George Washington warned that political parties were dangerous “factions” that could divide the nation, weaken government, and let “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” grab power from the people.

What did George Washington say about political parties?

In his 1796 Farewell Address, Washington devoted a major section to warning Americans about the “spirit of party.” He had just watched early Federalists and Democratic-Republicans harden into rival camps and saw how quickly loyalty to party could override loyalty to country.

Some of his most cited ideas:

  • Political parties may sometimes act as a useful check, but they are like a fire that must be carefully controlled or they will burn out of control.
  • Parties “distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration,” stirring “ill‑founded jealousies and false alarms.”
  • They “kindle the animosity of one part against another” and can foment “riot and insurrection.”
  • They open “the door to foreign influence and corruption” by letting outside powers work through partisan passions.
  • Over time, the “alternate domination” of rival parties and revenge politics tends toward “a more formal and permanent despotism,” as people look for a single strongman to restore order.

One often-quoted line from summaries of the address captures his view: parties are “potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people.”

Why was he so worried?

Washington’s fears came from what he’d seen in the 1790s: bitter fights over the Constitution, the French Revolution, and treaties with Britain and Spain. He believed the new republic was fragile and could be torn apart if Americans sorted themselves into permanent, vengeful camps.

Key reasons for his concern:

  1. National unity first
    He thought the United States’ survival depended on a strong sense of shared identity across regions and interests. Parties, especially regional or interest‑based ones, could pit sections of the country against each other.
  1. Threat to checks and balances
    Washington worried that if one party controlled multiple branches, loyalty to party, not the Constitution, would dominate, weakening the separation of powers.
  1. Gateway to authoritarianism
    He feared that chaos and conflict created by parties would make people willing to accept “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” promising order, undermining republican government.

Did he think parties were always evil?

Washington admitted that in free countries, parties can sometimes serve as useful checks and help keep the “spirit of liberty” alive—within limits. But he believed the risks of excess partisanship were so great that citizens should constantly work, through public opinion and civic virtue, to restrain it.

He did not fully embrace the idea that organized parties could be a normal, constructive part of republican politics, even though most of his contemporaries eventually did. Today, scholars often note that Washington saw parties as almost entirely negative, while later political theory tried to channel them into more regulated, competitive institutions.

How people talk about it today

Modern commentators frequently say Washington’s warnings feel “prophetic” when looking at intense polarization, party‑line voting, and foreign actors exploiting partisan divisions. Many discussions argue that his core worry wasn’t just about having parties, but about putting party over country—turning politics into a zero-sum fight for power rather than a system for negotiating differences.

In simple terms: Washington didn’t say “no politics ever,” but he strongly warned that if Americans let party loyalty outrun constitutional principles and national unity, the very freedoms the parties claimed to defend could be lost.

TL;DR: Washington warned that political parties are powerful but dangerous tools: they can briefly help liberty, yet if left unchecked they divide the nation, invite corruption and foreign influence, and can pave the way to despotism.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.