Former President Donald Trump had an unprecedented final few weeks in office. On Jan. 6, 2021, he was accused of inciting violence after his followers stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving five people dead.
Trump said to his followers before the riot, “We are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we are probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you will never take back our country with weakness,” according to CNN.
Following this, Trump became the first president to be impeached not once but twice, according to The Guardian. He was also banned from Twitter, his favorite mode of communication, as well as several other social media platforms. This wasn’t the end of it: Trump then did not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021.
Trump is the first president since President Richard Nixon to refuse to attend the inauguration of his successor, and makes one of seven presidents who did not attend the traditional ceremony, according to another publication by The Guardian.
Despite this continuous breach in tradition, Trump did follow one tradition upon leaving the White House. Here’s the scoop on that.
Trump left a private letter to Biden
President Donald Trump departed Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, 2021 to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” according to Newsweek, and nothing could have been more accurate. While Trump infuriated or awed (or both, depending on one’s political affiliation) by the way he resisted tradition, he did decide to follow through with one presidential tradition by leaving President Joe Biden a note.
Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, confirmed that Trump left a note for Biden, according to USA Today. When asked what the letter said, Deere simply stated, “It’s a letter between 45 and 46.”
Trump didn’t leave it in the Oval Office, the New York Post tells us. Instead, he handed it to a White House aide around 8 a.m. before flying off into the sunset (well, in this case, sunrise) to the sassy message of Frank Sinatra.
While we don’t know what Trump’s message to Biden said, we do know what previous presidents have written to each other, and the notes create a bipartisan masterpiece. Let’s take a moment to celebrate those.
What George H. W. Bush wrote to Bill Clinton
Perhaps one of the most beautiful presidential letters passed from one leader to the next came in 1993, when President George H.W. Bush wrote a letter to incoming President Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton shared the touching, handwritten letter in 2016 on Instagram, which read: “I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some presidents have described.”
Bush went on to write, “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…. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you,” Bush concluded.
In her caption, Clinton wrote about the significance of these presidential notes, saying of Bush and her husband: “They had just fought a fierce campaign. Bill won, President Bush lost. In a democracy, that’s how it goes. But when Bill walked into that office for the very first time as President, that note was waiting for him.” What a heartwarming piece of history. That’s not all, though; we also know what President Obama wrote to incoming President Donald Trump.
Obama left a remarkable letter to Trump
President Barack Obama carried on the tradition in 2017 when he turned over the White House to President Donald Trump, marking a turn from the 44th to the 45th.
Obama began his letter to Trump: “Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure,” according to CNN. “This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don’t know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful,” Obama continued. “Still, let me offer a few reflections from the past 8 years.”
Then Obama said something remarkable to Trump: “[W]e are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions – like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties – that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.” What a beautiful and dignified way to pass the torch.
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