Washington--and Power and Privilege

George Washington is remembered for many things too numerous to mention, but among them is this: He was one of the men of history who declined to assume all the power that was proffered him. This is not unique, perhaps, but certainly it would be safe to say that it is unusual. And in his farewell address he indicated his attitude on this and on other important principles. We commend the reading of Washington’s farewell address to every American and to every man who loves his freedom and wants to keep it. George Washington had an intimate insight into the uses and abuses and excesses of authority. He lived in a day when his people paid a great price for the principles by which they preferred to live. And he saw men die who could have lived if they had been willing to compromise those principles. He knew that men must exert themselves for the rights and privileges they want to protect and that many people have lost many things they thought they had, by indolence and indifference. He also knew the disposition of men to exceed their assigned authority. And he knew that temporary powers and privileges are often assumed to be permanent powers and privileges. It was evident in his day, and long before, that men need to be reminded that authority which has been delegated by others is not their own. It is true that initiative must not be snuffed out. To be effective publicly or privately, men must use their initiative. But to be safe they must also respect the limitations of the powers that have been entrusted to them by others. We are deeply grateful that America has had such men as George Washington, who served his country with all that he had when it desperately needed his services, and yet who refrained from holding on to excessive power and privilege even when he could have done so. And we are grateful to him for restating this timeless truth: that no man who has been granted a temporary power should be permitted to presume that he has acquired a permanent power.