it had to pick and also thought his leading opponent on, good, and above all there was langston smith, without his effort than your convention would probably not have voted to ratify, and his friend and fellow congressmen nathan dan at massachusetts who said of smith some of the wisest most statesmanlike council i have encountered in all my readings. that there were so many such men is itself significant. it shows the country was not depend on a handful of great men. the united states had a deep bench, and i would say even a deep intellectual bench. if you're interested in the history of ideas it is very moving to see the debate on the very local level, which concerns issues which are of continued significance of those of us who care about liberty and the conflict with power. in the end, i don't mean to say that washington wasn't indispensable or hamilton wasn't learned. in the end there were others who might have moved forward into national office, and sometimes did, but who are often spent their political lives within their states. they and also their constituents, an important part