What if we could interview George Washington and learn his views on the state of America today? What if we could ask him about the national debt, defense issues, social spending, and the true purpose of the American Constitution? What if he could share his thoughts on the separation of powers and the place of religion in America? This book approximates such an interview as the author asks questions of vital importance for our day and shares the answers Washington gave when he faced those very issues during America's founding period. Washington's understandings and philosophies are as current and timely today as when he first uttered them. The Founding Fathers of America were nothing less than brilliant in their understanding of the role of government--and of human nature. Even though times change, America's demographics change, and technology changes, basic human nature does not change. And the purposes of government, including the reasons for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, are the same as they were at America's founding more than two centuries ago. Who was George Washington? What did he believe? And how can his political philosophy help us today? This book answers those questions with eloquence and insight--in his own words. "Back to First Principles" is filled with hundreds of quotes of George Washington, all included to help us become better acquainted with the first President of the United States--and all designed to help us learn, from this great American President, how the United States Constitution and our political system can best function. This book will help all Americans, regardless of their politics--be they Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, libertarian, or something in between--better comprehend our nation's founding principles. It will increase understanding of the U.S. government, the U.S. Constitution, and U.S. politics. It will bring greater clarity to the problems with political parties, including our present gridlock, and to political science in general. Washington's voice from the past provides us with a clear vision of what America was created for--and what this country can become again. Jay A. Parry, author of "Back to First Principles: A Conversation with George Washington," is also author of the bestselling The Real George Washington: The True Story of America's Most Indispensable Man and more than two dozen other books.