“Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free Government.” – George Washington, Farewell Address (1796)

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George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796) can be read in its entirety in several places on the internet. One of these is George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796). It is understood to be part of Washington’s legacy that he strove with humility to be seen as upright and to adhere to strict moral guidelines. In his Farewell Address, he encouraged the American people to adhere to religion and morality as indispensable supports of our republic’s governance. Some contest the veracity of this. I do not.