In 1796, George Washington struck six pointed sentences from his Farewell Address. I’d largely forgotten about them—the final ...

The ideas in Washington’s farewell still help to guide lawmakers and ordinary citizens alike. His address was the subject of a 2018 book and is revered as a foundationally important text for the ...

Washington dutifully spent the next four years on a precedent-setting bender. Satisfied, he tasked James Madison, his close adviser and later the fourth president, with drafting a farewell address.