Open 365 days a year, Mount Vernon is located just 15 miles south of Washington DC.
From the mansion to lush gardens and grounds, intriguing museum galleries, immersive programs, and the distillery and gristmill. Spend the day with us!
Discover what made Washington "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858.
Need primary and secondary sources, videos, or interactives? Explore our Education Pages!
The Washington Library is open to all researchers and scholars, by appointment only.
Washington’s Farewell Address, published at the end of his second term, stands today as a timeless warning about the forces that threaten American democracy.
In 1796, President Washington decided it was time to retire from public life. After two terms in office, and decades of public service, the 64-year-old was careworn, weary, and frustrated by the attacks of his political enemies. He would not seek a third term in office.
Washington was not required to leave office; it wasn’t until 1951 that the Twenty-second Amendment was ratified, limiting a president to two terms. In fact, many hoped he would remain president indefinitely.
But Washington had always intended to depart the presidency once he felt the Constitution was well-established and the country was on solid footing. To Washington, that time had come.
The president was no doubt influenced in this decision by the attacks of an increasingly hostile press, particularly the Republican newspaper the Aurora General Advertiser. The paper’s relentless criticism of Washington’s administration, and its handling of the Jay Treaty, weighed heavily on the president. One observer from this period noted that Washington “seemed considerably older. The innumerable vexations he has met with in his different public capacities have very sensibly impaired the vigor of his constitution and given him an aged appearance.”1 He longed for Mount Vernon and the life awaiting him as a citizen farmer.
Though Washington felt the country was stable, many feared it would be torn apart without his leadership. The Farewell Address, therefore, was Washington’s way of offering encouragement and advice to the citizens of the country.
Read more about Washington's Farewell Address in our Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington.
Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton worked closely with Washington to craft the Farewell Address. "Alexander Hamilton," John Trumbull, Detroit Publishing Co., Library of Congress.
Washington’s stepgranddaughter Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis Lewis remembers seeing the president working on his final address to the nation. Eleanor Custis (Mrs. Lawrence Lewis), by Gilbert Stuart, 1804. National Gallery of Art.
For the task of converting his ideas into words, Washington turned to his wordsmith, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.
The president had actually done this once before. Four years earlier, at the end of his first term in office, Washington, contemplating retirement, had asked James Madison to draft a farewell address. But when Washington was convinced to serve another term, this address was stashed away in a drawer.
Now, Washington gave Hamilton two options: update and revise Madison’s address or start from scratch. In the end, Hamilton decided to write a new address, borrowing only a few paragraphs from Madison’s draft.
Hamilton worked in secrecy, with Washington sending his reactions and edits by way of personal couriers rather than the mail, which he suspected was being monitored. He encouraged Hamilton to shorten the address and to keep its language plain and unadorned. Washington provided the final edits, down to the punctuation marks.
Authorship of the Farewell Address remained a well-kept secret for several years. Perhaps in an effort to elevate Washington’s standing, Hamilton and others familiar with its origins remained silent on the subject.
Walking down Broadway in New York one day, Hamilton and his wife passed a man selling copies of the address. Purchasing one, Hamilton joked quietly to his wife, “That man does not know he has asked me to purchase my own work.”2
More than 50 years later, Washington’s stepgranddaughter Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis Lewis defended Washington’s role in the drafting process, writing:
My mind and memory of all relating to the ‘Farewell Address’ are as fresh as they were in 1796, when it was issued. I did see the President Washington repeatedly in the act of writing the ‘Farewell Address’ in the daytime and also at night … I always passed the door of his office on my way to my grandmother’s chamber at the head of the sleep stairs, which landed close to his door—that door was generally open, and I have been sent to his room with messages, and at night have passed the door and seen him writing as I passed to ascend the stairs with Grandmama. When his work was completed, he called me from her chamber and requested me to bring him a needle with silk to sew the leaves together—the Address was in his hand when I gave him the needle and I saw him sew them in the form of a book; the only circumstance I could not take an oath on is the color of the silk.
In honor of the 225th anniversary of his famed Farewell Address, an all-star panel discusses George Washington’s warnings to and hopes for future generations of Americans. Featuring CNN’s John Avlon, author Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, and historian Dr. Joseph Ellis.
Virginia Senator, Tim Kaine, joins us at the Washington Library to discuss Washington as a leader, his lasting legacy and how it still impacts the Senate today.
Senator John McCain's 1987 note in the book reserved for those senators chosen to read Washington's Farewell Address in the U.S. Senate.
Today, Washington’s Farewell Address is considered one of the most important documents in American history. In the years following his retirement, the address became a sort of civic scripture, more widely printed in the early days of the country than the Declaration of Independence.
The address is read annually in the United States Senate on Washington’s birthday. The origins of this tradition stretch back to February 22, 1862, (Washington’s 130th birthday) as an attempt to boost morale during the darkest days of the Civil War. The ceremony wouldn’t be repeated, however, until 1888—the centennial year of the Constitution’s ratification. Within a few years, the Senate made the practice an annual event.
And so it is that every year since 1896, the Senate has observed Washington's birthday by selecting one of its members, from alternating parties, to read the 7,641-word address.
According to the United States Senate, “At the conclusion of each reading, the appointed senator inscribes his or her name and brief remarks in a black, leather-bound book maintained by the secretary of the Senate. The book's first entry, dated February 22, 1900, bears the signature of Ohio Republican Joseph Foraker. Early entries in the notebook were typically brief explanations of the practice, accompanied by signature and date. Often, several entries appeared on a single page. In more recent years, entries have grown more elaborate and have included personal stories or comments on contemporary politics and policy.”
Explore the complete list of senators to have read the Farewell Address
