Summary of To Rescue the Constitution By Bret Baier: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment

By Willie M. Joseph

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Summary of To Rescue the Constitution By Bret Baier: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment

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To Rescue The Constitution by Bret Baier is a masterful exploration of George Washington's contributions to America's founding. Washington rescued the nation three times: leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and leading the nation as its first president. After the War of Independence, the nation fractured, leading to the call for a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Washington agreed to be a delegate and was unanimously elected president of the convention. His quiet, steady leadership gave life to the Constitution by enacting it. Baier exposes an early America that was grittier and more divided than often portrayed, which is reflected in today's conflicts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willie M. Joseph
• Release date: Oct 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223275367

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Summary of

To Rescue the Constitution

A

Summary of Bret Baier’s book

George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment

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Willie M. Joseph

NOTE TO READERS

This is an unofficial summary & analysis of Bret Baier’s To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment designed to enrich your reading experience.

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The contents of the summary are not intended to replace the original book. It is meant as a supplement to enhance the reader's understanding. The contents within can neither be stored electronically, transferred, nor kept in a database. Neither part nor full can the document be copied, scanned, faxed, or retained without the approval from the publisher or creator.

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Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Introduction

Prologue

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

Afterword

Also By Willie M. Joseph

Introduction

Our Common Ground

In 2022, Bret Baier, a journalist and author, revisits the life of George Washington and the work of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He visits the Assembly Room at Independence Hall and wonders what the twenty-first century would have said as they grappled with fundamental constitutional issues. The Constitution and the levers of government were ever present for him, reminding him of our purpose and rituals as a nation.

During the debate between political and ideological rivals Bernie Sanders and Lindsey Graham, the Senate Project invited them to debate the economy at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston. The goal was to foster a discussion based on principles, not politics, much like the example of bipartisan bridge-building set by Massachusetts Democratic senator Ted Kennedy and Utah Republican senator Orrin Hatch.

The timing of the Sanders-Graham debate was meaningful for the author, as it reminded him of the debates at the Constitutional Convention, where Washington seated in the president's chair. The debate also had significance for the current times, as the country was driven by a deep sense of division and anxiety. As a journalist traveling across twenty-first-century America, Baier heard the question everywhere: Is our system of government failing? At the same time, people were hungry for bipartisanship so that our government could get things done.

Baier's decision to moderate the bipartisan debate was a response to the hope that this could happen. He aimed to find common ground through constructive disagreement and search for bipartisan compromise that have been the hallmark of the US Senate for more than two centuries.

The author recounts a modern-day matchup between Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, which was filled with age-old face-offs. Sanders, a classic Northeast liberal/socialist, carried shades of the radical Sam Adams and Elbridge Gerry, one of three Framers who refused to sign the new Constitution. Graham, a conservative in the mold of Southern Framers like Charles Pinckney, echoed some of the same debates that occurred 235 years ago on the subject of states' rights and the power of the national government.

The debate was not exactly an ode to common ground, but there were moments of agreement, most surprisingly over gun-control legislation being considered in the Senate. The takeaway for the author is that even when common ground was lacking on individual issues, there were positive signs for our republic. The debate got hot at moments (as the Hatch-Kennedy debates used to), but it was largely cordial and serious.

In 2023, the author will moderate another debate between Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst and New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. This book is the fifth in his presidential series, which focused on America at the critical period from before World War II until the end of the Cold War. It tells the story of the Framers and their great leader—and how close they came to not getting a constitution at all.

Prologue

Where Are the Delegates?

On May 14, 1787, George Washington, suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis, arrived in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. However, only he and delegates from Pennsylvania and Virginia were present, and Washington complained about the lack of support from other states. James Madison, a Virginia legislator and a leading force behind the convention, reassured Washington that the others were coming. Washington and Madison had come to a common frame of mind about the need for action, and they believed a new constitution was needed to prevent anarchy and confusion.

After the War of Independence, the fragile union began to crack apart, with the new nation facing self-destruction. The Articles of Confederation, passed by thirteen states in 1777, described a loosely joined arrangement, with no central government to settle disputes. The war left an enormous debt, and individual states took on the responsibility of collecting taxes and raising tariffs. Relations became so bitter that there was talk of civil war in a nation barely formed.

In 1786, an uprising of farmers in western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays led to farm foreclosures and arrests, sparking revolutionary fervor. Washington expressed his hope for dramatic action, suggesting revising and amending the Articles of Confederation.

Shays' Rebellion in 1775 highlighted the weakness of the Articles of Confederation as a governing blueprint. Congress passed a declaration calling for a convention of state delegates in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Washington, contentedly retired at Mount Vernon, vowed to retire from public life and return to domestic retirement. However, he continued to resist involvement, concerned about the convention's potential chaos and his reputation.

As the convention approached, he finally gave in to the urging of his colleagues and attended the convention. He recognized that the task of the convention was challenging but straightforward: to write a script that the nation could follow in all its business. Washington rejected the binary choice set up by critics: monarchy or chaos.

As the convention date approached, Washington had to break the news to his wife, Martha, who believed her husband's public service was over. She knew that her husband's involvement in the convention would be the beginning of a new public chapter, and she had to believe that his involvement would not feel like a one-off.

In summary, the aftermath of Shays' Rebellion highlighted the need for a constitutional convention to revise the Articles of Confederation and establish a new public chapter.

George and Martha Washington were invited by Robert Morris to stay at his grand Philadelphia house for the duration of the convention. Morris, an English-born merchant, had become an indispensable financial organizer during the war and served as a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress. Washington was grateful for the invitation and apologized for Martha's absence, as she was too busy looking after two grandchildren.

Washington's life at Mount Vernon was hardly a gentle glide into oblivion, as his home was a constantly bustling enterprise frequented by tourists and friends and family. Shortly before his scheduled departure, Washington received an urgent message summoning him to Fredericksburg, forty miles away. His mother, suffering from breast cancer, had taken a turn for the worse, and his sister Betty was in a state of exhaustion.

Upon arriving in Fredericksburg, Washington found things better than expected, as his mother would live two more years. He returned home and rested for a few days before setting out for Philadelphia. As his carriage traveled into Chester, Washington saw a rain-soaked gathering at the side of the road, where he was greeted with eager voices and cheers. The Pennsylvania