There are a number of documents and speeches that we think of as foundational for our republic: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address. For my money this is as important, maybe more important than any of them:
Mr. President: The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place; I have now the honor of offering my sincere Congratulations to Congress and of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the Service of my Country.
Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the oppertunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence. A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause, the support of the supreme Power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.
The Successful termination of the War has verified the most sanguine expectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my Countrymen, encreases with every review of the momentous Contest.
While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge in this place the peculiar Services and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the War. It was impossible the choice of confidential Officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me Sir, to recommend in particular those, who have continued in Service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress.
I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commending the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.
Having now finished the work assigned to me, I retire form the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.
George Washington gave this speech at Annapolis on December 23, 1783 before a tearful audience. The state of Maryland just raised a million dollars to purchase the draft of the speech so that it may become the property of all of the people.
They would have made him king. This, and his farewell address after he’d served two terms as president, are the reasons he was called “the American Cincinnatusâ€: the voluntary relinquishing of power.
He should be a model for more of our contemporary politicians.
Update
Rick Moran considers Washington, the man.Â
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Previous posts on Washington’s Birthday:
George Washington’s Birthday, 2006
Washington’s birthday, 2005
I wonder, did the average citizen in the late 18th century look at the politicians of the day and wonder why they were so lousy, or did they recognize even then just how fortunate they were? I know John Adams despised the later tendency to venerate the founders’ generation, but it whether or not the politicians of the 1810s-1820s were the equals of the founders, it seems difficult to believe modern politicians can come close to measuring up to any of the major figures of the founding.
Washington was certainly adulated during his life, particularly by the men who served under him.
The political world we live in is today is very much the world created by Andrew Jackson, in his own image:Â coarse, uneducated, populist.
An interesting point. I confess my knowledge of American history is somewhat sketchy from about 1810-1850; most American history tends to skip from the Revolution straight to the Civil War with little real coverage of the events in between, which misses how the United States became the country it is today.