Sacred Union Of Citizens

One of the most influential but misunderstood expressions of American political thought, George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address is placed in the full context of American history and the authors explain its enduring relevance for the next century. Generations of American political leaders have invoked the authority of the Address to shape foreign and domestic policy. With discussions about national character and personal responsibility dominating the current political landscape, there has been a resurgence of interest in the character of the nation's founders, particularly Washington's. The authors show how the Address expressed Washington's ideas for forming a national character that would cultivate the habits, morals, and civic virtues essential for stable republican self-government.

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of George Washington's Farewell Address.

Library Journal

In this election year, it's fitting to remember our only unopposed president and the farewell address that set the standard. Congress regularly reprints it, but there has been little analytical popular literature on this seminal address. (There would not be another significant one until Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex 164 years later.) Despite rumblings about Francophobic touches, the farewell address is a document that attempts to set out a rationale for the Union and its conservative foreign policy. Yet Spalding (Heritage Foundation) and Garrity (Claremont Inst.) focus as much on the effect of Washington's character on the new republic as on his speech. The first few chapters constitute a brief biography that gets us past the mythological facade that Parson Weems created. The bulk of the book outlines Washington's efforts to impress his character traits on the new government and to establish its course. With the full text of the farewell address appended, this is a good choice for both academic and public libraries.James Doyle, Macomb Community Coll., Warren, Mich.

Matthew Spalding is a political scientist who works at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Patrick J. Garrity, a foreign policy expert, is currently a visiting fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.