George Washington was born 274 years ago Wednesday along the Potomac River in Virginia. If you had asked Washington his birthday, he would have answered February 11--as it was on that date of the old-style calendar that he was born. On our current calendar, that date is February 22. It was on February 22, until fairly recently, that Americans celebrated Washington's birthday. To confuse matters further, America currently celebrates Washington's birthday today, the third Monday in February, which falls this year on February 20. That third Monday in February, however, never actually occurs on Washington's birthdate. (It could be worse: Georgia celebrates Washington's Birthday on December 26!).

In some quarters, today's holiday goes by "Presidents Day." Although a few states designate it as such, most states, along with the federal government, officially regard it as "Washington's Birthday" (So stop calling it Presidents Day.). Washington's birthday has been an offical federal holiday since 1885, when Chester A. Arthur, the twentieth man to succeed Washington, signed legislation making it so. Like a lot of bad ideas, the decision to celebrate Washington's Birthday on a day that is not his actual birthday--but merely the third Monday in February--came during the 1960s.

My favorite Washington's Birthday tradition actually predates the federal recognition of Washington's birthday as a holiday. Starting in 1862, and becoming an annual event in 1896, a senator has read Washington's Farewell Address on the floor of the Senate. Such Senate heavyweights as Carter Glass, Robert Taft, Arthur Vandenberg, Frank Church, and Barry Goldwater have taken part in the tradition. This year, Colorado Senator Ken Salazar had the honor of reading the address. And never have the members of the Senate needed to hear "these counsels of an old and affectionate friend" more than they do now.

Washington's Farewell Address is one of the most interesting documents in American history. It was neither an address (it was printed in a Philadelphia newspaper six months before Washington left the presidency), nor was it really Washington's (Hamilton having been its primary author). But Washington played a role in its drafting and Hamilton wrote it with Washington's sentiments in mind. And hey, what president hasn't had a speechwriter? During the early republic, Washington's Farewell Address was read in schoolhouses alongside the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Save for the Senate custom, the "disinterested warnings of a parting friend" have been lately ignored by the Founding Father's progeny. That's too bad. We would be wise to heed the first president's warnings, particularly on three of the document's main themes.

First, Washington told us to beware of usurpers bypassing the amendment process to alter the Constitution. "If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates," Washington counsels. "But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed."

Second, Washington explained that "reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." Washington may not have been a Bible-beater, but he understood that sound religious instruction affects righteous conduct in a manner that law alone cannot. "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity," he noted, "Religion and morality are indispensible supports."

Third, Washington encouraged free movement of goods across borders but discouraged a loose movement of troops across borders. "The Great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign Nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible." Stay out of wars that don't involve "our interest guided by our justice." This involved eschewing permanent friends and permanent enemies in favor of permanent interests. "Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground?"

Washington's points no doubt strike many contemporary politicians as "antiquated," "intolerant," and "isolationist." More interesting is how Washington would have characterized the views of present-day politicians.

The further Americans get from Washington's principles, the further those Americans want Washington to get from America. Once "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," Washington is now just one of 42 men who share something called "Presidents Day." A few years back, New Orleans removed Washington's name from a local school because the first president, despite making provision in his will for his slaves' freedom, once owned many African Americans. The Bush I-devised and Clinton (I?)-delivered "National Standards for United States History" gave just a passing reference to the "father of his country."

Though schoolchildren no longer read Washington's Farewell Address, we can take heart that a U.S. senator, at least once a year, does. How happier our nation would be if these senators actually believed what they read.

Hamilton wrote Washington’s Farwell Address? Why bother with the thing…

I really do hope not to be too cynical, but the evaporation of Washington's principles and ideas are what will eventually lead to this nation's demise.

Washington was a true patriot and not just a power seeker. He was a hard working legitimate business owner who developed into a fine military leader and reluctantly took on the Presidency when the office was formed.

Today in politics, we have power hungry compromised flag wavers who give speeches and preach about American principles without really believing in them.

Washington and the founding Fathers created and believed in principles of government that were well thought out and eventually time tested.

They don't make them like the real GW anymore.

How happier our nation would be if these senators actually UNDERSTOOD what they read.

Unfortunately our senators do not meet success through a firm grasp of federal principles, history, or leadership. They are largely constructs put together by various special interests and propped up in front of a populace that public schools fail to educate.

Except for my senators, of course.

Hi Dan,

Excellent post - and very well put on all points.

Your readers may be interested in an earlier post I wrote for my blog (the Borg Blog) which makes much the same point as you regarding Washington's Farewell Address and his warnings against changing (or disregarding) the Constitution "by usurpation": George Washington on Constitutionalism.

I also posted today my essay concerning Washington's conttributions to the Constitution and our notions of indiviual rights: George Washington, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Later I will post my full bio of this great and "indispensible man."

Sincerely,
--Eric

I took a slightly different approach on my blog Curiouser and Curiouser, namely, I first looked at how both Lincoln and Washington had birthdays celebrated in February back before the late '60s. Add in Valentines Day and there were three special days in the littlest month of the year.

As school children, we learned of Honest Abe, rail splitter, and George "I cannot tell a lie" Washington and his mythical cherry tree. Through these observations we were first exposed to American history and what great men these two were.

But then came the "Age of Aquarius" and the observations of the two great men were combined into one holiday, ostensibly for the benefit of federal workers and their holiday schedules. In the same year, Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in Memphis and two congress-critters, John Conyers of MI (my home state) and Shirley Chisholm of New York, introduced legislation to create a holiday for King.

As we know, it was signed into law by Reagan and is now observed as Martin Luther King Day on the third Monday in January. Our two most famous and honorable presidents, Washington and Lincoln, now reside behind the nondescript holiday of "Presidents Day." I'll bet money that many school children today don't even know what the holiday is supposed to be for or who it honors. As I said in my blog, we lost something in the exchange.

This is just part of a contrived plan to change America from a white dominated western culture based society to a rainbow take your pick of cultures society. Where two men who changed the course of this country in no uncertain terms are obscured and forgotten while a womanizing plagiarist Marxist is remembered, specifically by name, for helping advance an agenda (a noble one, yes) that was already supported by law should tell you all you need to know about what's happening here.

It's truly sad to see Washington and Lincoln, our nations two greatest presidents, stripped of their days of remembrance.