Synopses & Reviews
Beginning with the decision made early in 1787 to attend theConstitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer, Washington's papers involume 6 of the series reveal him as once again a public figure no longer standingoutside and above the fray as he had been seeking to do with some success sinceleaving the army at the end of 1783. In the first nine months of this yearWashington continued to give meticulous attention to his personal affairs at MountVernon as he had done before, but his correspondence, particularly that with JamesMadison, makes it clear that his overriding concern had become the ratification ofthe new Federal Constitution and that his mind was turning to the role he should, and must, play in establishing the new government.