devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant, that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of a proper object which is always a choice of difficulty ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it. and for a spirit of acquiescence and the measures for obtaining revenue which the public e exigencies may generate. observe good faith and justice towards all nations, cultivate peace and harmony with all. religion and morality enjoin this conduct and can it be that good policy cannot enjoin it? live of a free and enlightened at no distant period a great nation to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and

benevolence. who can doubt the plan would repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it. can it be that providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? the experiment at least is recommended by every sentiment which enobles human nature. alas, is it rendered impossible by its vices? in the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential that permanent and veterate antithesis against nations and passionate attachment for others should be excluded and that in place of them just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. the nation which indulges toward another an habitual

sadness to a slave to animosity or affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interests. antipathy against one another disposes more readily to insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage and be haughty when trifling occasions of dispute occur, hence, frequent collisions, obstinate and venom and bloody contests, the nation prompted by ill will and resentment sometimes impels toward the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. the government sometimes participates in the national propensity and adopts through passion what reason would reject. at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition and other sinister and pernicious motives.

the peace often sometimes prance the liberty of nations has been the victim. likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no common interest exists and infusing into one the enmities of another persuade the other into participant and quarrels without adequate inducements or jifktss. it also leads to concessions to the favorite nation, of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained and exciteing

jealousy, ill-will and the disposition to retaliate equal positions with held. and it gives to ambitious or corrupted citizens which devote themselves to the favorite nation, sacrifice the you own country, gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation a commend able deference for public opinion or a laudable zeal for public good the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption or infatuation. as avenues to foreign influence ininnumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to enlightened and independent patriot. how many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions? to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils?

such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be a satellite of the latter. against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, i conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens, the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of foreign government. but that jealousy to be useful must be impartial. elst it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided instead of a defense against it. excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike for another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side. and serve to vaeil and even second the arts of the other. real patriots who may resist the

intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests. the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible. so far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. here let us stop. europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or very remote relation, hence, she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. hence, therefore, it must be unwise on us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties and the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. if we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injuries from external annoyance, when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected when belligerent nations under the possibility of making acquisitions upon us will not likely hazard the giving us provocation. when we may choose peace or war as our interests guided by justice shall counsel. why forgo the advantages of so peculiar a situation? why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? why by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of europe entangle our peace and

prosperity in the toils of european ambition, rivalship, interests, humor or caprice? it's our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world. so far i mean as we're now at liberty to do it. for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. i hold the maxim no less applicable to public than private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. i repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense, but in my opinion it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture we may safely trust temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

harmony and a liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. but even our commercial policy should told an equal and impartial hand, neither seeking or granting exclusive favors or preferences, consulting the natural course of things, diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce but forcing nothing. establishing with powers so disposed in order to give trade a stable course to define the rights of our merchants and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit. but temporary. and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate, constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another.

that it must pay with a portion of its independence, for whatever it may accept under that character, that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalence for nominal favors and yet of being reproached for with ingratitude for not giving more. there can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. it is an illusion which experience must cure which a just pride ought to discard. in offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend i dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression that i could wish, that they will control the usual current of the passions or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. but if i may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some

occasional good, that they may now and then recur to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism, this hope will be full recommend come recompense for the solicitude for your welfare which they have been dictated. how far in the discharge of my official duties i have been guided by the principles which have been delineated the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. to myself, the assurance of my own conscience is that i have at least believed myself to be guided by them. in relation to the still subsisting war in europe, my proclamation of the 22nd of april 1793 is the index to my plan. sanctioned by your approvaling voice and that of your representatives in both houses

of congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me influenced by attempts to deter or divert me from it. after deliberate examination with the aid of the best lights i could obtain, i was well satisfied that our country under all of the circumstances of the case had a right to take and was bound in duty and interest to take a neutral position. having taken it, i determined as far as should depend upon me to maintain it with moderation, perseverance and firmness. the considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct is not necessary on this occasion to detail. i will only observe that according to my understanding of the matter, that right so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers has been virtually admitted by all. the duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred without anything more from the obligation which justice and

humanity impose on every nation in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate relations peace towards other nations. the inducements for observing that conduct will best be preferred to your own reflections and experience. with me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country, to settle and mature its yet recent institutions and progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it humanly speaking the command of its own fortunes. though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, i'm unconscious of intentional error, i'm nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that i may have committed many errors. whatever they may be, i fervently beseech the almighty to avert or mitigate the evils

