First Entrepreneur book
First Entrepreneur book

First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His — and the Nation’s — Prosperity

$75.00

The United States was conceived in business, founded on business, and operated as a business — all because of the entrepreneurial mind of the greatest American businessman of any generation: George Washington.

Using Washington’s extensive but often overlooked financial papers, Edward G. Lengel chronicles the fascinating and inspiring story of how this self-educated man built the Mount Vernon estate into a vast multilayered enterprise and prudently managed meager resources to win the war of independence. Later, as president, he helped establish the national economy on a solid footing and favorably positioned the nation for the Industrial Revolution. Washington’s steadfast commitment to the core economic principles of probity, transparency, careful management, and calculated boldness are timeless lessons that should inspire and instruct investors even today.

First Entrepreneur will transform how ordinary Americans think about George Washington and how his success in commercial enterprise influenced and guided the emerging nation.

Grand Central Publishing, 2016

The United States was conceived in business, founded on business, and operated as a business — all because of the entrepreneurial mind of the greatest American businessman of any generation: George Washington.

Using Washington’s extensive but often overlooked financial papers, Edward G. Lengel chronicles the fascinating and inspiring story of how this self-educated man built the Mount Vernon estate into a vast multilayered enterprise and prudently managed meager resources to win the war of independence. Later, as president, he helped establish the national economy on a solid footing and favorably positioned the nation for the Industrial Revolution. Washington’s steadfast commitment to the core economic principles of probity, transparency, careful management, and calculated boldness are timeless lessons that should inspire and instruct investors even today.

First Entrepreneur will transform how ordinary Americans think about George Washington and how his success in commercial enterprise influenced and guided the emerging nation.

Grand Central Publishing, 2016

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Reviews

"In this original, lucid, and accessible study, Edward Lengel deploys his mastery of George Washington's vast correspondence to reveal a surprising yet highly significant side to his character. He shows how the energy, realism, and willingness to innovate that typified Washington's approach to his own business ventures was transferred, with momentous consequences, when he led America in war and peace. First Entrepreneur provides a fascinating portrait of an inveterate micro-manager whose hands-on experience taught him that commerce was the strongest cement for bonding the newly United States." - Stephen Brumwell, author of George Washington: Gentleman Warrior

"[Lengel] organically traces the evolution of Washington's free market thinking through his first and second presidential terms: building a national economy, encouraging domestic manufacturing, establishing a central bank, and developing a sense of unity of purpose. A deeply researched and nicely handled biography." - Kirkus Reviews

"[Lengel] has literary command. And he shows us a Washington most frightened, not by any British garrison or Hessians or influenza plague, but by debt." - Houston Press

"Awaken[s] [a] forgotten dimension of Washington's personal story." - Manhattan Book Review

"First Entrepreneur is very readable and provides a view of Washington that most, even those who have followed Washington closely, may never have recognized. It is fascinating, enlightening and very convincing. Highly recommended." - Journal of the American Revolution

"Lengel does a good job of showing how the first president's hatred of debt and concerns about poor public credit, inefficient government and an insecure currency helped shape the nation's early policies." - InfoDad blog

"A highly informative and interesting read regarding the life of George Washington and how his business sense helped shape a nation…For a book that fuses history and economics, this is a surprisingly entertaining piece of nonfiction." - Portland Book Review

"Lengel again brings his extensive knowledge of George Washington to his latest book…A good read. Interesting and engaging." - Collected Miscellany

"Lengel's prose is brisk and interesting. A vivid portrait of Washington from a new angle. An informative and readable book that reveals new insights into Washington's career and character." - Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 124, No. 3