Dr. Samuel B. Hoff is a George Washington Distinguished Professor Emeritus and an internship coordinator at Delaware State University. He is a 10-time candidate for U.S. president and has served in three staff positions with Congress. He compiled the following piece as an original presidential farewell address, composed of quotes from most presidents, in order of service. It uses specific farewell or last speeches or final annual reports to Congress to draw connected quotes and thoughts into a single address.
The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes. (1.) May this territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! (2.) The same grateful acknowledgements are due to my fellow-citizens generally, whose support has been my great encouragement under all embarrassments. (3.) Nor is it a peculiar felicity of this Constitution, so dear to us all, that it is found to be capable, without losing its vital energies, of expanding itself over a spacious territory with the increase and expansion of the community for whose benefit it was established. (4.) Our institutions form an important epoch in the history of the world. (5.) The ultimate design was to incorporate in our own institutions that portion of them which could be connected to the state of civilization. (6.) The progress of the United States under our free and happy institutions has surpassed the most sanguine hopes of the founders of the Republic. (7.)
The choice is an important one, and I sincerely hope that it may be wisely made. (8.) The cardinal objects which should ever be held in view by those intrusted with the administration of public affairs are rigidly, and without favor or affection, so to interpret the national will expressed in the laws as that injustice should be done to none, justice to all. (9.) Occupying, as we do now, a more commanding position among nations that at any former period, our duties and responsibilities to ourselves and to posterity are correspondingly increased. (10.) We live in an age of progress, and ours is emphatically a country of progress. (11.) We have at length reached that stage of our country’s career in which the dangers to be encountered and the exertions to be made are the incidents, not of weakness, but of strength. (12.)
We should reflect that under this free Government there is an incessant ebb and flow in public opinion. (13.) The Almighty has his own purposes. (14.)
The robe of office by constitutional limitation this day falls from my shoulders, to be immediately assumed by my successor. (15.) Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent. (16.)
The condition of the financial affairs of the Government, as shown by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, is very satisfactory. (17.) Our relations with all foreign powers continue to be amicable. (18.) I respectfully recommend fitting and cooperative action by Congress on behalf of the people of the United States. (19.) Retrogression would be a crime. (20.) The country demands results. (21.)
Every loyal American has a personal pride in the beauty of Washington and in its development and growth. (22.) This is the time of all others when Democracy should prove its purity and its spiritual power to prevail. (23.) The main source of unexampled blessings lies in the integrity and character of the American people. (24.) Ours is a distinctive government with a unique history and background, consciously dedicated to the specific ideals of liberty and a faith in the inviolable sanctity of the individual human spirit. (25.)
Inauguration day will be a great demonstration of our democratic process. (26.) I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all. (27.)
What we won when all of our people united just must not now be lost in suspicion, distrust, selfishness, and politics among any of our people. (28.) We want you to be proud of what you have done. (29.)
May our third century be illuminated by liberty and blessed with brotherhood, so that we and all who come after us may be the humble servants of thy peace. (30.) Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities — not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself. (31.)
We’ve done our part. (32.) This is what I wanted to share on this occasion. (33.) As for me, I’ll leave the presidency more idealistic, more full of hope than the day I arrived and more confident than ever that America’s best days lie ahead. (34.) It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. (35.) In fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days. (36.)
We have the greatest country in the world. (37.)
1. George Washington 2. John Adams 3. Thomas Jefferson 4. James Madison 5. James Monroe 6. John Quincy Adams 7. Andrew Jackson 8. Martin Van Buren 9. John Tyler 10. James Polk 11. Millard Fillmore 12. Franklin Pierce 13. James Buchanan 14. Abraham Lincoln 15. Andrew Johnson 16. Ulysses S. Grant 17. Rutherford Hayes 18. Chester Arthur 19. Grover Cleveland 20. Benjamin Harrison 21. Theodore Roosevelt 22. William Taft 23. Woodrow Wilson 24. Calvin Coolidge 25. Herbert Hoover 26. Harry Truman 27. Dwight Eisenhower 28. Lyndon Johnson 29. Richard Nixon 30. Gerald Ford 31. Jimmy Carter 32. Ronald Reagan 33. George H.W. Bush 34. Bill Clinton 35. George W. Bush 36. Barack Obama 37. Donald Trump
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