In keeping with the tradition begun only 20 years ago when Ronald Reagan left behind a note for incoming President George H.W. Bush, outgoing 43rd President George W. Bush left a personal message for his successor, sealed in an envelope and placed in the top drawer of the Oval Office’s ‘Resolute Desk’.
President Obama reportedly opened the message, intended to be a private, personal one, while he was alone in the Oval Office preparing for his first full workday as Chief Executive.
Today, perhaps bowing to criticism that he had violated his earlier promise that this administration will be the most transparent to date by limiting media access to his totally meaningless and redundant ‘re-swearing in’ by Chief Justice Roberts, the President made public the contents of that envelope, a copy of which appears below.
In a brief ceremony which took place just after the President’s daily briefings on national security and the economy and just before his daily swearing-in, President Obama had only words of praise for former President Bush:
“His note was a friendly, personal gesture which he obviously put a great deal of his own thought and effort into. Nobody did this for him — it came from his heart. For that reason, I will treasure it always.”
He added that he has ordered the original to be affixed (by magnet) to the White House refrigerator where it will remain on display for an as yet undetermined period of time.
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