Every four years, the United States elects a President. And every four years, that President makes a speech, outlining his goals and plans for the coming term. Presidential inaugurations are Constitutionally mandated. Inaugural speeches, however, are just a tradition, but an enduring tradition.
The tradition of inaugural speeches began with George Washington speaking to a joint session of Congress in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall in New York City. It has continued all the way up to Barack Obama's speeches on the West Front of the Capitol to crowds that overflowed the National...
Every four years, the United States elects a President. And every four years, that President makes a speech, outlining his goals and plans for the ...
The highlight events of the months from October 1794 through March 1795, the period documented by volume 17 of the Presidential Series, were the suppression of the Whiskey Insurrection in western Pennsylvania and the negotiation of the Jay Treaty with Great Britain.
The volume opens with Washington, believing that his constitutional duty as commander in chief required his presence, en route to rendezvous with the troops called out to suppress the insurrection. After meeting with representatives from the insurgent counties and reviewing the troops, he concluded that serious...
The highlight events of the months from October 1794 through March 1795, the period documented by volume 17 of the Presidential Series, were the su...
In September 1796, worn out by burdens of the presidency and attacks of political foes, George Washington announced his decision not to seek a third term. With the assistance of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Washington composed in a "Farewell Address" his political testament to the nation. Designed to inspire and guide future generations, the address also set forth Washington's defense of his administration's record and embodied a classic statement of Federalist doctrine. The practice of reading the Farewell Address did not immediately become a tradition. The address was first read in...
In September 1796, worn out by burdens of the presidency and attacks of political foes, George Washington announced his decision not to seek a third t...
There was a time when how to use finger bowls and napkin rings was part of education. In dispensing with archaic manners, we seem to have also dispensed with the common sense sensitivity that among other advantages made possible political discourse without viciousness. Decorum has been jettisoned, often with the excuse that the times are different. The end result has been stress instead of kindness, the evaporation of care and consideration, and gross inefficiency in solving problems rather than any alleged streamlined savings. The quality of our political life has deteriorated and the upshot...
There was a time when how to use finger bowls and napkin rings was part of education. In dispensing with archaic manners, we seem to have also dispens...
Perhaps no other revolt against the mother country, giving birth to a land, parallels the American Revolution. For, from this revolution on a land separated by thousands of miles and an ocean, new ideas and identities were born. These ideas have sparked the call of freedom around the world as the American Revolution has inspired self-determination seekers for over two hundred years. We hear their voices as we read their words, untainted by historical speculation of scholars and promoters of historical theories. Their words and actions set the stage for the making of the American government,...
Perhaps no other revolt against the mother country, giving birth to a land, parallels the American Revolution. For, from this revolution on a land sep...
As October 1779 became November, George Washington realized that autumn had advanced too far for a combined Franco-American assault against the British forces in New York City that year, and he curtailed preparations. After a large British expedition departed New York in late December, Washington concentrated on settling his Army for the winter, which already had become unusually snowy and brutally cold. Troubles confronting the army and the incipient nation did not erode Washington's sense of humanity. When Elizabeth Burgin, a widow who had assisted American prisoners in New York City,...
As October 1779 became November, George Washington realized that autumn had advanced too far for a combined Franco-American assault against the Bri...
