Popular historian and former White House speechwriter Jonathan Horn tells the astonishing true story of George Washington's forgotten last years-the personalities, plotting, and private torment that unraveled America's first post-presidency.
Washington's End begins where most biographies of George Washington leave off, with the first president exiting office after eight years and entering what would become the most bewildering stage of his life. Embittered by partisan criticism and eager to return to his farm, Washington assumed a role for which there was no modern precedent at a time when the kings across the ocean yielded their crowns only upon losing their heads. In a different sense, Washington would lose his head, too.

In this meticulously researched book, Washington Post bestselling author and former White House speechwriter Jonathan Horn reveals how the struggle to achieve the ends Washington wished brought his life to an end he never...