A Farewell for the Ages, When Lincoln Wrote Washington’s Long Goodbye
Author
Josh Wolsky
Let me be clear. I did not write what you read next. I prompted it. Sometimes in putting together a daily newsletter, one that’s filled with current news, history, quotes, and more, the information one discovers sends them in unexpected directions. Imagine a little of Alice’s rabbit hole.
Last week, as President’s Day was approaching I found myself exploring the words of two of our country’s most esteemed leaders. That led me to George Washington’s farewell address, the one he delivered to a young nation in 1796. The message he shared is extraordinary. But by today’s standards, it’s difficult to read.
Still, the message seemed too important to let go. And then the idea struck — what if Abraham Lincoln, a President so famous not only for his leadership but also for his rhetorical style, had been George Washington’s speech writer?
As someone who writes more often than most, it sounded like an intriguing challenge. It was also a challenge I had zero capacity to deliver. Fortunately for all of us, the technology of our age — AI — can complete a task like this in seconds. So that’s what you’re about to read: George Washington’s farewell message reimagined in Abraham Lincoln’s voice.
My Fellow Americans:
Eight years ago, you brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that we might govern ourselves. Now we are engaged in a great experiment, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
The time has come for me to bid farewell to public service. Not from weariness, nor from ingratitude, but from the deepest conviction that a republic must never rest its hopes upon one man, but upon the wisdom of the many.
We are one people, bound not by blood but by choice, joined not by force but by conviction. The Union is our foundation, our bulwark, our all. Let no man, through cunning whispers or bold proclamations, speak of North against South, of East against West. For when we stand divided, we fall together.
The spirit of party is a subtle serpent in the garden of liberty. It promises wisdom but brings blindness; it offers strength but delivers weakness. Though we cannot banish it entirely from our nature, we must guard vigilantly against its excess, lest the house we have built with such care should fall by our own hands.
To foreign nations, I say: Let us be friends to all, but wed to none. Providence has blessed us with oceans east and west, not as walls to hide behind, but as shields behind which to grow strong. Let us trade with all, ally permanently with none, and thus keep faith with our destiny as a free people.
The Constitution is our compass, our covenant, our sacred trust. It must be changed only with great care and by the clear will of the people, never by usurpation or stealth. For if we break faith with this document, we break faith with ourselves.
To those who would guard this republic in years to come, remember: A moral people need few masters. Religion and education are not mere ornaments of liberty, but its essential pillars. Public debt is not just a matter of finance, but of fundamental justice between generations.
In leaving this office, I carry with me two treasures: the memory of your trust, and the hope that these humble words might echo through time to guide and guard this precious Union. The task ahead is great, but our strength, if we remain united, is greater still.
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us dare to do our duty as we understand it. Though I leave public service, my heart remains ever with this nation, this people, this great cause of liberty.
God bless you all, and God bless these United States of America.
George Washington
September 19, 1796
IF you’d like to read President Washington’s original speech, you can find that here.
Josh Wolsky
Developer & Writer @TheMinot Voice, Fan of the Souris River, SavorMinot Advocate. Fortunate to be a 'former' City Council member ;)
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