It’s a long tradition for a departing president to leave a letter in the Oval Office for his successor to discover and read.
The Washington Post, this week, looked at that tradition and listed some memorable moments from it. It appears to have started in 1989 with Ronald Reagan, who left a note to his vice president and successor, George H.W. Bush.
“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,” Bush wrote four years later to his successor, Bill Clinton. Eight years after that, it was Clinton’s turn to write such a letter to his successor, Bush’s son George W. Bush.
Full contents of Oval Office letter Biden left for Trump revealed https://t.co/zfkWvh5KoO pic.twitter.com/LG1JRqVWZr
— New York Post (@nypost) January 22, 2025
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“You lead a proud, decent, good people. And from this day you are President of all of us. I salute you and wish you success and much happiness,” the 42nd president wrote to the 43rd.
The tradition has continued from Bush to Obama and Obama to Trump. Four years ago, even though Donald Trump denied that he had lost the election to Joe Biden, Biden confirmed that he received such a letter, although he has never released its contents.
The contents of Biden’s letter to Trump, left in the Oval Office this week, have been released, per the New York Post.
“Dear President Trump, As I take leave of this sacred office, I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people — and people around the world — look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation,” the letter from Biden said.
“May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding,” the letter said. It was signed and dated January 20.
Trump could be seen holding the envelope that day, telling reporters it was “inspirational.” The AP had reported that Trump only found the letter after a reporter reminded him of the tradition and reminded him to look for it.
Featured image via screengrab
