Gouverneur Morris presents as the least likely Founding Father to be forgotten so easily. He was rakish, rather hilarious and arrogant at times, while also extremely intelligent. He is the author of the U.S. Constitution’s Preamble, after all. So why do so many people not know who is, let alone how to pronounce his name? I promise it is somehow exactly how you think it should sound, but also not at all.
This essential question is the crux of Scott Greenberger’s The Forsaken Founder (five-star title, by the way). Greenberger tackles Morris’ career and looks a bit deeper into what drove him to be both essential to the making of America while also a bit flaky and absent at times. Sometimes he was off in places like France at the behest of the country. Other times, he just disappeared, much to the annoyance of his fellow Founding Fathers. I won’t give too much away. I think Greenberger makes a great case.
My criticism is that, for a short book, Morris disappears a bit too often (ironically considering the previous paragraph). Greenberger spends a good number of pages recapping the American Revolution, which is not a tangent, per se, but so basic as to be a bit frustrating. For someone who hasn’t thought about the American founding since school (no shade), these recaps and side stories may be necessary. However, I feel like the life of Morris is not going to entice many in this group. Instead, I think you are going to get American history nerds like me who know the background well enough that you can focus almost exclusively on Morris. None of this is fatal to the book. I still highly recommend it, but it is something to keep in mind if you already know a lot about the subject.
(This book was provided as a review copy by 37 Ink.)
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