Essay on Washington's Farewell Address

Essay on Farewell Address: Introduction

The first president of the United States, George Washington, was unique in many different ways and has changed the tradition and culture of the presidency all by himself. He fought in the War of Independence, commanded units in the French and Indian War, and he has been considered the Father of the United States. After two terms of presidency, he has published the “Farewell Address” in 1796. However, it was known as “The Address of General Washington to the Men of America on His Declining the Presidency of the United States.” In this paper, I will examine the work thoroughly and look into its details.

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First and foremost, it is vital to know that when George Washington left the presidency after serving for two terms, there was no law that limits the number of terms per president. Therefore, George Washington dropped out of the presidency after two terms just because he wanted it. Thanks to this act from him, up until Roosevelt, no president tried to exploit the concept of the presidency. Three months before the 1796 election, he published his letter in which he wanted to inform the citizens of the country and wanted the citizens to be logical when they are choosing the other president. I believe that the Farewell Address is the best thing he has left for the citizens.

Before going into detail, it should be noted that George Washington had the ideas written in his name by ghostwriters. Although the writing style might not belong to him, every idea in his Farewell Address was his. The first and, in my opinion, the most important, a concept he addresses is the importance of harmony in a country such as the US The reason I believe this is the most important concept is that the United States when compared to other countries at the time, was more likely to have a civil war because it had so many controversies. He wanted the citizens of the United States to always choose the option in favor of the country as a whole, not in favor of just a region, or a group.

Secondly, as a completer to the first concept. He emphasized the importance of knowing the difference between loyalty to a party and commitment to the country. Of course, a person should support the party that is appropriate with his personal beliefs, yet the loyalty and belief that a person has to that given party should never exceed the amount of loyalty and belief he/she has to the United States. It should always be noted that the United States is bigger and more important than any other party or ideology in the long run. According to him, this “wrong loyalty” was the biggest threat against the government. Therefore, every political party must establish loyalty to the nation, and should never let its supporters believe in them more than they believe in the government.

Another danger George Washington mentioned in his farewell was the danger of foreign powers getting mixed up with the internals of the nation. In his presidency, it is easy to see that Washington had a policy of keeping good relations between every country in the world, especially in commercial ways. Yet, more of everything can be a danger, just like anything else in the world. At the time, each part of the world had very different interests than the other. Europe had its own problems and was trying to find a solution; Asia was more complicated than we could think of, and the US had just found peace in a long time. Thus, George Washington warned the nation about the dangers of foreign influence in US soil. According to him, keeping a neutral stance was the best way to stay in world politics, and it had the best outcome for stability in the country. Although the US looked for allies and relations when times of War came, he argued that no alliances should last forever.

Conclusion

When we read the Farewell Address of Washington today, we see that in almost 250 years, every statement he has made is still valid. I believe that the timelessness of this work is what made it the most important work of US history for a very long time. One might say that George Washington did not have his way with words like other presidents, but it is not the speech that comes out of a mouth, but instead, it is the thought that is in mind, counts. Unfortunately, it is hard to say the citizens have listened to his warnings as they did not, and many of the foreseen dangers have come into this country for a very long time. People have believed in parties more than they believe in the country, people have created differences out of thin air just to create civil fights, and as the biggest, the US plays with the internals of almost every other country in the world. In some words, we can say that the Farewell Address of Washington could’ve prevented many bad things that could have happened, but maybe just the presence of it brought us to where we are today.