1793 State of the Union Address

The 1793 State of the Union Address was given by George Washington, the first President of the United States. It was given in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Congress Hall. Washington stood before the United States Congress on December 3, 1793, and said, "While on the one hand it awakened my gratitude for all those instances of affectionate partiality with which I have been honored by my country, on the other it could not prevent an earnest wish for that retirement from which no private consideration should ever have torn me." He ended with, "Permit me to bring to your remembrance the magnitude of your task. Without an unprejudiced coolness the welfare of the Government may be hazarded; without harmony as far as consists with freedom of sentiment its dignity may be lost."