Political Quotes

“I thank very much the Senator from Maine, Mr. King, for his fluent reading of President George Washington's Farewell Address, a message to the American people at the close of his great Presidency--the first Presidency. The annual reading of the farewell address is one of the Senate's longstanding traditions. The custom began in 1862 as a commemoration of the 130th anniversary of President Washington's birth. It was intended to boost congressional morale during the Civil War. As then-Senator Andrew Johnson--by the way, I have a great painting of President Johnson in my office. I always tell people who come to my office to contrast that with the statue of President Johnson when he was Vice President. I have the good fortune of having Andrew Johnson's desk at the time Lincoln was assassinated. I have that beautiful piece of furniture in my office. It is stunningly beautiful. I haven't had a chance to talk about that before, so I took this opportunity. As then-Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee said before the first recitation of the address: The time has arrived when we should recur back to the days, the times, and doings of Washington and the patriots of the Revolution, who founded the government under which we live.…”