David O. Stewart - George Washington : The Political Rise of Americas Founding Father

Madisons Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America

American Emperor: Aaron Burrs Challenge to Jeffersons America

Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincolns Legacy

The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution

The Lincoln Deception

The Paris Deception

The Babe Ruth Deception

Abigail AdamsOften separated from her husband, John Adams of Massachusetts, Adams sustained their wise and fascinating correspondence of several decades, offering insightful observations on events and personalities. Unlike her husband, she was an unabashed admirer of Washington.

John AdamsA brilliant lawyer from Massachusetts, Adams was a leading figure in the two Continental Congresses. He pressed for Washingtons appointment as commander in chief of the Continental Army and then for the Declaration of Independence. As a diplomat, Adams helped negotiate the peace treaty of 1783 and served as minister to Britain. He was Washingtons vice president for two terms and succeeded him in the presidency. Longtime political allies, Washington and Adams shared a mutual respect, but not much warmth.

Samuel AdamsLeader of the Massachusetts resistance to British policies before the Revolutionary War, Adams served as president of the Continental Congress and governor of his home state.

William Alexander, Lord StirlingA wealthy New Jerseyan who unsuccessfully claimed a Scottish peerage, Alexander was a regimental and divisional commander in the Continental Army. He helped thwart the Conway Cabal, which aimed to supplant Washington as commander in chief. Alexander also served as major general at the Battle of Monmouth Court House and presided over the subsequent court-martial of Major General Charles Lee.

Anna Maria Dandridge BassettYounger and favorite sister of Martha Dandridge Washington. Her home with Burwell Bassett, Eltham Plantation, was a favorite stop for George and Martha Washington when they traveled between Mount Vernon and the Virginia colonial capital in Williamsburg.

Burwell BassettHusband of Anna Maria Dandridge, Bassett was a planter in New Kent County, Virginia, and enjoyed an easy friendship with Washington and his family. After the Battle of Yorktown, Marthas son, John Parke Custis, died of camp fever at Bassetts Eltham Plantation.

John CarlyleA Scottish merchant who settled in Alexandria, Virginia, Carlyle married a daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, served as commissary for the Virginia Regiment at the beginning of the French and Indian War, and was a justice of the Fairfax County Court with Washington.

General Thomas ConwayThough the Conway Cabal is named for him, this Irishman and veteran of French military service was a junior partner of that effort to supersede Washington as commander in chief in 177778. An able battlefield commander, Conway made enemies because of his arrogance and ambition. He returned to Europe in summer 1778, after being shot in the mouth in a duel.

Dr. James CraikA Scot trained in medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Craik emigrated to Virginia and settled in Winchester, where he served as surgeon for the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War. In 1770 and again in 1784, Craik traveled with Washington through western Virginia and other frontier lands. He also served as a surgeon in the Continental Army. A lifelong friend of Washingtons, Craik moved to Alexandria after the war and led the physicians who cared for Washington in his final illness in 1799.

John (Jacky) Parke CustisMartha Washingtons son by her first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis, Jacky Custis inherited great wealth at a young age, though his indifference to education frustrated Washington. Custis was eighteen when he married Eleanor Calvert of Maryland, and served in Virginias assembly during the Revolutionary War. He died of camp fever in 1783 at age twenty-six, shortly after the Battle of Yorktown, where he had joined Washingtons staff. He left four children, two of whom were raised by George and Martha Washington.

Robert DinwiddieScottish merchant and British official who was colonial governor of Virginia from 175158. Dinwiddie sent Washington on his first public mission to French forts on the Pennsylvania frontier in 175354, and appointed Washington to lead the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War. Relations between the two men soured before Dinwiddie returned to England.

Bryan FairfaxSon of Colonel William Fairfax, Bryan was a neighbor of Washingtons who often joined him on fox hunts before the Revolutionary War. Bryan served with Washington as a justice of the Fairfax County Court. After the war, he became an Episcopal priest and was recognized as the eighth Lord Fairfax for a short time before his death in 1802.