To Be Prepared For War Is

Delivered on January 8, 1790, in Washington's first annual address to Congress — the shortest State of the Union on record at 1,089 words — delivered at Federal Hall in New York City. Washington, a former soldier who understood the dangers of relying on an under-funded militia, used the address to argue for establishing a standing army. The sentiment echoes the ancient Latin adage si vis pacem, para bellum ("if you want peace, prepare for war"), a principle Washington had absorbed from his military experience.