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 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.

Notable farewell speeches

• The speech of Aeneas to Helenus and Andromache, Aeneid, Book III.
• George Washington - Washington's Farewell Address where he warned of the dangers of political parties
• Dwight D. Eisenhower - Eisenhower's farewell address where he warned of military-industrial complex
• Douglas MacArthur - farewell speeches before Congress and U.S. Military Academy; "old soldiers never die, they only fade away" and "duty, honor, country"
• Robert E. Lee - Lee's Farewell Address to the Army of Northern Virginia the day after the end of the Civil War

References

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