now, even the warmest friendships sometimes got pulverized by politics. Cogliano’s poignant reminder that Washington and Jefferson never reconciled inspires me, as it may you, to try to rebuild bridges. -- Woody Holton, author of Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution