GEORGE WASHINGTON'S EXPENSE ACCOUNT

by Marvin Kitman ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1970

Even those who will be shocked to the very sub-basement of Constitution Hall by Mr. Kitman's shakedown of the Father of His Country, will have to admit that the subject comes on strong--that Stuart's Ma Perkins portrait hid a man of lusty, definite and positive tastes. That Washington was also an inventive chiseler with little fellow-feeling is Mr. Kitman's own interpretation of some rather startling material. Kitman did unearth many diverting items from Washington's ""expense account"" which he presented to the government at the close of the war. Whereas Washington nobly insisted on no salary, his expenses ($449,261.51) over an eight year period nobly outweighed the total salary he would have received for the same period ($48,000). Mr. Kitman, openly an admirer of inventive and buccaneering expense account virtuosi, lists with copious annotations bills for handsome residences and entertainments en route, the little niceties for the table while, it is hinted, the Swamp Fox ate burned potatoes. And Kitman acerbically dwells on Washington's Law and Order proclivities--a dislike of fraternizing officers and men within the ""hippie army,"" his acceptance of slaveholding (both white indentured servants and black), and his enthusiastic approval of flogging and tortures such as the ""wooden horse."" For the monument--a pigeon's-eye view.

Pub Date: July 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION