Proclamation 2701—One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of Washington's Farewell Address

Whereas September 19, 1946 marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of President Washington's Farewell Address to the American people, in which the Father of our Country, in announcing his intention to retire from political office, gave his fellow countrymen the benefit of his wisdom and laid down a set of political principles which for a century and a half have profoundly affected the course of our history, it is fitting and proper at this time to pay our humble and grateful respects to the deep insight, the spirit of responsible citizenship, and the outstanding devotion to duty which characterized this pronouncement and the entire career of our first President.

In this message, issued to the country at a time when our young and struggling Republic was torn by internal strife and threatened by external dangers, President Washington saw clearly the need for our country to gain time "to settle and mature its recent institutions and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it...the command of its own fortunes."

Pointing to the dangers that lay ahead, he boldly charted a course for our country, based on principles of "national union", "independence and liberty", exemption from the "broils and wars" of other countries, "religion and morality", "pride of patriotism", "institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge", and the observance of "good faith and justice toward all nations".

Guided largely by these principles and favored by nature and the indomitable spirit of freedom and the will of a sturdy and pioneering people, our Young Republic has grown to maturity, has gained that "command of its own fortunes" which has freed it from the state of relative dependency in which President Washington fount it, and has taken its place in the councils of nations with new responsibilities which a century and a half ago could not have been foreseen.

It is appropriate for us at this time to draw fresh inspiration and renewed faith from the advice and admonitions of the Father of our Country and to apply his wisdom to our times and to the new environment in which we live.

Above all, we should keep fresh in our memory his call to national unity and responsible citizenship, based on principles of morality, and good faith and justice to all nations; for those remain the imperishable foundations of our Republic.

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of President Washington's Farewell Address, do hereby call upon the officials of the Government to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on September 19, 1946, and I invite the people of the United States, on or near that date, to observe the event with appropriate ceremonies in schools, colleges, and civic organizations, re-dedicating ourselves to the spirit of loyal service to the Republic which our first President so nobly embodied.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 6th day of September in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-first.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

W. L. CLAYTON,

Acting Secretary of State.