As President Joe Biden prepares to leave office, it’s appropriate to revisit the important, if underappreciated, role of the presidential farewell address in the American democratic process.
The farewell address is matter of tradition rather than a principle of law. Over the years, it has been offered in a letter, a radio or television speech, and as part of the State of the Union presentation. But regardless of format, it gives the departing president an opportunity to share with the nation unique observations gleaned from his service.
Some of these observations have been in the form of reflections on accomplishments, on missed opportunities or on regrets. Some have been tinged with bitterness while others have brimmed with optimism. Some have offered warnings on future threats to the nation. Collectively, however, they suggest the wisdom that’s often generated from a president’s term in office.
Of these, several farewell observances seem to stand out.
George Washington used a farewell letter to announce his decision to step down from office rather than to seek a third term. At that nascent time in American history, Washington’s voluntary choice began the commitment to the two-term limit for presidential service that continues (through constitutional amendment) to this day. There would be no American king.
Harry Truman’s radio address was the first of the modern-era farewell speeches. A highlight was his plain-spoken description of the president’s decision-making duties. “The president — whoever he is — has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.”
Richard Nixon was personally revealing in his White House farewell comments. With unusual elegance given the man and the circumstances, he offered that “greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes and you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
Jimmy Carter spoke soberly on what he described as three difficult issues facing the nation: “the threat of nuclear destruction, our stewardship of the physical resources of our planet, and the preeminence of the basic rights of human beings.” And how they were linked to the Jeffersonian vision of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Ronald Reagan’s farewell repeated his warm “shining city upon a hill” imagery, and optimistically described America as “still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.” He also offered caution against the eradication of the American memory that, he felt, could ultimately result in an erosion of the American spirit.
Bill Clinton linked the country’s global leadership to its ability to embrace diversity; the need to “weave the threads of our coat of many colors into the fabric of one America”. He encouraged the people to work harder to overcome their differences, and to treat all our people with fairness and dignity, “always moving toward the more perfect union of our founders’ dreams”.
Barack Obama presciently warned against the rise of “naked partisanship, and increasing economic and regional stratification,” which he viewed as threats to democracy. He saw such partisanship as eroding a common baseline of facts, and reducing both a willingness to admit new information, and to “concede that your opponent might be making a fair point”.
And in what is perhaps the greatest farewell address, Dwight Eisenhower prophetically identified the potential for a “military-industrial complex” to arise from the nation’s response to Cold War concerns. The great soldier-statesman warned that “this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience … Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.”
As time counts down toward Inauguration Day, there’s value in revisiting these past messages, and reconsidering our views of the presidents who offered them. They’re the last official words of those who have held the ultimate position of national leadership. And in most cases they reflect sincere gratitude for the opportunity to serve in that role.
While the words are those of different presidents of different parties in different eras, they’re similar in their marvel at the vitality of democracy and their reminder of the civic responsibility to preserve it.
And they offer an odd but meaningful set of historical bookends: Carter describing democracy as an “unfinished creation” that must be renewed by each generation; and Eisenhower noting that such renewal is possible only with the support of an “alert and knowledgeable citizenry”.
And we find ourselves shaking our heads in agreement.
Michael Peregrine is a Chicago attorney and a grateful graduate of Oak Park High.
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