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George Washington published his Farewell Address in a Philadelphia newspaper to announce to his fellow citizens that he would step away from the presidency after two terms, demonstrating that power could be transferred peacefully in a democracy. His farewell also served as a warning of the dangers that threatened the fledgling democracy.

Washingtons Farewell Address soon became the countrys civic scripture, studied by every student across the nation. But by the latter half of the 19th century, the archaic style of the farewell could not compete with Abraham Lincolns shorter, optimistic and more quotable Gettysburg Address, which became the countrys best known civic discourse.

Today, the Farewell Address is receiving renewed interest as the country debates its identity whether we are a multicultural country welcoming the foreign born or a country feeling a loss of identity with an influx of too many immigrants and refugees. Its a debate between a vision of the nation as a melting pot and as a nation of Mayflower descendants.

In his farewell, Washington made the case for a national identity at a time when most citizens identified more closely with their states in the newly formed country. John Avlon in his new book on the Farewell Address describes six themes that continue to resonate in the country today: national unity, political moderation, fiscal discipline, virtue and religion, education and foreign policy.

We may think of our country today as deeply divided, but hyper-partisanship also marked the early days of the republic the divide between the North and South, industry and agriculture, Federalists and Republicans, and even in the presidents Cabinet between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Washington warned the nation that partisanship threatened the country, especially the menace of intolerant extremes and the danger posed by demagogues.

Washington envisioned the presidency as rising above the political fray to unite the country. He sought a government composed of a coalition of problem-solvers rather than of factions of self-interested partisans. While he understood that partisanship could not be eliminated in the republic, he urged its restraint through the separation of powers and an ever-watchful, informed citizenry.

Washington argued that the sacred ties that bind the states into a union serve as the very foundation of freedom and prosperity. He saw the possibility of unity in welcoming immigrants to the country, declaring in a letter to John Adams that by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, manners, and laws: in a word, [they] soon become one people.

Washington developed a religious pluralism, welcoming all religious faiths to create a country that sanctioned no bigotry. He instructed the supervisor of his farm to hire good workmen, whether they may be from Asia, Africa or Europe. They may be Mahometans, Jews, or Christians of any sect or they may be atheists.

Washington thought he could best strengthen our national union by demonstrating patience, prudence, humility, moderation and self-discipline. It is a philosophy with roots in the ancient Roman republic, which distrusted passion and valued virtue and reason above all.

Although the least formally educated of our presidents, Washington engaged in lifelong learning and self-improvement, and he imagined such an education for all citizens because he understood that democracy depends on an enlightened and civic-minded electorate.

In his private life, Washington struggled as a businessman with burdensome debt. He sought for his country the self-sufficiency that he and his fellow small-business owners strived for themselves a country free from obligations to other countries.

Washington warned that the nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection. But contrary to Jeffersons warning about entangling alliances, Washington was not an isolationist. He saw an opportunity through free trade to create relationships of mutual interest with other countries, shared interests that might prove to be more powerful than the passions that lead to war.

In stepping away from a presidency that he could easily have held for life, Washington made a revolutionary statement about a democratic society. In his Farewell Address, he warned his countrymen and women that the experiment in democratic government cannot and must not be taken for granted.

Washingtons words speak to our generation as much as to his own. Hyperpartisanship, the rise of extreme elements, the trampling of cherished values, demagoguery, intolerance, bigotry and antagonism toward allies and adversaries all threaten democratic governance. Take heed of Washingtons warnings.

Joseph W. McDonnell is a professor of public policy and management at the University of Southern Maines Muskie School of Public Service in Portland.

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Take heed of Washington's warnings about the threats to democracy ... - Bangor Daily News