His birthday was once celebrated as a national holiday and his portrait once adorned the walls of almost every classroom in the United States. He was a victorious Revolutionary War general, a crucial influence in the creation of the Constitution, and the first President of the United States. Today, unfortunately, many only know America's first hero and the "Father of His Country" as a slaveholder with wooden teeth or as the somber-looking man on the one-dollar bill. To many, he remains a distant, mysterious, and unapproachable figure from a day long gone. The truth about George Washington, however, is much different. He was America's most successful, venerated, and indispensable founding father. So who was this man? What made him such a singularly successful leader? What lessons can be learned from his life? Confidence and Character: The Religious Life of George Washington examines religion's impact on the private and public man. Too often ignored, underemphasized, suppressed, or distorted, Washington's religious faith fundamentally inspired and nurtured his worldview, vocational performance, and leadership. This is the Washington we need to get to know and learn from, even today.

Washington has long been viewed as the patron saint of secular government, but in Washington's God , Michael Novak and his daughter, Jana, reveal that it was Washington's strong faith in divine Providence that gave meaning and force to his monumental life. Narrowly escaping a British trap during the Battle of Brooklyn, Washington didn't credit his survival to courage or tactical expertise; he blamed himself for marching his men into certain doom and marveled at the Providence that delivered them. Throughout his career, Washington held fast to the conviction that America's liberty was dependent on our faithfulness to God's will and our trust in Providence. Washington's God , shows Washington not only as a man of resource, strength, and virtue, but also as a man with deeply held religious values. This new presentation of Washington-as a man whose religion guided his governance-will bring him into today's debates about the role of faith in government and will challenge everything we thought we knew about the inner life of the father of our country.