Henry Cabot Lodge: “I see in him too a pure and high-minded gentleman of dauntless courage and stainless honor, simple and stately of…”

All that can be said is, that without the influence and the labors of Washington the convention of 1787, in all probability, would have failed of success.

After stating plainly that the army was on the verge of dissolution, he said: "To me it will appear miraculous if our affairs can maintain themselves much longer in their present train.

Let us imitate this prudence; and, before we float farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may, at least, be able to conjecture where we now are.

He repeatedly referred to the United States, even before the close of the war, as an infant empire, and he saw before any one else the destined growth of the country.