A Prescient Warning From 227 Years Ago

Posted on by under History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Yesterday, a timely article in History.com caught my attention.  It delved into George Washington’s farewell speech in September 1796, just prior to the end of his second term in office.  At that time, there were no term limits and President Washington could have run for a third term and likely won.  But he had been in poor health for some time, and he felt that if he sought a third term, then died in office, it would set a precedent that the presidency was a lifetime appointment.  His commitment was to democracy rather than power, and as it happened, he would have died in office had he sought a third term, for he died in 1799.

His farewell speech is lengthy, some 7,641 words, so I won’t replicate it here, but there are two parts that I think are extremely relevant today that I’d like to look at.

From the History.com article …

Importance of Unity

After opening with an explanation of his choice not to seek a third term, Washington’s farewell address urged Americans not to put their regional and sectional interests above the interests of the nation as a whole. “You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together,” Washington declared. “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. “Your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty and…the love of the one ought to endear you to the preservation of the other.”

The ‘Worst Enemy’ of Government: Loyalty to Party Over Nation

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. When Americans voted according to party loyalty, rather than the common interest of the nation, Washington feared it would foster a “spirit of revenge,” and enable the rise of “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” who would “usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterward the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”

Some prescient warnings, don’t you think?  If only those who came after Washington had listened.

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19 thoughts on “A Prescient Warning From 227 Years Ago”

  1. Pingback: A Prescient Warning From 227 Years Ago – THE FLENSBURG FILES

  3. Jill, great post with prescient advice. Country before party has to be the mission, otherwise we become divided. That is exactly where we are today, with our own sources of information and the tribalism that goes for affiliation. Right now, a party I used to belong to for over twenty years is operating like a cult where fealty to one person is essential, even though privately, many know he is an illicit acting person. Sadly, the folks with any courage to speak out against this illicit acting person are threatened.

    I was tickled that the reason Trump decided not to run for Speaker of the House is he might lose, as the vote is anonymous. Only the end result would be let out, so losing would make him that word he hates and uses often to describe others – a loser.

    People who want a benevolent autocrat are naive. Power corrupts. So, even the most benevolent of people will show bad tendencies once in power. Take that to the bank. Of course, they will not realize it until their freedoms are taken away.

    Keith

    Liked by 3 people

    • Thanks, Keith! Can you imagine what the founders of this country such as Washington, would think if they could see the mess we’ve made of it all? Sigh. Yes, I’m certain you’re right that Trump could not bear the thoughts of being a ‘loser’, though that is what I’ve called him for years now. Like the Germans in the early 1930s, the people of this nation do not realize the dangers yet.

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  4. Just got this from an article in the WPO..so much for the youth saving democracy

    A survey of 36,000 respondents in 30 countries around the world carried out by the Open Society Foundations turned up an alarming statistic: Only a narrow majority among younger respondents believed that democracy was preferable to other systems of government. More than a third of respondents between 18 and 35 said they would support a strongman leader who would do away with elections and assemblies.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. The warnings echo thru time. The beast has followed humanity for a very long time and is with us still. A “true” leader can see the demon inside himself and in doing so can protect his people against it. “Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 158 million followers, it will no longer be America.”
    ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Washington had, the, foresights, and set a, good, precedent for those who, followed him, and, if only, all the presidents who came, after the Father of the country had been so, righteous, and, only, with no personal, agenda, to try to, hold onto power, as long as they could, but, unfortunately, power, corrupts, that eas why, Washington only, served, two terms, to let those who came after him, to know, that, no elected official can, rule with, absolute power, indefinitely.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. There are those running around Congress whose type the Founding Fathers spent time working out how to avoid getting into government.

    Washington’s words are wise and cannot be dodged by these ‘patriots’
    By the way Robert Walpole considered the first Prime Minister of Britain (not an official title then) had this to say on Patriots:

    ‘The very idea of true patriotism is lost, and the term has been prostituted to the very worst of purposes. A patriot, sir! Why, patriots spring up like mushrooms! I could raise fifty of them within the four-and-twenty hours. I have raised many of them in one night. It is but refusing to gratify an unreasonable or an insolent demand, and up starts a patriot!’

    Liked by 2 people

      • We are getting there, and not least because of our head of state. 2021 she claimed that the government cannot meddle with the negotiations between unions and companies, and she couldn’t name any groups of the population that deserved a raise most. This year (election year mind) she names social workers, nurses etc. and officials in prisons as groups with merits, and she even wants to stand for their raises. I beg your pardon? And how is she going to finance that? She will take the money from the municipalities, they will have to let administrative staff go to finance her plan. And … the raise will only go to fulltime staff, those who are willing to work overtime and nightshifts, and it all will start 2030 only (that would be AFTER her next 4 years in power if she gets elected). She is a crafty one, but people are (hopefully) not THAT stupid.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Pingback: A Prescient Warning From 227 Years Ago | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

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