Farewell speech

A farewell speech or farewell address is a speech given by an individual leaving a position or place. They are often used by public figures such as politicians as a capstone to the preceding career, or as statements delivered by persons relating to reasons for their leaving. The term is often used as a euphemism for "retirement speech," though it is broader in that it may include geographical or even biological conclusion.

In the Classics, a term for a dignified and poetic farewell speech is apobaterion (ἀποβατήριον), standing opposed to the epibaterion, the corresponding speech made upon arrival.[1]

U.S. presidential farewell addresses

Many U.S. presidential speeches have been given the moniker "farewell address" since George Washington's address in 1796.[2] Some notable examples:

• George Washington – Washington's Farewell Address in which he warned of the dangers of political parties and foreign alliances.

• Dwight D. Eisenhower – Eisenhower's farewell address in which he warned of the military–industrial complex.
• Barack Obama – Obama's farewell address made from Chicago, breaking tradition of holding one in the White House.
• Donald Trump – Trump's farewell address, delivered as a recorded, online video message from the White House.[3]

Other notable farewell speeches

Napoleon saying farewell to the Old Guard at the Palace of Fontainebleau, after his first abdication (1814)

• Muhammad – Farewell Sermon, 6 March 632.
• The speech of Aeneas to Helenus and Andromache, Aeneid, Book III.[1]
• Napoleon Bonaparte – First abdication, April 6, 1814 (see Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814))
• Napoleon Bonaparte – Farewell to the Old Guard, April 20, 1814
• Napoleon Bonaparte – Second abdication, June 22, 1815 (see Abdication of Napoleon, 1815)
• Robert E. Lee – Lee's Farewell Address to the Army of Northern Virginia the day after the end of the American Civil War
• Douglas MacArthur – farewell speeches before Congress and U.S. Military Academy; "old soldiers never die, they only fade away" and "duty, honor, country".

References

1.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Apobatedion". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 115.
2. "Barack Obama's Farewell Address and 6 Other Memorable Presidential Goodbyes". Time. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
3. "Remarks by President Trump In Farewell Address to the Nation". The White House. Retrieved January 20, 2021.