Marvin Kitman has done a masterful job of giving us a different outlook on the Revolutionary War. When George Washington was made General of the Armies, congress offered him a salary but Washington nobly declined and instead requested that they only pay his expenses. The actual journal of his expenses are included in this book and then many journal entries are humorously interrupted by Kitman. Needless to say at war's end, the country would have been better off paying Washington a salary. Congress didn't make the same mistake when Washington became president and made the same offer. This book is easy and light reading and shows how ,in Kitman's words, George Washington became the father of the American expense account.

If you can handle Marvin Kitman's repeated attempts to knock Washington off his pedestal you'll enjoy this book. I was one of those public grade school kids who labored under his stern contenance. He must have been god. Or at least god's right hand man. We outgrew this. We know he was just a man. A highly flawed man according to Kitman. Flawed, yes, but also good & lucky. George Washington was America first celebrity. We weren't going to be denied. He lost most of the battles but he did win the Revolutionary War. Actually the British tired of it and lost it. This ultimate politician was not political. In essence he was the only game in town. He had Morris & Hamilton as his spin-meisters, shady land deals & girls-friends. (Beginning to sound familiar?) He looked like a hero, acted like a hero, mostly told the truth although he didn't talk much. He was very brave & loyal especially to the electoral college delegates. Kitman asserts that the U.S. Constitution was written especially with Washington in mind. That may be true. They both have survived, no thanks to Kitman