to which they may tend. i shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence and that after 45 years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. relying on its kindness, in this as in other things and actuated by that fervent love towards it which is so natural to a man which views it of the native voil of its pro-jene echlpro-je nch pro-j pro-jenatora, i anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which i promise myself realize the sweet enjoyment of partaking in the midst of my fellow citizens the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart and the happy reward as i trust of our mutual

cares, labors and dangers. george washington, united states 17th, september, 1796. >> there's a new website for american history tv where you can find our schedules and previewer our upcoming programs. access ah-tv's tweet, history in the news and social media. follow american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span3 and online at c-sp c-span.org.history. >> we recently visited little rock. the learn more about little rock all weekend long on american history tv. douglas macarthur was

arguably one of the most influential military figures in our country's history, and we're actually -- we're filming in the birthplace of douglas macarthur in arkansas. macarthur's father, arthur macarthur, captain arthur macarthur was in the u.s. military following his service in the civil war and actually came to little rock, arkansas, in 1959 and spent about 18 months here serving at the arsenal that existed on the site where our building is located. he brought with him to little rock his wife and two sons and they actually lived in this building we're in in apartments that were contained this this structure. and in the following january 26th, 1880, douglas was born here and spent his first six months in this building. six months after his birth, his father was transferred outside of arkansas and he only came back to arkansas one time in

his life in 1952 when he was 72 years of age. during that return visit in 1952, here on these grounds, for the first time publicly, he acknowledged in a speech to 10,000 people that he was returning to the place of his birth. and for us that's a very significant part of our site's history, our building's history. and we embrace macarthur's connection and proudly include him in the name of our museum. 1952 was a very pivotal point in macarthur's career. in fact, that brings us to this room that we're standing right now. in april of 1951, after a very lengthy military service that spanned three worldwide conflicts, world war i, world war ii and korea, macarthur was abruptly relieved of command of the united nations forces in korea by president harry s. truman. i think it's important for us to consider that the korean

conflict occurred just five years after the end of world war ii and that was a conflict that had spanned all over our globe. millions of people had died. lives had been uprooted and affected by it. and then here we were five years later, you know, getting into another conflict. for americans, it was in a country that most people in america had no idea where it was. and the united nations forces were led by general macarthur, and he disagreed with the way the war's been conducted and made his disagreement, made his disagreements with the president public and because of that president truman decided he needed to relieve him of command and bring him home. >> it is of the deepest personal regret that i find myself compelled to take this action. general macarthur is one of our greatest military commanders but the cause of world peace is much more important than any individual. >> at the time, macarthur was held as a hero.

he returned to this country after a very lengthy absence and was round ly received by parades on tes coast and on the east coast, he addressed a joint session of congress. >> mr. president, mr. speaker, and distinguished members of the congress, i stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride. >> and, as i said, he was welcomed as a hero. but the issues that have been examined since that time i think transcend even the korean war. the issue of civilian control, of the military, of the issue of the containment of communism and why we were fighting in korea, and for i think an overlooked issue and that is the issue of the conduct of a limited war versus the conduct of a total

war, which i think really is the crux of what macarthur's dilemma was in fighting the korean conflict. if you look at the way wars have been fought from world war ii prior to that time, the basic philosophy was simply this, the politicians get us into a war. they send the military figures in to fight the war. the objective is to destroy your enemy, and then the politicians negotiate peace, and then you try to return to normal. and that's what happened in most of the wars up through the end of world war ii, but the advent of nuclear weaponry totally changed the way that warfare could be conducted, because if you went into a conflict with the goal of totally annihilating your enemy, with the use of nuclear bombs, you would not only destroy them, but you could also destroy yourselves and our entire population. and so the idea of the way that wars had traditionally been

fought was changing, what evolving and for someone like macarthur, who in 1950, he was 70 years old, and you have to understand that macarthur had been trained in the military tactics of west point back in the early 1900s. and the tactics that he been trained on how to fight a war worked in world war i, they worked in world war ii, but with korea, he was having to work under constraints that went totally against how he had been trained but yet the realities of having to conduct a limited war dictated you could not totally go against and throw everything you had, all your arsenal of weapons, against your enemy. you have to correct macarthur for believing in his principles to the point that he was willing to sacrifice his military career for those principles. he had been taught all of his life, from his father being a military man to his military service that you obeyed your commander in chief.

