I haven’t listened to Biden’s inauguration address yet, although I’ve heard good things. It got me thinking about other memorable addresses by presidents. I don’t know how heralded Washington’s Farewell Address is by the presidential-address-ranking-community, but the allusions in Hamilton have certainly hooked me into wanting to explore it.
Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. […] I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.
[…]
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.
The address as a whole is very…verbose, but in a good old-englishy way. I’m glad people don’t talk like that nowadays, but I wish more people wrote like that.
Washington was very aware of the nature of the union – what it is that unites us, and all the benefits granted us therein. He was also astutely aware of the forces that were likely to rise up in opposition to the union, either directly or indirectly. He summarizes those forces here:
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. 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.
A curious and intellectual reader will find many, many more highlight-worthy passages filled with timeless wisdom. He writes about the unity of the nation, the divisions between regions and parties, the risk of engaging politically with foreign countries, the importance of morality in the citizenry, the caution that must be taken in pursuit of parties and shaping public opinion, etc.
I’m also struck by the theme present throughout the entire address. He writes about the welfare of the union and its people in such a pure and honest way that one can actually believe that he cares about what is best for the future of this young and fledgling nation, without reservation for what it means for him personally or politically. There are a lot of voices today that try to claim that aura for themselves, but you get the sense that those voices are hollow – people concerned with their political fortunes at the expense of their convictions, or concerned with their polling at the expense of the general welfare for all. The below visualization of how polarized the Senate has become shows that our elected leaders are optimizing for something, and that something is likely NOT the general welfare for all.
My last two favorite quotes from the address.
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. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. 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.
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. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. 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.