Thread by @WestWingReport

Arguably the most important words ever attributed to a President: George Washington’s Farewell Address - this day in 1796 (more)

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After nearly eight years in office, Washington - who had been a reluctant president in the first place - decided that he would not accept a third term and would, once and for all, retire to his beloved Mount Vernon (more)

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In one of the most memorable speeches in U.S. history—never delivered as a spoken address but distributed to newspapers—Washington bid the young republic farewell. He cautioned Americans to avoid political infighting, and to avoid permanent alliances with other nations (more)

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Washington's comments reflected in part, what he felt was partisan criticism of his leadership: Some opponents actually had actually labeled Washington’s policies a betrayal of the Constitution—criticism which offended the president

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President Washington thought that if the U.S. military ever got too big it would threaten American liberty. Another great general-turned-president - Dwight Eisenhower - warned of the very same thing in his own farewell address in 1961

The U.S. once suffered three presidential assassinations in 36 years. One of them - James Garfield - died this day in 1881, just six months into his presidency. He was shot on July 2 at a Washington train station (not Union Station)

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Historians think President Garfield could have lived, had his medical care not been so sloppy and unsanitary. The president’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, was convicted and hanged. The murder made Chester Arthur president

The third president to be murdered in 36 years was William McKinley. Here: He is laid to rest - this day in 1901 (Canton, OH)

This Day, 1919:
His League of Nations rejected by the Senate, Woodrow Wilson tried to sell it to the American people. He soon fell ill from the stress of her trip; rushed back to Washington, he suffered a near fatal stroke