Commentary
Historian Forrest McDonald itemized some of George Washington’s constitutional contributions in American National Biography Online:
“His role in working out the details of the Constitution was minimal, but Washington was important to the success of the convention withal. His very attendance, together with Benjamin Franklin’s, ensured the convention respectability and public trust … His presence in the president’s chair ensured decorous and tempered behavior by the other delegates, several of whom had outsized egos and short tempers.
“Perhaps most important, Washington made it possible to create an executive branch—without which no national government could have been viable—despite the general fear of executive power that had prevailed in America since 1776. Finally, Washington’s signature on the Constitution, in the opinion of many observers, made the difference between ratification by the requisite number of states and refusal to ratify.”…