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Here is the story of the fateful marriage of the richest woman in Virginia and the man who could have been king. In telling their story, Chadwick explains not only their remarkable devotion to each other, but why the wealthiest couple in Virginia became revolutionaries who risked the loss of their vast estates and their very lives. “One of George Washington’s secret weapons in his rise to power and immortality was the extraordinary woman he married. The story of the half-century-long married love affair of George and Martha Washington is truly inspiring.” —Willard Sterne Randall, author of George Washington, A Life “Chadwick puts a more human face on Washington by creating a very detailed portrait of how he and the outgoing Martha lived: their food, their slaves and servants, their health, their furniture, their daily life together.”—USA Today

About the Author

Bruce Chadwick Chadwick Ph.D.

Bruce Chadwick, Ph.D., lectures in American history at Rutgers University while also teaching writing at New Jersey City University. He is a former journalist and the author of four other historical books: Brother against Brother: The Lost Civil War Diaries of Lt. Edmund Halsey, Two American Presidents: Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis 1861-1865, Traveling the Underground Railroad and The Reel Civil War: Mythmaking in American Film. He lives in New Jersey.

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Table of Contents
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The Early Years
Chapter One: George and Martha -
Chapter Two: Colonel Washington -
Chapter Three: The Widow Custis -

Marriage
Chapter Four: The Washingtons at Mount Vernon -
Chapter Five: Martha Washington:
-The Mistress of Mount Vernon -
Chapter Six: The Washingtons in High Society -
Chapter Seven: George, Martha, and the Children -
Chapter Eight: Tragedy and Joy -
Chapter Nine: The Poor Wretches:
-The Washingtons and Slavery -
Chapter Ten: War Clouds: The Revolution -
Chapter Eleven: The Commander in Chief
-and Lady Washington -
Chapter Twelve: The Cambridge Camp -
Chapter Thirteen: The Death of George Washington…-
Chapter Fourteen: The Awful Valley Forge Winter -
Chapter Fifteen: Snowed In: Morristown, 1779–1780 -
Chapter Sixteen: The World Turned Upside Down:
-Yorktown and the End of the Revolution -
Chapter Seventeen: A Long-Awaited Retirement to
-Mount Vernon and a Second Family -

The Presidency
Chapter Eighteen: The First Couple -
Chapter Nineteen: The Much-Admired Washingtons -
Chapter Twenty: First in the Hearts of Their Countrymen:
-The Final Retirement -

Bibliography -

Notes -

Index -

About the Author -