Presidents’ Day Collection 2024
Libertarianism.org presents a selection of content, new and old, about the American presidency.
Presidents’ Day sits uncomfortably with many libertarians. The highest political office in the land has not only been the source of many incursions into fundamental rights and liberties, but, as Gene Healy has reminded us, the power and scope of that office has grown significantly in the past decades to the point that “the officeholder wields powers that no one fallible human being ought to have.” Furthermore, the executive orders issuing from that office are both numerous and hostile to most understandings of a constitutional republic, bounded—as it should be—by laws and commitments to principle.
Few remember that Presidents’ Day began its life as a holiday in memory of Washington’s birthday (February 22). And so it seems fitting to recall a few key nuggets of wisdom from Washington’s Farewell Address (1796), in which he warns us that “overgrown military establishments” are “inauspicious to liberty.” Washington elaborates his concerns about regional tensions within the young republic, and the necessity to be on guard against factions, which tend to cultivate a “spirit of revenge” that leads to despotism. We are warned against the pernicious consequences of foreign military meddling, and likewise cautioned to be on guard against “the insidious wiles of foreign interference” that are “one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.” Washington could have been addressing an audience today.
A review of Washington’s Address is a bracing reminder that libertarians are the most direct heirs to the best ideas and ideals of the early republic: Washington’s speech repeatedly invokes ideas like freedom, limited government, and peace. No positive mention of Washington (or the early republic and most of its other presidents) can stand without the necessary qualifications. It was a troubled time, and the blot of slavery qualifies much that we wish to read into these edifying lines. Nonetheless, we can celebrate the ideal while we reserve the right to judge with humility.
One of Washington’s noblest acts was to step away from the temptations of military leadership and presidential office, modelling himself rather consciously on Cincinnatus, who twice voluntarily gave up dictatorial powers after leading the Romans to victory in war. It suggests that there are good men out there, and some happen, miraculously, to be in government. Let us not lose hope.
This page will be updated throughout the week as Libertarianism.org brings you a selection of publications and podcasts about the office of the president, and reflects on some of those who have occupied, and abused, that position of power.
New on Libertarianism.org This Week
Everything Wrong with the Jackson Administration by Brad Birzer and Miles Smith
Everything Wrong with the Wilson Administration by Doug Bandow
Washington’s Advice, Imprudently Ignored by Christopher A. Preble
An Office Fit for a King by Matthew Feeney
The Liberty Exchange Season 2 Episode 2: Executive Power: The Cult of the Presidency with Gene Healy with Gene Healy and Jonathan Fortier
Remarks on Eisenhower’s Farewell Address by Jonathan Fortier
From the Archives
The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism: Constitution, U.S. by David Mayer
The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism: War Powers by Gene Healy
The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism: Washington, George (1732-1799) by Jonathan Rowe
Around the Web (Video): Andrew Jackson, The First Imperial President by Amy Sturgis
A Muslim President?: The Abolition of Religious Tests by Michael Rieger