IT is a long-standing tradition that sees outgoing Presidents write by hand heartfelt letters to their successors, with sage advice on how to handle the responsibilities of power and life in the White House. Now the world waits to see if Donald Trump will write to Joe Biden.
Who began it?
In 1989, Ronald Reagan wrote a note to George Bush on notepaper that was headed, “Don’t let the turkeys get you down”. It was a short letter, but warm in tone, saying: “Dear George, you’ll have moments when you want to use this particular stationery. Well, go to it. George, I treasure the memories we share and wish you all the very best. You’ll be in my prayers.”
Then Bush wrote to Bill Clinton?
Touching on the fact only a handful of people know what it is like to walk in presidential shoes, Bush said: “I never felt the loneliness some Presidents have described. There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. I’m not a very good one to give advice; but just don't let the critics discourage you or push you off course. You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.”
Clinton carried on the tradition?
In 2001, he wrote to George W Bush: “I salute you and wish you success and much happiness. The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible. My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed.”
In 2009?
Bush told Barack Obama that “very few have had the honour of knowing the responsibility you now feel”, adding: “There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your ‘friends' will disappoint you. But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me.”
Obama’s letter to Donald Trump was fairly specific?
Offering his congratulations, Obama advised his successor to remember "we are just temporary occupants of this office" and of the need to be mindful to leave the key “instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them”. He told him to lean on friends and family to get through the “rough patches” and added that he and his wife Michelle stood “ready to help in any ways which we can.”
It’s all about the peaceful transfer of power?
In Obama’s final note to the American public before he sat down to pen his letter to Trump, he said the handover letter is “meant to share what we know, what we've learned, and what small wisdom may help our successor bear the great responsibility that comes with the highest office in our land, and the leadership of the free world”.
Trump?
Convention demands it, but Trump has cried fraud at Biden’s win and the tradition may well now come to an end.
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