Week One: George Washington's Farewell
“I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.”
It only seems appropriate that we begin our consideration of what Americans might need to hear between now and January 20th with Washington’s Farewell Message. Lin-Manuel Miranda re-introduced the broader American public to Washington’s Farewell with the song, “One Last Time” from his musical Hamilton. The Farewell, however, has never been too distant from the minds of Americans in public service because it articulated many of the Presidency’s most important norms and traditions and because every February a different Senator, selected by their peers and alternating between the parties, has read the Farewell to the Senate. In 2018, his peers gave that honor to Michigan Senator Gary Peters. Washington’s speech runs 45-minutes.
The War Memorial is a non-partisan organization.
Another Take On Washington’s Farewell
The following link takes the less patient, or more musically inclined, to a remix of “One Last Time.” Listen for a special guest reading the final and most famous portion of the address. This “Hamildrop” runs a little more than 4 minutes.
Listen now!
