Washington was no party animal

Michael Dawidziak is a political consultant and pollster.

George Washington's birthday was yesterday, though many Americans celebrated by shopping on Presidents Day, a synthetic occasion he's forced to share with Abraham Lincoln.

It's likely that few gave any thought to Washington the man. To some degree, that's understandable. In the 211 years since his death, he has become more of an icon in marble than a flesh-and-blood human. No one in our short history has been more venerated - or is more deserving. Sadly, the essence of who "the father of our country" was has largely been forgotten by his children of today.

Fortunately, people live on through their words. The nature and substance of a person long gone can be discovered by reading their writings. And Washington, like many of the founders, left us much from which we can study and learn. Not as prolific as Jefferson or Adams, the first president nonetheless bequeathed a treasure trove of lessons and advice for subsequent generations of Americans.

The pitiful state of affairs is that, as much as we revere Washington, few follow his lessons or even know what his advice was. This is particularly true when he spoke of staying united as a country and not allowing ourselves to factionalize into political parties.

Not only has this been largely forgotten, but most find it hard to imagine such a party-free conception of our republic at a time when the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey are as symbolic of democracy in America as the Constitution itself.

In today's United States, when many citizens would identify themselves by their political affiliation before they would say "American," it is worth remembering that the word "party" (pertaining to political parties) isn't in the Constitution.

Let's be clear. Washington wasn't for a one-party system, he was for a no-party system. Others, such as James Madison, were for a multiparty system but wary of a two-party system that would lead to "the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority."

In his "Farewell Address," a 6,100-word document published in pamphlets and newspapers in 1796, Washington states: "Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally."

He warns us that the misrepresentations of one party about the other's views would "tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection." He then goes on to predict, "the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension."

Washington isn't often given the credit that a prophet deserves, yet he predicted our political future as clearly as if he had witnessed today's congressional hearings or watched a few hours of Fox News or MSNBC.

He went on to caution us that, "the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it."

Washington had no illusions that his advice would be remembered or followed. He finished his farewell address this way:

"In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish."

At a time when poll after poll says the American people are crying out for an end to partisan gridlock and bickering, may we endeavor to heed these counsels of an old and affectionate friend and take some of Washington's paternal advice to heart.