Henry Adams once said of Washington DC and THE Potomac "I know of no other capital in the world which stands on so wide and splendid a river." Historically and contemporaneously speaking how correct is this statement compared to waterways like the modern Thames and ancient ones like the Euphrates?

by tylrwnzl
TheAshigaru

Not an answer, but I just wanted to offer a link to the context, as OP did not.

The quote comes from Adams' personal correspondence to Charles Milnes Gaskell, dated November 5, 1868.

Gaskell was an English lawyer (living in England).

https://books.google.ru/books?id=tyR8tIr25skC&pg=PA5&dq="I+know+of+no+other+capital+in+the+world+which+stands+on+so+wide+and+splendid+a+river."&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjci7zbitHSAhVs4oMKHfceDtkQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22I%20know%20of%20no%20other%20capital%20in%20the%20world%20which%20stands%20on%20so%20wide%20and%20splendid%20a%20river.%22&f=false