Philip G. Smucker

Philip G. Smucker, author of ‘Riding With George: Sportsmanship and Chivalry in the Making of America’s First President’, to be published by Chicago Review Press on July1, is a journalist, professor, research fellow at the National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon, and the author of ‘My Brother, My Enemy and Al Qaeda’s Great Escape’. He lives in Virginia.

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ORIGINAL SIN

Slavery Haunted Washington—His Heirs Didn’t Get the Message

As he neared death, George Washington was wracked with guilt over slavery, but his doubts fell on deaf ears, especially among his slave-owning descendants.

Philip G. Smucker

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BETTING MEN

The Founding Fathers Would Literally Bet on Anything

Our Founding Fathers—particularly those of a Southern persuasion—gambled not only on horses but pretty much everything else.

Philip G. Smucker

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EXCERPT

For Washington, a Sword Was Much More Than an Accessory

Washington was a lifelong fan of swords and their cross-cultural blending of sport and warfare, and he knew how to use one—no mean feat, as his biographer discovered firsthand.

Philip G. Smucker