Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Washington construed favorable events in the war as reflections of Providence, transforming him from an actor in a human drama into a tool of heavenly purpose. . . . It’s worth noting that Washington didn’t see humans as passive actors and believed that God helped those who helped themselves: 'Providence has done much for us in this contest,” he said later in the war, 'but we must do something for ourselves, if we expect to go triumphantly through with it.'” . . . Lafayette said, 'The happiness of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind.' . . . "Washington considered dueling an outmoded form of chivalry." . . . "Whatever his failings as a general, Washington’s moral strength held the shaky army together. His position transcended that of a mere general, having taken on a paternal dimension. 'The people of America look up to you as their father,' Henry Knox told him, 'and into your hands they entrust their all, fully confident of every exertion on your part for their security and happiness.'” [Chernow: Washington, p. 294, 297, 320, 324]