Ronald Reagan began tradition of leaving letter to his successor in 1989 as he handed over power to George H.W. Bush. President Joe Biden has adhered to the tradition started by Ronald Reagan and left his successor, Donald Trump, a letter as he hands over power.
![[Biden confirmed that he wrote Trump a letter, but he didn’t say what he wrote to the 47th president]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/20/16/SEI236689158.jpg)
Reagan started the tradition in 1989 when he left a letter for his successor, his own Vice President George H.W. Bush. Since Bush, each handover has been from a member of one party to the other. Reagan wrote to H.W. Bush, “Don’t let the turkeys get you down,” including a drawing of turkeys climbing on an elephant.
![[Trump also adhered to the tradition, leaving Biden a letter even after his claims that the 2020 election was stolen]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/20/16/SEI236691921.jpg)
When it was time for George H.W. Bush to hand over to Bill Clinton following the 1992 election, H.W. Bush wrote, “Don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course.”. “You will be our President when you read this note,” he added. “I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. Good Luck.”.
“I thought it was vintage George Bush,” he added. “I thought he meant it, but I also thought he was trying to be a citizen in the highest sense of the word. It was profoundly moving to me personally.". When Clinton handed off to H.W. Bush’s son, George W. Bush, he wrote, “Today you embark on the greatest venture, with the greatest honor, that can come to an American citizen.”.
“Like me, you are especially fortunate to lead our country in a time of profound and largely positive change, when old questions, not just about the role of government, but about the very nature of our nation, must be answered anew,” Clinton added at the time. “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.”.
