Farewell Addresses: George Washington (1796)
By 1796 George Washington had served two terms in office. During the Revolutionary War, Washington served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and had presided over the convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He established the national and lasting model of the military being subject to civilian authorities, something that was amazing for its time, and something that remains a fundamental tenet of democracy today. He became known as the "father of his country" during his lifetime and it is a title that he retains to this day.
Washington was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. No one has done that since. He supervised the creation of a strong national government that maintained neutrality during the French Revolutionary Wars. He established many precedents still in use today, including the cabinet system, the inaugural address, and the title Mr. President. His decision to retire from office after two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment, passed in 1951, now limits the president to two elected terms.
The election of 1796 was the third presidential election, but the first in which two political parties vied for power, something Washington had hoped would never come to pass. The election was held from Friday, November 4 to Wednesday, December 7, 1796. It was not only the first contested presidential election, but it would end up being the only one in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing tickets.
The campaign was an acrimonious one, with Federalists attempting to associate the Republicans with the violent French Revolution and the Democratic-Republicans accusing the Federalists of wanting to turn the country into a monarchy ruled by an elite aristocracy. Republicans sought to identify Adams with the policies developed by fellow Federalist Alexander Hamilton, which they portrayed as too much in favor of Great Britain. Paradoxically, Hamilton himself opposed Adams and worked to undermine his election. In foreign policy, Republicans denounced the Federalists over Jay's Treaty.
Adams won the election, receiving 71 electoral votes. Jefferson received the second highest number of electoral votes, 68, and was elected vice president according to the prevailing rules of the day. This election marked the beginning of a polarization in electoral politics that would continue forward, with only a brief period of respite during the time of James Monroe.
As his presidency was coming to an end, Washington published his Farewell Address, issued as a public letter on September 17, 1796. It was drafted primarily by Washington himself with help from Hamilton. James Madison had helped with an earlier draft. In the address, Washington wrote of the necessity and importance of national union, the value of the Constitution and the rule of law, the evils of political parties, and the proper virtues of a republican people.
Washington stressed the need for unity in government, and warned Americans to be on guard against those who would undermine that unity. He said:
"The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts."
For Washington, an important concept was morality, which he called "a necessary spring of popular government", He said:
"Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Washington also warned against foreign influence in domestic affairs as well as against American meddling in European affairs, and against bitter partisanship in domestic politics. He also called for men to move beyond partisanship and serve the common good. He warned against "permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world". Washington told the nation that the United States must concentrate primarily on American interests. He supported friendship and commerce with all nations, but advised against involvement in European wars and entering into long-term "entangling" alliances. For Washington, the notion of non-involvement in foreign affairs was of paramount importance. He told Americans:
"In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim."
Washington retired from the presidency in March 1797 and returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief. He turned his attention to his plantations and other business interests (including his distillery, which produced its first batch of liquor in February 1797).
In January 1862, a large group of Philadelphia residents signed a petition requesting Congress to commemorate the 130th anniversary of Washington's birth by reading his Farewell Address "in one or the other of the Houses of Congress.” It was first read in the United States House of Representatives in February 1862, and the reading of Washington's address became a tradition in both houses by 1899. The House of Representatives abandoned the practice in 1984, but the Senate continues this tradition to the present. Washington's Birthday is observed by selecting a member of the Senate to read the address aloud on the Senate floor, alternating between political parties each year.
Washington was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. No one has done that since. He supervised the creation of a strong national government that maintained neutrality during the French Revolutionary Wars. He established many precedents still in use today, including the cabinet system, the inaugural address, and the title Mr. President. His decision to retire from office after two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment, passed in 1951, now limits the president to two elected terms.
The election of 1796 was the third presidential election, but the first in which two political parties vied for power, something Washington had hoped would never come to pass. The election was held from Friday, November 4 to Wednesday, December 7, 1796. It was not only the first contested presidential election, but it would end up being the only one in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing tickets.
The campaign was an acrimonious one, with Federalists attempting to associate the Republicans with the violent French Revolution and the Democratic-Republicans accusing the Federalists of wanting to turn the country into a monarchy ruled by an elite aristocracy. Republicans sought to identify Adams with the policies developed by fellow Federalist Alexander Hamilton, which they portrayed as too much in favor of Great Britain. Paradoxically, Hamilton himself opposed Adams and worked to undermine his election. In foreign policy, Republicans denounced the Federalists over Jay's Treaty.
Adams won the election, receiving 71 electoral votes. Jefferson received the second highest number of electoral votes, 68, and was elected vice president according to the prevailing rules of the day. This election marked the beginning of a polarization in electoral politics that would continue forward, with only a brief period of respite during the time of James Monroe.
As his presidency was coming to an end, Washington published his Farewell Address, issued as a public letter on September 17, 1796. It was drafted primarily by Washington himself with help from Hamilton. James Madison had helped with an earlier draft. In the address, Washington wrote of the necessity and importance of national union, the value of the Constitution and the rule of law, the evils of political parties, and the proper virtues of a republican people.
Washington stressed the need for unity in government, and warned Americans to be on guard against those who would undermine that unity. He said:
"The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts."
For Washington, an important concept was morality, which he called "a necessary spring of popular government", He said:
"Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Washington also warned against foreign influence in domestic affairs as well as against American meddling in European affairs, and against bitter partisanship in domestic politics. He also called for men to move beyond partisanship and serve the common good. He warned against "permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world". Washington told the nation that the United States must concentrate primarily on American interests. He supported friendship and commerce with all nations, but advised against involvement in European wars and entering into long-term "entangling" alliances. For Washington, the notion of non-involvement in foreign affairs was of paramount importance. He told Americans:
"In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim."
Washington retired from the presidency in March 1797 and returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief. He turned his attention to his plantations and other business interests (including his distillery, which produced its first batch of liquor in February 1797).
In January 1862, a large group of Philadelphia residents signed a petition requesting Congress to commemorate the 130th anniversary of Washington's birth by reading his Farewell Address "in one or the other of the Houses of Congress.” It was first read in the United States House of Representatives in February 1862, and the reading of Washington's address became a tradition in both houses by 1899. The House of Representatives abandoned the practice in 1984, but the Senate continues this tradition to the present. Washington's Birthday is observed by selecting a member of the Senate to read the address aloud on the Senate floor, alternating between political parties each year.