You Never Forget Your First

You probably have a mental image of George Washington. White powdered wig. Wooden teeth. Cutting down a cherry tree. Maybe some slaves, if you know history. Whatever you think you know about George Washington — think again.

In Alexis Coe’s new biography of the first president and Founding Father, You Never Forget Your First clearly and simply deconstructs every myth about the man. In doing so, she became the first woman in 40 years to write a biography of Washington — and set out to make the one-sided fawning portraits a little more nuanced. She breaks down his masculinity, and biographers’ obsession with his manliness and subsequent overcompensation (she calls these biographers “Thigh Men of Dad History”).

The book’s title is particularly apt. “Whenever we think of our first love or our first friend, our first experience doing anything, we don’t have the sharpest memory of it,” Coe explained to The Washington Post. “We tend to romanticize it, and that’s what happened with George Washington.”

She sets out to de-romanticize Washington. What results is an accessible, smart, and enjoyable read that dives into Washington’s history — warts and all.

Rating: ★★★★