You Never Forget Your First

Opening “You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington,” readers know they have found a different take on the nation’s preeminent founding father. 

Actually, they should know that from the jaunty style of the cover art.

Alexis Coe opens her book – yes, her book – with a series of sidebar-style nuggets of information and a funny introduction about being a female historian delving into Washington, the subject of numerous cinderblock-size books by male authors. 

Coe refers to these male historians as “The Thigh Men of Dad History.” She calls them “Thigh Men” because of their penchant for referring to the size and strength of Washington’s thighs throughout their respective biographies on the first president. Anyone who has read the Washington biographies of Richard Brookhiser, Joseph Ellis, Ron Chernow, etc., should get a chuckle from this “Thigh Men” description because it’s true.

While Coe provides information nuggets throughout the book and brings a sense of fun to the work that matches the light-hearted cover depiction of Washington, she is serious about her work.

She writes a biography that does not whitewash Washington’s being a slave owner but Coe does not write him off either. She finds a balanced way to report on his life – to illustrate the complexities and contradictions of Washington’s career and his place in American history.

As Coe explains in her introduction, many people thought she was writing about Martha, George’s wife, or some other “woman” subject when she told people she was writing a book on Washington. No, “You Never Forget Your First” is a Washington biography but she does reconsider Washington’s mother. 

Mary Washington is described in harsh, harpy-like terms in most of the “Thigh Men” history books, with little evidence, Coe notes. Coe reconsiders Washington’s mother in a more balanced context.

Coe writes in a deft style, hewing away details that can bog down much thicker Washington biographies. But she doesn’t ignore the details either. Again, the sidebars cover many of these subjects from Washington’s friends, enemies and frenemies to the American Revolution battles he won, lost and historians have to call a draw.

“You Never Forget Your First” should be a first choice for readers wanting to learn about the life of George Washington.