The Rhetorical Analysis Of Washington's Farewell Address

George Washington became the first president of the United States soon after winning the war against Great Britain, America becoming the first independent 13 colonies. Since the beginning of his presidency people trusted him, being the one who led the country to victory as the General, contributed to people having faith in him. It states in the book that he chose the Country’s well-being before his own and often made decision following his gut, “he took pains to elevate the public good over private interest and projected honesty and honor over ambition.”(Johnson) Washington took great responsibility and honor of the New build Nation, he didn’t take matters lightly choosing what was best for his country. During his presidency, he was a visionary

George Washington’s legacy is felt throughout American politics and customs with his precedents set in mind to ensure the welfare of America. The four precedents which held the most impact were his precedents of having a two-term presidency, maintaining neutrality in foreign affairs, convening the cabinet to for advice, and using force to uphold law. These four precedents had great impact and were pivotal in securing America’s future and maintaining America’s stability. The issues of foreign affairs is one which determine what paths America would take in relations with other nations.

To help us maintain the efficiency of our government, George Washington gave our country words of advice in his Farewell address. His Farewell address was in 1796, on the eve of September 19. He mentioned that he would not be running in the next election and that his time as president was up. Washington, with the country’s welfare in mind, wanted the nation to obtain and maintain felicity. He had decided that he would give the future president and the people of the nation advice based on his experiences as president. His words of wisdom consists of telling us to stay united, follow the constitution, and to stay neutral.

Due to the rapidly changing America, in his farewell address, Ronald Reagan expresses the need for unification of America, and America’s culture. In Reagan’s address, he uses many rhetorical devices to advance his purpose of unifying America, for instance, Reagan utilizes tone, syntax, and pathos to portray his pride, hopefulness, and patriotism for America. He uses these devices to show Americans of the unification America needs.

When Washington wrote his Farewell Address, he had already made the decision to retire from his job as president and return to his home on Mount Vernon. No longer was he concerned with making a future for the country. Instead he was concerned with offering the parting advice of an “old and affectionate friend”. Washington offered his advice on a number of different topics, but the most relevant topic to politics

European investment capital poured into the new nation in large amounts. Washington’s decision to appoint Alexander Hamilton to secretary of treasury was one of genius. The beneficial impact on America and its citizens was immense and almost unbelievable. A third decision made by President George Washington was that he willingly chose to serve only two terms in office. It was in part because he felt that the office of President should be held by citizens who wished to serve their country, not by individuals who sought complete power, and from whom the new nation had struggled so long to gain its independence. The majority of Presidents who followed Washington made this same choice, based on the precedent he established, until the two-term limit for presidents was codified into a law by the 22nd amendment. By refusing to pursue a third term, Washington made it the enduring standard that no U.S. President should seek more than two. Washington's Farewell Address was a primer on republican virtue and a stern warning against involvement in foreign wars. The impact of Washington’s retirement as President on America was an upsetting one. Many Americans looked up to Washington, and depended on him to keep America going in the right direction. Although Washington’s choice to step down came as a surprise, the people and America in general was greatly impacted and benefited by Washington’s

On September 19, 1796, George Washington, the first president of the United States, delivered his farewell address to the American people. In his address, he informed Americans that he would not run for a third term as president, but that he cared about America and would care about America until the day he died. Since he cared, he decided that he would deliver advice for the future on what the American people should and should not do. The advice he gave the American people could have helped them with problems they would face in the future. Based on President George Washington’s experiences, he advised Americans to stay united as a nation, follow the constitution, and stay neutral, because he predicted that these three issues could be a problem for the new nation and future Americans.

After his presidency, George Washington has explains many possible dangers and concerns he has for the for the up and coming nation that he spent 8 years so heavily devoted toward. There were many issues during Washington’s presidency so he writes a farewell address discussing the issues and giving Americans some wise words of advice. Some of the issues that Washington brings up include staying out of other nation’s issues and worry about ourselves, to not divide our nation by forming different political parties with different ideas, and pay off the newly acquired national debt. He explains all of these issues and more in his farewell address. He also says that if the constitution needs to be changed it should be done so legally and not by rebellion which Americans tend to do.

This started the whiskey rebellion. This was first big test for the federal government; would it be able to enforce its own laws? Washington sent out a force of 13,000 militiamen to stop the rebellion. He arrested 150 Pennsylvanians and pardoned 2 people who were sentenced to death. This all ties in with Washington’s domestic policies: he didn’t view himself as better than the people but he still needed to be viewed and respected as a leader. This kept the nation together because it showed that Washington was a strong leader and was able to enforce the laws.

Washington saw the countries dividing along political lines, and foresaw endangers of partisan affecting national unity. He urged the American people to avoid political parties, believing that it would lead to the “ruins of public liberty (50).” He strongly believed that the political parties had “served to distract… [and] agitate the Community will ill-founded jealousies and false alarms (51).” Washington exposed the intentions of political parties by saying, “The alternate domination” of one party over another will lead to a “frightful despotism (49).” In other words, hyperpartisan, influenced by a revenge seeking spirit, will hand over trust and absolute power to the

This means that he doesn’t want to see the country fall apart therefore he is telling them to stay neutral. He knew they were weak and couldn’t handle another war because a lot of the people would die. Also, Document 3 Washington’s Farewell Address says, “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is… to have with them as little political connection as possible… we [must] steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” This is another example of him caring about the citizens. He

Washington’s purpose for writing his Farewell Address was to address(?) why he wouldn’t be running for a third term of presidency, along with well thought out ideas on how to keep the Union strong and unified towards hard times in the future. He also wanted his address to be a reminder for future presidents and politicians to not to take advantage of their freedom they fought so hard to obtain. Washington continues to explain that education within the public is a priority; educated individuals will be able to articulate the different sides of the political spectrum and be able to vote with confidence in what they believe in.

On January 11, 1989, President Ronald Reagan sat at his desk in the Oval Office to address his nation for the final time. This rhetorical moment was not the first of its kind. Rather, the Farewell Address is a Presidential tradition, started by George Washington, that every president takes part in before leaving office. As a sort of “goodbye” to the nation, the President discusses the accomplishments of his administration while offering pieces of advice for the future. Washington warned against a government with an “unmoderated” political party system (Spalding 75), Ronald Reagan warned of the effects of an America devoid of patriotism.

Washington had many tough decisions in his life that pulled him in every direction and called for him to think every decision through. One of these decisions, and probably the one that was on his mind the most, was the idea of the emancipation of slavery. As it is stated on page 164, Washington told his manager, Lund Washington, that he wanted to abandon slave labor at Mount Vernon and replace it with hired workers. Eventually he began to lose profits so he debated selling his slaves. His heart would not allow for him to split up families, so he was forced to deal with the consequences of using hired laborers. Another

In Washington’s time as president, he saw many dangers that might impact America negatively in the future. His farewell speech addressed three main concerns that Washington perceived as precarious. Washington warned America to listen to his concerns and take them into consideration. Even though he wasn't running for president again, he still cared about America and wanted it to survive. He encouraged political unity, paying off national debts, and staying neutral.