"Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?" "A Republic, if you can keep it."
— Republic

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Government
Original Language: English

Sources

Response attributed to Benjamin Franklin at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation, in the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland's delegates to the Convention. McHenry's notes were first published in The American Historical Review, vol. 11 (1906), and the anecdote on p. 618 reads: "A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. A republic replied the Doctor if you can k