First Founding Father: Richard Henry Lee and the Call for Independence

A new biography of America's first Founding Father, Richard Henry Lee, who wrote the original declaration of independence and went on to secure political and diplomatic victories as important as George Washington's military victories

Before Washington, before Jefferson, before Franklin or John Adams, there was Lee--Richard Henry Lee, the First Founding Father.

Richard Henry Lee was the first to call for independence, and the first to call for union. He was "father of our country" as much as George Washington, securing the necessary political and diplomatic victories in the Revolutionary War. Lee played a critical role in holding the colonial government together, declaring the nation's independence, and ensuring victory for the Continental Army by securing the first shipments of French arms to American troops. Next to Washington, Lee was arguably the most important American leader in the war against the British.

Drawing on original manuscripts--many overlooked or ignored by contemporary historians--Unger paints a powerful portrait of a towering figure in the American Revolution.