Wednesday, in a craven last-ditch effort to prove their loyalty to President Trump, a contingent of Republicans from both houses of Congress objected to the ministerial, almost purely ceremonial counting of electoral college votes their wooden performance quickly outdone by a pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol in a violent scene most Americans never thought theyd see in their country. By the end of his presidency, Washington was weathering increasingly bitter attacks from his Republican critics, and his farewell address represented his response to such attacks, as well as a more general statement of his principles. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. See images of the original document of Washington's Farewell Address above, and the full text below. Our nation has been bitterly divided before even to the point of a bloody civil war. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. Learn how to run for local office or identify new leaders in your community - sign the pledge today! That meant that President George Washington was stuck with Vice President John Adams, who seemed to think their first order of business was figuring out formalities, arguing in New York, the first seat of government, that the nations highest executive should be called His Highness, the President of the United States of America, and Protector of the Rights of the same. Washington, who had rid the country of monarchical rule, wanted no such honorific, and was mortified such a suggestion was made on his behalf. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In fact, political parties had already begun to emerge by the time Washington stepped aside. As he stepped down from the presidency, Washington urged Americans to always place the interests of the nation over their political and regional affiliations. They managed to convince enough of their constituents that their party and the president not the country or the Constitution is what matters. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. Alas! It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. Instead, he stepped aside to make way for a successor, proving to future generations (and his contemporary critics) his commitment to democracy rather than power. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. It was published in the Daily American Advertiser, a Philadelphia newspaper, on September 19, 1796, and later reprinted in papers throughout the country. In the spring of 1796, Washington found Madisons draft, made some additions of his own, and turned it over to Hamilton, who ended up drafting his own version. The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. The Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes., Regions such as North, South, East and West should see their common interests rather than their differences, he continued. There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. When President George Washington left public office, he cautioned the nation not to divide themselves into political parties. 
the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Republicans (later Democratic-Republicans) led by Southerners like Thomas Jefferson and Madison, opposed Hamiltons economic policies. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. The people elected Joe Biden in a free and fair election. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. A fear of this potential for disunion was the reason Washington acceded to pressure from other Founders who wanted him to become president in the first place. slideplayer But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. In his administration, he attempted to form a government that was above partisan ties and petty squabbles but that was not to be. He was the only president to avoid claiming one. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. The dangers of political party tension was played out in the microcosm of Washingtons own cabinet. Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? The division of the nation that Washington foretold has undoubtedly come to pass, though this is not a new or even surprising revelation. Tired of reading? The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. Your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty andthe love of the one ought to endear you to the preservation of the other., According to Washington, one of the chief dangers of letting regional loyalties dominate loyalty to the nation as a whole was that it would lead to factionalism, or the development of competing political parties. Trumpism expanded the GOP tent. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. Hamilton and myself, Jefferson wrote, were daily pitted in the cabinet like two cocks. Washington was not an impartial referee, siding more often than not with Hamilton, who believed in a strong central government; and Washington conflated his experience as a general and as an enslaver, roles where his word went virtually unquestioned, with his conception of a presidents authority. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. If he could no longer be a symbol of unity, Washington could return to retirement. Senate control will change hands after two Republican incumbents lost to two Democrats whove never before held elected office in runoff elections where Trump kept the focus on his fate and not his partys. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? George Washington foresaw the Capitol riot. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. 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. Our nations first president wanted to unite Americans, and he believed political factions and parties were antithetical to that goal. The North and South, which had worked together to evict the crown, could not seem to agree on the powers of a central government, which threatened the fragile union during its most vulnerable time. But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Although Washington saw the need for the nation to involve itself in foreign affairs in the case of war or other emergency, he argued that it must steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.. If we remain one people under an efficient government. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. A foreign policy based on neutrality was the safest way to maintain national unity, and stability, in the United States. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. They also split with the Federalists in foreign policy, favoring a closer relationship with France over Great Britain. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. The Constitution, of which he was the first signer, doesnt require the formation of parties; if anything, it suggests that working with ones political rivals is part of the deal of American democracy: Until 1804, the president was assigned a vice president by the electorate. 
As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. 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. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. Was he able to see into the future and the division his beloved nation would face in the years to come? I feel myself supported by able coadjutors, who harmonize extremely well together, Washington wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. Washington warned that while parties had their uses, the spirit animating them was a fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume., This is not who we are: Actually, the Capitol riot was quintessentially American, He explained, unambiguously, where he believed political factions would lead: The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. But his eloquent message of unity and his warnings against regionalism, partisanship and foreign influence ensured the address would become one of the most widely reprinted documents in American history, with powerful implications that continue to resonate today. The success of the new government in its commencement may materially depend on a Washington presidency, wrote Alexander Hamilton. With me a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. That is what events appear to have come to. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. President George Washington (seated) with Alexander Hamilton. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Its a meltdown that came about in part because of blind allegiance to Trump; in part because of blind allegiance to the Republican Party, rather than adherence to principle; and because in the span of a few years allegiance to Trump became the GOPs only real litmus test. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. In 1796, as he neared the end of his second term, President George Washington was 64 years old and suffering from ills both physical and political. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. nonfiction Hamilton and Jeffersons arguments were rehashed and circulated widely through partisan newspapers, and soon the country was officially divided into parties; the Democratic-Republicans typically criticized Washingtons policies, and the Federalists mostly defended him. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. 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. In a Republic such as ours, the people must seek the interest of the country over their own. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated. Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. To that effect he wrote, The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. But Trump and his congressional Republican enablers convinced enough of the electorate that it was their prerogative to upend that result. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. Washington and Hamilton worked closely together on the address, which took the form of a public letter to the American people. The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. Washingtons farewell address was rooted in the specific challenges he saw facing the United States at the time, including increasing internal divisions and the ongoing external threat of invasion by stronger nations. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Washington foresaw how the formation of political parties would devastatingly tamper with Americans ability to see members of the other party as fellow citizens rather than political enemies. Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice? These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. So, he did, and on his exit offered a warning: The American Revolution was successful in no small part because Americans, with the exception of loyalists to the crown, put country first. As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. As we consider how best to move forward as a nation, perhaps it is worth considering heeding this voice from our past whose worries were proven right over time. Alexis Coe is the author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington., Visualizing Europes heat wave with melting popsicles, Photos: Heres how Europe is dealing with extreme heat, Photos: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck together through the years. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. Perhaps not, but he certainly saw with clarity the dangers of partisanship in this American experiment. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. Every man since who has occupied that prestigious position has been elected to represent not only the people, but the platform and policies of a political party. In his farewell address, he stated that the spirit of the party, serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. This article was published more than2 years ago. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils? The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. Federalists, who drew their support largely from New England, advocated a strong national government and the fiscal programs created by Hamilton, the nations first secretary of the treasury. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 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. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. Plagued by painful dentures and rheumatism, and facing increasing attacks from opponents of his policies, the former Revolutionary War general decided he would not seek a third term in the nations highest office.
