The first full account of the relationship between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, countering the legend of their enmity while drawing vital historical lessons from the differences that arose between them.

Martha Washington’s worst memory was her husband’s death. Her second worst was Thomas Jefferson’s awkward visit to pay respects to his estranged friend. Yet this estrangement has obscured the fact that for three decades prior, the two men enjoyed a productive relationship. Precisely because they shared so much, their disagreements have something important to teach us.

While Washington favored a traditional aristocracy, Jefferson preferred a more meritocratic approach whereby elites would vie for elected office on the basis of education and skills. And while Washington emphasized strong central government, Jefferson sought to diffuse power across the states. Still, as Francis Cogliano argues, common convictions equally defined their relationship: a passion for American independence and republican government, as well as commitments to commerce and westward expansion. Both men also developed skeptical views of slavery, even as they did little to abolish it.

The differences between the two statesmen mirrored political fissures of the early United States, as the unity of the revolutionary moment gave way to competing visions for a new nation. A Revolutionary Friendship captures the dramatic and unsettling reality that there was no single founding ideal—only compromise between friends and rivals.

"Shows how [Washington and Jefferson] in different ways, struggled with moral hypocrisy—the conflict between their lofty ideals and the fact that their elevated social positions depended on slave labor. They both sought a republic of liberty in America but disagreed over what it should look like. As we know too well today, friendships become fragile when political differences are unbridgeable." - Wall Street Journal

"Cogliano considers the relationship between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in this measured and clarifying account…This deeply researched and accessible narrative sheds new light on a consequential friendship." - Publishers Weekly

"[This] lively book offers a brilliant introduction to two superstars of the founding of America, to the dramatic events they lived through and to the conflicts that shaped their interactions." - History Today

"Perhaps the most profound feature of Mr. Cogliano’s book is his treatment of how Washington and Jefferson developed their anti-slavery positions without ever, in fact, freeing their slaves while the two men were alive…[his] method is another vindication of Plutarch’s understanding of what is to be gained by juxtaposing one biography against another. The balance Mr. Cogliano maintains between the personalities and politics of Washington and Jefferson is pitch perfect." - New York Sun

"Looks at the evolving nature of the friendship between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson…reminds readers that, unfortunately, bitter partisanship can break even the strongest bonds." - Journal of Southern History

"Takes the reader through the early years of Washington and Jefferson’s interactions, their many similarities, their differences, how they eventually met, and how the American Revolution brought them together in a way that never would have happened without the military conflict." - Epoch Times