Washington’s Farewell: The Founding Father’s Warning to Future Generations Audiobook (Free)

“A vivid portrait…and thoughtful thought of George Washington’s knowledge that couldn’t be timelier” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). A disclosing look at the 1st President’s Farewell Address, a still-relevant caution against partisan politics and international entanglements.

George Washington’s Farewell Address was a prophetic notice he wrote to his fellow citizens and signed from a “parting friend,” addressing the causes he feared could destroy our democracy: hyper-partisanship, extreme about Washington’s Farewell: The Founding Father’s Warning to Future Generations debt, and foreign wars. In it, Washington called for unity among “residents by birth or choice,” advocated moderation, defended religious pluralism, suggested a foreign plan of self-reliance (not isolation), and proposed that education is vital to democracy. He founded the precedent for the peaceful transfer of power.

Washington’s urgent message was adopted by Jefferson after many years of opposition and quoted by Lincoln in defense from the Union. Woodrow Wilson invoked it for nation-building; Eisenhower for Frosty Battle; Reagan for religious beliefs. Once celebrated as civic scripture, even more widely reprinted compared to the Declaration of Independence, the Farewell Address is now almost forgotten. Yet its message continues to be starkly relevant today. In Washington’s Farewell, John Avlon offers a stunning portrait of our 1st chief executive and his battle to save lots of America from self-destruction.

Washington’s Farewell “provides to light Washington’s goodbye by elucidating what it meant not merely during the start of the republic, but its long lasting impact through the generations” (Library Journal, starred review). Today the Farewell Address may inspire a fresh era to re-center their politics and reunite our country through the lessons rooted in Washington’s shared experience.