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George Washington's Farewell Address

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George Washington uncannily warned our fledgling country of the Civil War and the National Debt in this marvelous piece. It should be mandatory reading for any elected official.

though some insist on remembering the wrong advice for the wrong reasons.

Note: Amazon has grouped together reviews of several different editions of this book; this review is for George Washington's Farewell Address (Little Books of Wisdom).

George Washington's parting advice to the country he served so long and so well would be worth remembering for that reason alone, even if it wasn't relevant to our generation, but some of it clearly is,...

just not necessarily the advice most often cited.

For example it is downright silly to try and apply Washington's warnings about the dangers of a tiny union of former colonies entering into alliances with European nations to the world's only remaining superpower. And there is only a certain amount of usefulness to be found in his warnings against political parties and associated political partisanship because history has clearly demonstrated no long term workable alternative to it if you would have effective representative government. Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, third party legislators are ignored and third party executives can get nothing out of their legislatures. Finally, his warnings about the dangers of REGION-based factionalism and dissolving the union are mostly of use to students of the tragic result of his countrymen ignoring this advice: the American Civil War.

However, his warnings against the dangers of "amending" the Constitution by non-constitutional means (though he failed to foresee that this would come primarily from the SCOTUS), disobeying laws just because you disagree with them, and excessive national debt are as timely as ever, as are his calls for maintaining the patriotism and religious belief without which our system cannot function. Admirers of Washington might also be interested in the uniform edition of what appears to be a preserved homework assignment that nevertheless offers insights into his character and development: George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation.

Note: One could complain that this book is available online for free. Well, yes, what part of in the public domain do you not understand? However, trying to get away with giving someone a printout as a gift will earn you the nickname of cheapskate. If all you want to do is read it yourself, then by all means stick to the free sites. However, if you are looking for a way to get through to someone else, you are better off buying a copy, and a solitary sawbuck for this sturdy pocket-sized reprint is going to be tough to beat. The chief virtue of it being online is your ability to read it first and make sure that this is the book you want to give before ordering it.

Note: Applewood Books has produced a nice looking inexpensive series of sturdy pocket-sized reprints of important American books, documents, speeches, pamphlets, and poems, the Little Books of Wisdom, uniform with this volume, that are ideal for gifting to doctors, lawyers, teachers, business professionals, and students of same: The Way to Wealth, The Constitution of the United States of America, On the Art of Teaching, The Strenuous Life, The Bill of Rights with Writings That Formed Its Foundation, The Path of the Law, The Constitution of the Confederate States of America, The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, A Message to Garcia, A Declaration of Sentiments, Robert's Rules of Order, Good Citizenship, On Being Human, A Discourse Upon the Duties of a Physician, The Declaration of Independence with Short Biographies of Its Signers, Teamwork, Stick-To-Itiveness, Opportunity, & You, The Wants of Man, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Speech of Chief Seattle, Common Sense, The Articles of Confederation, The Emancipation Proclamation, and The Gospel of Wealth.

Some selected volumes are also available in boxed sets: Books of American Wisdom Boxed Set, CEO's Gift Box of Wisdom, Doctor's Gift Box of Wisdom, Lawyer's Gift Box of Wisdom, New Citizen's Gift Box of Wisdom, and Teacher's Gift Box of Wisdom.

And some have been published in Spanish: Un Mensaje a Garcia and Constitucion de Los Estados Unidos.