他的巨大概率，加上他的持久友善，使他无法讨厌。他缺乏华盛顿的魅力，汉密尔顿的魅力和麦迪逊的大脑力量，但他在谈话和散文中都以明显的坚定性和散文来补偿，这暗示了他可以随意学习的深层学习储备。永久镇定，始终是暴风雨的平静中心，当出现一个有争议的问题时，他似乎总是比其他任何人都更清楚，更深入地思考它，因此他的意见具有事实的质量，使异议似乎不礼貌。
(His massive probity, combined with his persistent geniality, made him impossible to hate. He lacked Washington's gravitas, Hamilton's charisma, and Madison's cerebral power, but he more than compensated with a conspicuous cogency in both his conversation and his prose that suggested a deep reservoir of learning he could tap at will. Permanently poised, always the calm center of the storm, when a controversial issue arose, he always seemed to have thought it through more clearly and deeply than anyone else, so that his opinion had a matter-of-fact quality that made dissent seem impolite.)