GW’s Farewell Address, published on 19 Sept. 1796, officially announced his decision not to seek re-election to the U.S. presidency.1 In his final days in office, which ended on 3 March 1797, GW compared himself to a “wearied traveller.”2 This sentiment likely was occasioned by the events of the last half of GW’s second term, during which he faced heavy opposition to, and slow implementation of, the 1794 Jay Treaty with Great Britain. He also had to contend with escalating tensions with France, whose armed vessels increasingly captured U.S. ships bound for British ports,3 and mounting negative press that had been generated by GW’s political opponents, such as Thomas Paine and newspaper editor Benjamin Franklin Bache.4 Nevertheless, countless citizens across the United States continued to publicly articulate their admiration for GW’s character and his policies as president, while also expressing regret at the idea of his retirement and the nation’s loss of a great leader. This celebration of both GW’s private moral virtues and his public political acts was reflected in the numerous letters and addresses that he received from state legislatures, citizen groups, clergy, and prominent individuals during the last months of his presidency and at the beginning of his retirement.

Tributes to GW’s personal integrity and wisdom proliferated in a significant number of the addresses written on the occasion of his impending retirement. These documents also consistently offered statements applauding GW’s adherence to the U.S. Constitution, perseverence in maintaining national neutrality, and consistent rejection of foreign influence in American affairs. Authors also repeatedly drew parallels between GW’s voluntary retirement from the presidency and his resignation as commander in chief of the Continental forces during the Revolutionary War. An address to GW from the Philadelphia Common Council contains such an example: “At the close of the arduous struggle, which established the independence of America, and gave her a distinguished rank among nations, we have beheld you superior to the temptations of ambition, and the allurements of power, descending from the high rank to which you had been appointed, and retiring to a private life, from the view of an admiring world.”5 GW’s retirement thus marked a significant moment in the history of the U.S. presidency: instead of holding office until the time of his death, which may have set a dangerous precedent of life terms for the nation’s executive, GW chose to step down from office and allow an election to select his successor. Given the scarcity of historical examples of voluntary retirements among political and military leaders, GW’s decision to leave office was so unprecedented that it drew international attention. An observer in Leiden in the Netherlands wrote: “Scylla satiated with power and honors, abdicated the dictatorship, which he had usurped after having ploughed his country in blood, and remidied the same abuses by cruelty and tyranny. Washington renounced a legal power, acquired by his own merit, to finish his career with a virtuous retirement and worthy of a true philosopher, after having contributed more than any other means, both as a Soldier and Legislator, to fix upon his native land the greatest happiness of which, perhaps, mortals are susceptible.”6 In his inaugural address delivered on 4 March 1797, President John Adams also recognized the importance of GW’s voluntary retirement, while also praising the accomplishments of his administration.7

Statements expressing the hope for GW’s eternal salvation pepper the addresses written on the occasion of his retirement. The citizens of James City County, Va., concluded their address as follows: “You may therefore rest assured it is our fervent prayer that you may experience every blessing the world can afford to make you happy in life and when it is the Will of providence you are to experience the common fate of human nature you may be translated to the regions of the Celestial world to enjoy the fulest fruition of bliss to all Eternity. And may the present generation of Amarica and all future generations constantly commemorate the happy day that gave you birth.”8

GW’s presidency came to an end on 3 March. The inauguration of Adams on the next day was followed by a celebratory dinner held for GW at John Bill Ricketts’s amphitheater in Philadelphia. Days later, on 9 March, GW departed the nation’s capital, reaching his beloved Mount Vernon on 15 March.9 The start of his retirement was marked by the receipt of renewed congratulations from various citizens on his final departure from office. The Baltimore City Council sent him an address written around 12 March. On that same day, Landon Carter of Cleve advised him that he had composed “a Letter of congratulation to meet you at your assylum from the Labors of a weighty Trust.” On 13 March, Edmund Pendleton wrote GW from Caroline County, Va., to convey his regret at his retirement and to wish him continued enjoyment of domestic happiness.10 Citizens were keenly aware of the positive outcomes of GW’s presidency, including his avoidance of war with Britain and his administration’s neutrality policies and recent careful handling of Franco-American relations. That is, Americans were cognizant of GW’s prominent place in history. The concluding sentence of the address to GW from the Philadelphia Common Council illustrates this fact: “Even when the hand of death shall impress upon you the great seal of mortality, you shall not become the prey of forgetfulness, while the voice of Histo[ry] is just, and gratitude known among the virtues of America.”

Because of their similarities to the numbered documents above, some of the letters with the sole subject of reaction to GW’s retirement and some of the responses by GW to such letters have not received editorial treatment. A list of these omitted items, some of which are simple cover letters for addresses to GW, follows: Delaware Delegation to Congress to GW, 1 Feb. (L, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); Address from the Delaware Senate, 24 Jan. (DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW; D, De-Ar); Address from the Delaware House of Representatives, 24 Jan. (DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); Address from Northumberland County, Pa., Citizens, 28 Jan. (DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW; Df, PCarlD); GW to the Delaware Delegation to Congress, 2 Feb. (ALS [letterpress copy], DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); Massachusetts Legislature to GW, 11–13 Feb. (D, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); Charles Hall to GW, 20 Feb. (ALS, DLC:GW; LB; DLC:GW); GW to Charles Hall, 22 Feb. (LS, offered for sale by Catharine Barnes Autographs, May 2011; LB, DLC:GW; copy, DLC:GW); GW to Northumberland County, Pa., Citizens, 22 Feb. (LS [retained copy], DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); John Pierce to GW, 22 Feb. (ALS, DLC:GW); Address from James City County, Va., Citizens, 22 Feb. (copy, DLC:GW); GW to U.S. Senators from Massachusetts, c.24 Feb. (Df, in Timothy Pickering’s writing, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); Philadelphia Common Council to GW, c.27 Feb. (DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); GW to the Philadelphia Common Council, c.27 Feb. (copy, in Bartholomew Dandridge, Jr.’s writing, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); Philadelphia Select Council to GW, c.27 Feb. (DS, DLC:GW; D, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); GW to Philadelphia Select Council, c.27 Feb. (Df, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); Philadelphia Episcopal Churches to GW, 2 March (DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW); GW to Philadelphia Episcopal Churches, 2 March (ALS, PWacD: Sol Feinstone Collection, on deposit at PPAmP; Df, in Timothy Pickering’s writing, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW).

For other letters containing reactions to GW’s retirement and GW’s replies, printed elsewhere in this and other volumes, see Address from the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati, 22 Feb., and the source note to that document; see also GW to Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati, 6 March 1797, and n.1 to that document, in Papers, Retirement Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series. 4 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1998–99. description ends 1:13.

The five letters that follow provide a sample of the reactions to GW’s retirement and GW’s responses.