and here he was going public with his disagreements with his commanding chief. and many would feel that he did so because he felt like his point was so right that he was willing to sacrifice his career, which he ultimately did. truman fired him, brought him home, and the war continued on until its conclusion a few years later. now, we today have the benefit of hindsight and there are people today who would argue that had macarthur been allowed to pursue the war as aggressively as he wished, to go on in and invade china, that we would not be seeing the geopolitical influences that are there today between north and south korea. but you have to remember at the time that all this was occurring, five years after the end of world war ii, and was this country, was the world ready to go into another potentially worldwide conflict over north and south korea?

>> since i took the oath on the plane at west point and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but i still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day, which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die, they just fade away, and like the old soldier of that ballad, i now close my military career and just fade away. an old soldier who tried to do his duty as god gave him the

light to see that duty. good-bye. [ applause ] all weekend long american history tv is featuring little rock, arkansas. learn more about little rock and find out where c-span's local content vehicles are going next online at c-span.org/localcontent. you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span 3. this monday watch american history tv in prime time on c-span 3 with a look at the 34th president, dwight david eisenhower. at 8:00 a.m. architect gang fehry on his design of the eisenhower memorial then susan eisenhower expressing her opposition to that design. at 10:30 p.m., an archival film about president eisenhower produced by the u.s. army.

between 1861 and 1868, clara barton, known as the angel of the battlefield and founder of the american red cross lived in this washington, d.c. building. she employed 12 clerks on the third floor in her missing soldiers office where they received over 60,000 letters from families searching for lost sons and husbands. in 1996 richard lyons, a carpenter for the general services administration, was helping to prepare the building for demolition when he discovered this office sign in the attic. american history tv visited the building on seventh street to learn about the missing soldier's office and to hear the story of richard lyons, who worked alone for months to save the building from demolition. >> this is the original staircase that clara used that has never been

renovated or changed at all. just a few repairs done it. so when you walk up the staircase and put your hand on the banister, you're walking in clara barton's footsteps. she did this for about eight years during the civil war era and just after when she operated a missing soldier's office in this space and eventually she ended up leaving because her health became so poor, and she was so exhausted from the work she had done during the waat couldn't find these three sets of stairs anymore. so she ended up moving out late in december of 1868. and that's pretty much when she closed down her operations here in washington. one of the neat things we found in the space was a roll of missing men. clara had five of these produced during the war. and sent out almost 100,000 copies and we only know of a handful in existence today.

so one of the goals of my museum is to find copies of each role, 1 through 5, so we can show people exactly all the names and exactly what kind of work she was doing during that period of time. she started out in just one room. and i read an account from one of her family members who visited her here who said she had one room. she divided that room in half because she started to collect supplies for soldiers and she needed so much space that she put this wall up you see in the background. half was for supplies. the other half for a living space. it was really small for that time. the last time we know anyone inhabited this space was in 1911. that's when the original edward shaw moved out of the building. he had gotten to be rather elderly and he went -- left this

building and moved in some smaller space. i'm not sure where yet. he's one of the very intriguing personalities that we're researching right now to find out exactly what his role was, his relationship with clara barton. >> my name is richard. i work for the general service administration as a carpenter. in 1996 they sent us out to the buildings that we acquired from the pennsylvania avenue development corporation to clean them up, make sure nobody was living in them. it was the day before thanksgiving in '96. i made my way up the steps. i got up here. just nothing in here. no lights. no nothing. only a little bit of light coming through the windows. i came over here and looked around. and nothing was here.

so i happened to witness -- you don't usually witness one. but i witnessed an accident out here in the intersection. someone ran a red light and bumped fenders and i'm standing here watching to see what happens. from out of nowhere, don't know what it was but it felt like somebody tapped me on the shoulder. i thought it was a co-worker. i turned around and wasn't nobody there. so when i turned back around to look out the window i turned around like this and the corner of my eye i seen an envelope hanging between the ceiling and the wall. these boards were laid out like a floor up there all levelled off and everything. i pulled myself up through this little hole and on my hands and knees, and i put my hand on a piece of metal so i pick it up and move it out of the way. and when i turned it over, it's got missing soldiers office.