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A Timeless Message from America's First President
George Washington Warns Against Loyalty to Party over Loyalty to the Nation in Farewell Address
What is America's worst enemy? Abraham Lincoln argued that the civil war posed the biggest threat to our nation. Ronald Reagan identified communism as the greatest danger. In a recent speech commemorating the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, former George W. Bush implored us to recognize how prejudice, bigotry, and fear undermine our American principles. George Washington named a different enemy: hyperpartisanship.

On September 19, 1796, George Washington shocked the nation by stepping down from the presidency. His Farewell Address ([link removed]) , given 225 years ago, offers a sage warning about the dangers that await our young republic: excessive national debt, foreign interference, and partisanship.

Washington believed our nation's greatest danger was a widespread loyalty to political factions (parties) over loyalty to America. He said that political parties give "artificial and extraordinary force" to factions and replace the will of the nation with the will of a "small but artful and enterprising" minority group of politicians.

An ardent student of history, Washington knew that political parties would gain strength and popularity in America as a result of human nature.

And yet, instead of calling for the dissolution of parties, he urged his fellow citizens to unify under their common identity as Americans.

The Legacy of Washington's Farewell Address
Washington feared that partisanship would empower the rise of "cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men" who would "usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
Many presidents throughout history have reflected on Washington's farewell address to guide their politics and leadership.
But our current politics have strayed far from his most central advice.

Today, America experiences more political polarization ([link removed]) than ever before. A recent poll from the University of Virginia ([link removed]) explores the deep and persistent divides between Biden and Trump voters and the dangers they have on our democratic principles.

What brings us together as the American people is more important than that which divides us. What should continue to unite us as a people are the principles of freedom upon which we are founded. And yet, it is those very principles that are under attack nationally and in our classrooms.

America's founding principles transcend partisan politics. At JMC, we work toward the fulfillment of our founding principles by reinvigorating civics education and equipping educators to teach our unifying American principles. It is the responsibility of all of us to uphold those principles and pass them on to future generations.

To learn more about supporting our work, see below.



"Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, 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."

--George Washington
Farewell Address
September 19, 1796

Did you know? On the anniversary of Washington's birthday each year, a United States Senator reads Washington's Farewell Address in full on the floor of the U.S. Senate. This tradition began shortly after the Civil War. To honor Washington and his warnings plea to the American people that they emphasize national values and interests above those of political parties, the reading assignment alternates between Republican and Democrat senators each year. This year, the address was delivered by Ohio senator Rob Portman. ([link removed])
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The battle for the soul of our nation will be won or lost in our classrooms ™ — Jack Miller

Our history shows we did not always live up to the ideals enshrined in our founding documents. But the way forward is for our citizens to appreciate those ideals, recognize our failures and successes in upholding them, and continue to carry those principles forward. And that is why we believe education is so important.

The Jack Miller Center works to revitalize education in America’s history and its founding principles. Our goal is that every student learns the ideas that informed the founding of our nation so that they may preserve our freedoms for future generations.

Consider a tax-deductible gift to the Jack Miller Center. Your donation, large or small, is an investment in the future of our country—for you, for your children, for your grandchildren.
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.

We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
www.jackmillercenter.org

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