Richard Norton Smith sees George Washington as mediator between opposing factions [video 58min]

The book Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation documents George Washington's years as president, between 1789 and 1796. Author Richard Norton Smith describes the first president of the fledgling US government as an incorruptible man and a powerful mediator between opposing political groups. During his term, he contends that Washington acted as a mediator between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton and skillfully dealt with foreign and domestic policy. Presidential historian Richard Norton Smith was the director of the Hoover Presidential Library until 2001, after which he was selected as the first executive director of the Lincoln Presidential Library. He is the author of Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 1880-1955 and Harvard Century: The Making of a University to a Nation. This interview dates from 1993.