Presidents Day, Monday the 20th, combines the birthdays of Lincoln on the 12th and Washington’s on the 22nd . On a trip I finished John Avlon’s new book on George Washington’s Farewell Address. Every year, this state paper is read aloud in Washington. Like so many things in his administration, he was thoughtful and careful about setting precedents. Recall that Washington was drawn to public service out of a sense of duty, so it was a poignant document. In its way, it is a last will and testament to the inheritors of the new nation. It went through multiple stages. James Madison set down some of the first draft at the end of the first term. Alexander Hamilton brought a different draft at the end of the second term. Washington personally edited the material. he wanted it of a size that it could be printed in a newspaper page.
President Obama quoted from it in his farewell address. President Eisenhower saw it as the model for his significant address at the close of his illustrious public service, including his famous warning about the military-industrial complex. President Carter chose three concerns for the future: the threat of nuclear destruction, our stewardship of the physical resources of our planet, and the pre-eminence of the basic rights of human beings.
Washington outlined what he called pillars of liberty. One section had a focus on the future of the union: “with slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.” I scarcely need to note its continued relevance in a time of polarized opinions that threaten our capacity to see our nation as a whole. He realized the tenuous nature of a large republic and the centrifugal forces that lurk beneath.
On education: “Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge…it is essential that public opinion be enlightened.” Washington had little formal education, but he read and continued to learn all of his life across the board, in agriculture and in the arts. In his first inaugural Washington said: “Knowledge ...is the surest basis of public happiness.”
On public ethics, On the danger of factions: This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passion of the human mind…It is substantially true virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.” One of my favorite stories of him concerns a veteran who asked for a job. He replied, as an individual, I would give you my life, but as President I cannot demonstrate such favoritism.”
On foreign affairs: “nothing is more essential than the permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachment of others…just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated.”…Antipathy…disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage.” Washington anticipated Palmerston’s dictum that nations have no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. Sometimes, it is the warrior who most craves peace. He was no Pollyanna but he was convinced that we could: “ give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel and example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence.”
This address is a work of civic prophecy that continues to astound with its prescience. In years past, it was the subject of school examination, but its 16 pages seem to be to strenuous a task. Please consider reading this piece in full and decide where its wisdom may still apply over 2 centuries later.
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