Securing the Revolution: Washington's Farewell Address w/ John Avlon
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2024
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On July 4th, we celebrate American Independence. But, as Ben argues in his new intro to this episode, the real gift of the founding generation was more than that: it's the inheritance of the revolution.
George Washington is one of the most revered figures in American history. As Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, Washington led his troops to one of the most unlikely and world-shaking victories in modern history, and his selection as President of both the Constitutional Convention and the new government designed that summer in Philadelphia, demonstrate the unmatched faith that the founders had in General Washington. Today, however, we tend to remember Washington more for the jobs he held than for the personal qualities that made him a remarkable member of the founding generation, but the wisdom left to us by our first President in his farewell address is perhaps more relevant today than ever before. In this episode of The Road to Now we explain why in our discussion with Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon about his book Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations.
Our conversation with John Avlon originally aired as RTN #48 which originally aired on March 13, 2017. This episode includes an updated intro reflecting on the American Revolution by Ben Sawyer, recorded July 1, 2024. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Ben Sawyer and this is the roads now. |
| 0:10.0 | Today is July 1st, 2024, and we in the United States are set to celebrate our independence |
| 0:16.6 | here in just a couple of days. It's one of our great traditions, and if you ask me, the American |
| 0:21.4 | Revolution is something to celebrate. This moment, July 4th, 1776, the statement of principles |
| 0:27.7 | of the Declaration of Independence, ironically written by the hand of a man who owns enslaved people |
| 0:33.0 | and will till he dies, yet leaving behind this truly a mission statement, an aspirational vision of a country |
| 0:40.6 | based on the Enlightenment. A lot of people will say the American Revolution isn't a true |
| 0:45.1 | revolution, that the same people stayed in power. There's something to be said for that. |
| 0:49.4 | Some people won't even call it the American Revolutionary War. Some historians just call it the |
| 0:52.5 | War for Independence. But the American Revolution isn't just some people. It's not a time, it's not a place. It's |
| 0:57.8 | something much bigger than that. And I think it's important to separate that independence, |
| 1:01.5 | which is secured through diplomatic recognition or a statement of independence. As it turns out, |
| 1:06.6 | it takes years for anybody else to recognize us. We were the only ones who believed we were |
| 1:09.9 | independent. But hey, we won. So that worked out. But securing that independence and diplomatic recognition is one |
| 1:16.3 | thing. Securing the revolution is another. And to me, getting wrapped up in this dates and |
| 1:22.1 | these numbers makes us forget that the revolution itself needed to be secured and that it depends on us every generation |
| 1:28.7 | to recommit ourselves to the principles of equality and of the Declaration of Independence. |
| 1:34.4 | But if you study history, there's one thing you kind of get is that lots of revolutions start |
| 1:39.2 | off with big principles, big goals, humanitarian statements, And historically, revolutions tend to maybe not end like that. |
| 1:50.0 | Most revolutions end with a military leader seizing power. |
| 1:53.8 | And so the revolution becomes deeply entwined with the person. |
| 1:56.9 | The French revolution ends in Napoleon. |
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