Barack Obama in Team of Five, by Kate Brower


On Foreign Policy: Obama to Trump: be kind, sustain international order

The tradition of the departing president's leaving a note for his successor is relatively new. Reagan started the custom: "Don't let the turkeys get you down" was [accompanied by] a cartoon depicting a crowd of turkeys trying to pull down an elephant, the symbol of the Republican Party. Bush's 1993 letter to Clinton: "There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair.. Your success is our country's success. I am rooting hard for you."

Obama's note warned Trump to "sustain the international order." He asked Trump to be kind, a request found in no other letters between presidents. "We've both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune," Obama wrote. "Not everyone is so lucky. It's up to us to do everything we can [to] build more ladders of success for every child and family that's willing to work hard." He ended the letter by wishing Trump and Melania, good luck and offering "to help in any ways which we can."

Source: Team of Five, by Kate Andersen Brower Apr 21, 2020

The above quotations are from Team of Five
The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump
by Kate Andersen Brower.
Click here for other excerpts from Team of Five
The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump
by Kate Andersen Brower.
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Page last updated: Mar 16, 2021