TV REVIEWS : Portrait of a Mortal George Washington

This presidential politico was “a cheap swindler in his youth . . . wasn’t an orator . . . knew he wasn’t an original thinker . . . no military genius . . . certainly no scholar or intellectual like Jefferson or Madison, but then, neither are most political leaders.”

Such descriptions could, as they say, have been ripped from last week’s sound bites. But these come from historians referring back to the very first American commander-in-chief in “George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn’t Be King” (airing as part of the “American Experience” series tonight, at 9 on KCET-TV Channel 28 and KPBS-TV Channel 15, at 8 on KVCR-TV Channel 24). The show’s intent, however, is not to cynically debunk Washington’s legend, but instead to illustrate the process of greatness being thrust upon the great.

Filmmaker David Sutherland sets up the youthful Washington as an ambitious land-grabber who at one point wanted nothing more than a commission as a British officer. In this scenario, then, Washington’s ultimate heroism is not so much what he did on the battlefield or in the political arena as what he didn’t do--namely, lead a military coup d’etat and attempt to become the first American king, when, in a tenuous moment in the new country’s history, there was a disgruntled military regiment behind him prepared to do just that.

The hour’s narrative ends well short of Washington’s presidency, with a climactic description of the 1783 meeting in which the leader convinced his men not to try to wrest control from Congress. It was Washington’s willingness not to assume power at this point that most qualified him to be a great leader, some say.

This making-of-the-presidency documentary covers such warts as Washington’s blunders in possibly initiating the French and Indian War, his cheating his own men out of land, the possibility of an extramarital romance, and the way in which random accidents as well as passion led to his ultimate leadership--yet still manages to come off as quite respectful and nearly reverent.