WASHINGTON (AP) — The farewell address President Barack Obama plans to deliver Tuesday will continue a tradition established by the nation's first president more than two centuries ago.
In a 32-page, handwritten address after eight years in office, George Washington used his parting remarks to urge Americans to see themselves as a cohesive unit and to avoid political parties. He also warned of attachments and entanglements with other nations. Washington's address was printed in Philadelphia's American Daily Advertiser on Sept. 19, 1796, nearly six months before he left office.
Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president, also published a farewell, in 1837.
But it wasn't until Harry Truman's televised goodbye from the Oval Office late on Jan. 15, 1953, that such an address became standard for presidents.
Every president since then, with John F. Kennedy being the notable exception, has given one.
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Obama is sticking to tradition, in most ways but one. He plans to leave the Oval Office behind in favor of addressing the public one final time from his adopted hometown of Chicago.
Here are some questions and answers about presidential farewell speeches.
