Eyes on George Washington

Episode Notes Benedict Arnold's name immediately conjures traitorous thoughts. This was not always the case. During the American Revolution, George Washington initially saw Arnold as a brave and highly capable officer, and he advocated Arnold's promotion to major general and placement in significant commands. A man of prickly temperament, Arnold viewed these advances as coming too slowly and with...

Episode Notes Alexander Hamilton's intellect and ambition propelled him from the obscure beginnings of an illegitimate birth on an island in the West Indies to a place among George Washington's trusted associates. Recognized for his competence as an artillery officer, fluency in French, and way with words, Hamilton came into Washington's military family as an aide-de-camp in 1777. Hamilton excelle...

Episode Notes It is not widely known that George Washington was father to a stepson and stepdaughter. The latter, Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis, suffered throughout her life from epilepsy and died shortly before she turned 17 from a seizure. Washington strove earnestly to find a cure for Patsy and raise her in a manner appropriate for her social status and marital aspirations. Her early de...