Op-Ed: On Monday We Should Remember What an Elderly George Washington Said on Sept. 19, 1796

One of the longest-running yet least known traditions in our nation is the reading of Washington’s 1796 Farewell Address in the U.S. Senate chamber to commemorate this day.
More than just an announcement that he wasn’t running for a third term, Washington’s words served as an inspiration and warning to a nation struggling to preserve its union. In today’s divisive political atmosphere, senators and all Americans would do well to take heed of his letter addressed to “friends and fellow-citizens.”

In 1862, future president and then-Sen. Andrew Johnson addressed the Senate, stating, “In view of the perilous condition of the country, I think the time has arrived when we should recur back to the days, the times, and the doings of Washington and the patriots of the Revolution, who founded the government under which we live.”