Part II presents writings connected to the first part of Washington’s service as the leader of American military forces during the War for Independence. Here the reader encounters Washington’s remarkable combination of diffidence and self-confidence: a diffidence in his abilities accompanied by absolute confidence in his rectitude and dedication to duty. These materials also trace Washington’s efforts to build the army into an effective fighting force while tirelessly impressing upon the minds of the soldiers the nobility of the aims for which they were fighting. They further reveal Washington for the first time in his life dealing with the delicate problems of justice and prudence that attend supreme military command: learning how to deal wisely with the enemy, the citizenry, his military subordinates, and his political superiors.

Part III compiles Washington’s political writings from the alliance with France – a key turning point in the war – to the concluding of peace with Great Britain and Washington’s subsequent retirement from public life. Here we find the ardent patriot coming to the realization that patriotism alone was not enough to carry the war to a successful end. Enthusiasm, he observed, had done what it could in the beginning of the contest, which could now only be won by realistic appeals to the self-interest of those on whose exertions the outcome depended. Here, too, we find Washington confronting the problems that arose from the lack of effective governing power in the Articles of Confederation—experiences that, for the rest of his life, influenced his political thinking and convinced him of the need for a stronger central government.