But, despite their various get-rich schemes, personal faults, and general human failings, it seems that they really did believe in the odd mix of Enlightenment, Puritan, and pragmatic thought they claimed to. And sacrificed maximizing their self-interest to erect a government designed to protect itself from human abuse, and the people from itself.

To me, it’s a dual miracle: the miracle that the system they designed worked as well as it has, and the miracle of heroic virtue that these ambitious and prosperous men designed that system in the first place.

May not sound like much, but a quick survey of the world at the time, and even Britian, shows just how remarkable it was!

The fact that GW and others’ motives were human—GW was denied a spot in the regular army—shouldn’t be surprising.

I’ll recommend the historical novels by Jeff Shaara, Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause as a nice way to “see inside” the heads of Washington, Franklin, Adams, etc. Shaara’s dad Michael was the founder of the psychological historical novel and was the master, but Jeff does a pretty good job.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Shaara

I greatly enjoyed his novel on the Mexican War, Gone for Soldiers, which gave me a substantial respect for the achievement of Winfield Scott.