Outgoing US President Joe Biden will be leaving behind a letter for his successor Donald Trump on Monday, carrying forward a unique tradition among outgoing presidents which was started by Ronald Reagan.
According to reports, Biden will be writing a letter to Trump in what would be a first in the 35-year-old letter-writing tradition — penning a note for the same successor, Donald Trump, who had left a letter for him as a predecessor four years back in 2020.
Even though the content of Trump’s handwritten letter to Biden remains unknown, the President-elect had told his inner circle that it was a “very generous” letter despite the acrimonious relationship both shared in run-up to the 2020 US elections.
Opening up on the letter he had written to Biden while leaving The Oval Office, Trump, in a television interview, called it a “nice note,” adding that he “took a lot of time in thinking about it.”
The tradition first started when Regan wrote a letter to his successor and fellow Republican, George H.W. Bush. It was his long-standing friendship with Bush, especially during his eight-year tenure as the US President, that prompted him to leave a note behind, news agency Associated Press reported.
Wishing Bush “all the very best,” Regan’s parting words in the letter were, “I’ll miss our Thursday lunches.”
The tradition has continued ever since, with Bush penning a letter for his successor, Bill Clinton, who, in turn, penned a letter for Bush’s son, George W.
George W. Bush subsequently left a note for Barack Obama, who carried forth the tradition with his successor Donald Trump in 2016.
