George Washington's Expense Account, by General George Washington and Marvin Kitman
Simon and Schuster, 1970
285 pages, no index.
Library: 973.3 KIT
Description
George Washington didn't invent the Expense Account. He was only the founding father of the American way of life called expense account living.
First published by the Treasury Department in June 1833, Washington's expense account has long been neglected by serious students of American history. Now, at last, the priceless document is made available to every reader.
Here, item by authenticated and padded item, is the General's bill for the eight years he led the bedraggled Revolutionaries-starting with the deluxe carriage he bought in Philadelphia (at a price that would equal a dozen Cadillacs in today's currency) en route to taking command of the troops, right up to the stylish spread he provided on the eve of the victory at Yorktown.
No mere wallet's-eye view of the hostilities, the richly footnoted expense account is filled with tales of violence, sex, and camaraderie; of betrayal and espionage, of night patrols and hot pursuits; of men living on the edge of death or of capture by the hated tyrant.
But Washington's tour de force evokes more than the rattle of sabers, the roar of muskets, and the smell of defective gunpowder foisted off on the army by privateers. It evokes, too, the aromas of good food steaming in the special dining hut the GEneral ordered built for his wife's visit to Valley Forge, the rustle of clean sheets in countless inns during eight years of enforced bachelorhood, and the romance and mystery of such far-off places as Perth Amboy, the Paris of New Jersey.
Viewed, then, as the great model for expense-accountmanship or as an unsettlingly intimate narrative of the Revolutionary War, George Washington's Expense Account is a major contribution to Americana (or anti-Americana, for present-day revolutionaries.)
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Original version: Accounts, G. Washington with the United States, Commencing June 1775, and Ending June 1783, Comprehending a Space of 8 Years [facsimiles of Washington's expense account]
3. Financial Note
4. A Translation from the Olde English to the New English: Accounts, G. Washington with the United States, Commencing June 1775, and Ending June 1783, Comprehending a Space of 8 Years [Kitman provides commentary on the various entries, in a humorous manner]
5. Conclusion
