Final Letter: Trump Tight-Lipped On Message To Biden

KEY POINTS

The letter-writing tradition began with Ronald Reagan
It’s one of the few traditions Trump honored in the transfer of power
Joe Biden became president shortly before noon local time on Wednesday

In something of a surprise turn, former President Donald Trump left a note to his successor before departing the White House on Wednesday.

The transition of power from Trump to President Joe Biden has been anything but traditional. But one tradition remained; a note was left for the incoming president. White House spokesman Judd Deere told USA Today the content of the letter remains between the two leaders.

"It’s a letter between 45 and 46," Deere said, referring to the respective presidential terms.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who attended Wednesday's inauguration ceremony, also left a letter to his successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.

According to Fox News, the letter tradition began when former President Ronald Reagan concluded his two terms in office with a letter to his successor and his vice president, George H. W. Bush. Handwritten on stationary with the phrase “Don’t let the turkeys get you down,” Reagan remarked on the eight years spent with Bush.

“You'll have moments when you want to use this particular stationary,” Reagan wrote. “Well, go to it.”

“I'm not a very good one to give advice, but just don't let the critics discourage you or push you off course,” George H. W. Bush wrote to Bill Clinton.

To President George W. Bush, Clinton said the burdens of the office “are great but often exaggerated," adding, "The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible.”

“There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your 'friends' will disappoint you,” a then-outgoing President Bush told Barack Obama. “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.”

And finally, after two terms in office, Obama welcomed Trump, a real estate tycoon and reality TV star with no experience in public office, to the White House in 2017. Reminding him they are "just temporary occupants," Obama wrote, “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.”

President Biden took the oath of office shortly before noon EST to become the 46^th president of the United States. As for the former president, deflated by a long fight against his loss, Trump did not attend the inaugural ceremony, a first since Andrew Johnson skipped out on the event in 1869.