Benjamin Rush to Elias Boudinot, July 1788

“. . . a most delightful sight. There could not have been a more happy emblem contrived, of that section of the new constitution, which opens its powers and offices alike, not only to every sect of Christians, but to worthy men of every religion.”

George Washington’s reply to letter from Hebrew congregation in Savannah, Georgia, 1789

May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in a promised land, whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation, still continue to water them with the dews of heaven and make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah.

George Washington’s reply to the Hebrew congregations in Philadelphia, New York, Charleston, and Richmond, 1790

The liberality of sentiment toward each other, which marks every political and religious denomination of men in this country, stands unparalleled in the history of nations.
. . . .
The power and goodness of the Almighty, so strongly manifested in the events of our late glorious revolution, and His kind interposition in our behalf, have been no less visible in the establishment of our present equal government. In war He directed the sword, and in peace He has ruled in our councils. My agency in both has been guided by the best intentions and a sense of duty I owe to my country.

George Washington’s reply to letter from Hebrew congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, 1790

The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy-a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.

May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.

From John Adams to Francois Adriaan Ven der Kemp, 16 Feb 1809

“I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize Men than any other Nation. If I were an Atheist and believed in blind eternal Fate, I should Still believe that Fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential Instrument for civilizing the Nations.”

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a letter to Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, April 15, 1945

The things I saw beggar description… I made the visit deliberately in order to be in a position to give firsthand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda.

This quote is Eisenhower’s immediate, authoritative reaction after inspecting Nazi concentration camps in April 1945; its significance lies in several points:

• Firsthand verification: Eisenhower stresses he saw the camps personally so his testimony could counter any later denials or claims that reports were wartime propaganda.  
• Credible witness: As Supreme Allied Commander, his account carried enormous weight—his choice to document and report the evidence made denialism much harder.  
• Moral and historical record: His language (“beggar description”) conveys the scale and horror of the atrocities and helped galvanize Allied and public recognition of the Holocaust’s reality.  
• Legal and political effect: His visit and letter provided material used in postwar prosecutions, liberated-population relief efforts, and early postwar narratives framing Nazi crimes as crimes against humanity.  
• Anti-denial precedent: The quote is often cited today in discussions about eyewitness testimony, documentation of mass atrocity, and the importance of preserving evidence against revisionism.