Washington Steps Down: The Farewell Address

Abstract

Up before dawn on September 19, 1796, George Washington signed 147 ships’ passes and half a dozen naval commissions, reviewed the rest of the day’s paperwork, and then met with his new minister to France, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, before climbing into his carriage to leave the capital. Anxious to get to Mount Vernon, he felt no need to wait to see the publication of what would become known as his Farewell Address.¹ The address, titled simply “To the People of the United States,” appeared on page 2 of the American Daily Advertiser. Washington informed his “Friends and Fellow-Citizens” that on March 4, 1797, they would have a new president. The man who had seen them through the revolution, was part of the creation of a republican form of government, and who served two terms as “First Magistrate” had earned, nearing 65, an honorable retirement. He was determined to have it.