The Nine Lives of George Washington

Book excerpt: How George Washington survived so many close encounters with the Grim Reaper - in the wilderness frontier, on the battlefield, from serious illness, and in terrifying accidents - can be read only in the story of a steady succession of miracles. For the incredible fact that he survived all of these encounters (except of course the last) to live sixty-seven years is a consummation for which untold millions can be eternally grateful. For it was Washington who with the success of the Revolution and the leadership provided through two terms as President brought forth upon this continent an entirely new way of life. This society, governed as it now was by a spirited reverence for freedom and guaranteed by documents revolutionary in their principles, must have startled the Old World.