So, we know what Washington's goodbye address looks like, but what about his other addresses? Washington established the tradition of the State of the Union address during his presidency, although back then, of course, it wasn't televised.

How to Treat the Treaties

Since this speech was given about 10 months before the farewell address was published, it covers a lot of the same events of the day. For instance, when he talks about the Treaty of San Lorenzo, he says, "The latest advices from our envoy at the Court of Madrid give, moreover, the pleasing information that he had assurances of a speedy and satisfactory conclusion of his negotiation" (source).

The state of the Jay Treaty with Britain hasn't been fully completed though: "a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation has been negotiated with Great Britain, and that the Senate have advised and consented to its ratification upon a condition which excepts part of one article" (source).

Well, we know that one doesn't go quite according to anyone's wishes, except Britain's. At least George is trying to be optimistic.

He goes further and talks about other foreign policy issues that aren't really mentioned in the farewell address. Having recently finally paid the ransom for the remaining Americans that were held captive by Barbary pirates in Algiers for about eight years, Washington mentions "the expectation of a speedy peace and the resolution of our unfortunate fellow citizens from a grievous captivity" (source).

He also talks a lot about Native American tribes, such as those in the Ohio region, with whom there had been recent negotiations after "a long, expensive, and distressing war" (source). Apparently treaties with the Creek and Cherokee tribes in the South are in jeopardy because of "wanton murders" (source) that Georgians are blaming on those tribes. Interestingly, he doesn't mention relations with Native Americans at all in the farewell address.

In keeping with Washington's whole theme of "don't pick foreign favorites," in this address to Congress, he explains more fully why:

While many of the nations of Europe, with their American dependencies, have been involved in a contest unusually bloody, exhausting, and calamitous, in which the evils of foreign war have been aggravated by domestic convulsion and insurrection […] our favored country, happy in a striking contrast, has enjoyed tranquillity – a tranquillity the more satisfactory because maintained at the expense of no duty. Faithful to ourselves, we have violated no obligation to others. (Source)

See, guys? We're in such good shape because we aren't all mixed up in that war with all the Europeans.

Domestic Bliss?

Looking internally, Washington goes on about what great shape the United States is in with regard to domestic affairs. "Every part of the Union displays indications of rapid and various improvement," he claims, and he mentions how great it is that the "misled have abandoned their errors, and pay the respect to our Constitution and laws which is due from good citizens" (source). That must be a reference to the recent Whiskey Rebellion.

In reviewing America's military situation, Washington stresses the need to protect Native Americans from citizens of the United States, not just the reverse. Although he does say that "[t]o enforce upon the Indians the observance of justice it is indispensable that there shall be competent means of rendering justice to them," he also points out that "the provisions heretofore made with a view to the protection of the Indians from the violences of the lawless part of our frontier inhabitants are insufficient" (source).

Unlike later presidents, Washington seems willing to bring up the damage that his citizens are inflicting on Native Americans, although that doesn't stop him from wanting those Native Americans to be subject to the U.S. judicial system. You win some, you lose some.

(And then, eventually, if you're the Native Americans, you lose all of them, but that's a story for a different time.)

Washington's primary focus in this address to Congress is foreign policy, which is also a major focus of his farewell address nearly a year later. He doesn't go into the development of party politics, probably because he's addressing Congress directly and not the American people, but his emphasis on why neutrality is awesome kind of implies he's still trying to convince his audience that it is the right move.