feldbum
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2338
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How a peaceful transition of power should work.
President George H.W. Bush's letter to Bill Clinton upon the latter's taking office.
Oct 20, 2016 12:48 PM
feldbum
76521
2338
80
President George H.W. Bush's letter to Bill Clinton upon the latter's taking office.
kevinUnityClicker
Didn't the Clintons dtel the furniture?
ISayFuckAllTheTime
I wish modern politicians had this kind of class and maturity
lungbudda
You reposted this the same day?
ASimpleImgurAccount
I think Eisenhower actually gave Kennedy a tour.
tentaclefriendly
It was a different time. We can get there again.
tipdub
:)
rainbowunicornsocks
This is beautiful. I hope we can get back to this level of respect at some point.
MikeTornado
That's class. That's what a president should sound like. Much respect.
singlewhitemutant
Trump will never figure into this equation of power.
Eunoterp
Now read the first word in every other line.
lenomdeplume
Trump is a cancer on our society. After he loses this election, he (and his surrogates) should be beaten from the Country.
OliverKlosof
*proceeds to get blow job under desk.*
ilikeblondehair
I'm not going to make a judgement on election rigging yet, seems to be evidence for it, if you want to look for yourselves I'll post links
HecticHero
the way the Clintons treated George W. Bush when they left the white house was horrible
Leefly
Clinton removed all the W's from keyboards http://mobile.nytimes.com/2002/06/12/us/white-house-vandalized-in-transition-gao-finds.html
iamdawalrus
There's a great book called The Presidents Club that talks about how former and current presidents got along its a great read
yasinyoyo
Same here!
lenomdeplume
Thanks, I'll read it!
DCComicsMan
"Also, Bill, careful of the interns! They're a frisky bunch!"
thepu55ydestr0yr
I've read somewhere that the Bushes or someone once tried to overthrow the government sometime in the 20th century.
gifOfSamRockwellDancing
Say what you will about them politically, but the Bushes seem like good people.
PresidentProTempore
I would say suth'n charm, but they're all from tge northeast.
PresidentProTempore
The*
xenwall
There's even a semicolon in there! Impressive.
shoeboxwarrior
This is good. This is right.
jday5
What would obamas note say to trump?
TamponShotgun
"Lol peace out sucker I'm heading to Canada."
packasmacks
"Good luck cleaning up the mess I left"
Kastegris
Don't screw up Mr. President
ostrig
"Get out Hillary lives here there's a fence for a reason"
waylandertheslayer
Juanita, the IT lady, has the Wi-Fi password. Just ask her politely! -Obama
kingofamerica
And then when Bill left it was, "Grab the artwork, pardon everyone, don't wake the Chinese in the Lincoln Bedroom and break all the W keys!"
AutomaticBzooty
It's just a prank bro!
prfesser
Yeah, but...to be fair...Shrub was incoming.
TheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia
Except that never happened.
ShieldAnvil1
Except it did, he took art, he pardon a lot of people at the last moment, he let china walk all over him, and did 15,000 in damage to the WH
kingofamerica
Yes it did. The only thing even disputed was the W keys. They took $190K worth of furniture, rugs, TVs, art, flatware, & returned ~$114K.
BrownskinOriental
Obama hopefully isn't our last president who practices civility when engaging the opposing party. His relationship with Bush Jr. and Boehner
confanity
Clearly Clinton is also going to. Her campaign has extended lots of branches to allow sane GOP members to escape the Trump implosion zone.
BrownskinOriental
Is quite admirable in our current political climate.
cogs
It should be noted that the letter from the departing President is a tradition going back quite some time. (1/2)
cogs
The only President not to have left a letter for his successor (in my lifetime) was JFK. What a jerk. (2/2)
Spinnnnn
IKR, made a complete mess of the limo on his last day in office too.
mikeatike
This is more impressive considering Clinton defeated Bush to get into office.
ThreeDimesDown
and a rather humiliating defeat, at that. Makes this much more amazing.
Redeyer
mikeatike
Haha, nice.
KilroyLichking
Didn't they chisel all of the "W's "of things and rearrange door number placards so the incoming staffers would get lost...?
mikeatike
This is the other Bush.
KilroyLichking
Thats what i was asking. When the Clintons left office, did they play a whole bunch of pranks on the incoming staff for GW
mikeatike
Maybe, but that has nothing to do with this letter. Also there have been a lot of good Clinton/Bush charity events they did together.
Cheomesh
How did that happen, anyways? He has one term, which seems to be the exception.
SnarkyScience
I don't think he really wanted to win.
FourFiveFire
Reneged on 'no new taxes' and then a recession with a weak recovery.
mikeatike
The funny thing is that during the height of the Gulf War, Bush had one of the highest approval ratings. Then recession and "no new taxes"
mikeatike
if Ross Perot had not came in as a spoiler Bush might have won anyhow. But he was a professional and did not bitch about it.
pgdave
It's tough for one party to hold onto the Presidency for 16 years - people tend to think the gov. is a problem so they change it up.
FourFiveFire
The last sitting President to be defeated. That's crazy. Three 2 term Presidents in a row.
MyFetishIsLyingOnTheInternet
And I bet it stays at 3 come 2020
VognerCharking
I doubt it'll happen again no matter who wins. Clinton/Trump both see like 1 termers
SkibidibididobapdoDobamdoBadabwibababadaboBaba
If they last that long.
FourFiveFire
That's a good way to get put on an FBI watch list if I ever saw one.
LivelyRequiem
He meant impeached.
Piornet
OR - and hear me out - what if a candidate threatened to throw a temper tantrum and claim the election was rigged because he wasn't elected?
HecticHero
Not really what Trump did but OK
TaintedRains
Must be talking about Al Gore in 2000 when he brought it to the Senate and called GW the illegitimate President for 2 years?
Piornet
I love how when anyone says anything negative of Trump you supporters have to find something to twist to say ITS OK CUZ OTHER PEOPLE DO IT!
kspz
It's not that it's okay, it's that liberals are being hypocritical on things like the above.
DMGuy
You mean the time that one guy actually won the popular vote, and the entire election hung on a single state where there was significant (1)
DMGuy
controversy surrounding the nature of the ballots, to the point where it wasn't actually clear who had really won without a recount? But (2)
DMGuy
might just choose not to accept the results no matter how clear they are when he's already got a massive deficit in the polls. (4)
DMGuy
yep, TOTALLY the same thing as a man-child claiming everything is rigged against him before the country has even voted, and that he (3)
packasmacks
Or - and hear me out - what if there's actual voter fraud and extreme media bias going on?
TheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia
OR, what if there's not?
Piornet
packasmacks
Plenty of pretty damning evidence for anyone who cares to actually look.
TheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia
No, there's not. Bush administration investigated "voter fraud" for years and found nothing. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying.
packasmacks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY
packasmacks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDc8PVCvfKs
TomBrokaw
is any of it available on sites that don't rhyme with "blightfart"?
packasmacks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY
packasmacks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDc8PVCvfKs
WorldsSmallestMegaDick
Remember when the Clintons left?
dangermint
He left a drawer full of wadded up tissues.
TonyStarkWantsOne
Theyrrrre baaaaack!
oldelidog
Pepperidge Farms remembers.
LosPer
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/06/us/clintons-will-return-any-gifts-found-to-belong-to-white-house.html
craze
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/05/the-clinton-furniture-flap/ I am sure it was a misunderstanding.
LosPer
Didn't they steal a bunch of shit?
TheRenegadeSpud
Yup. Well, it was really Hillary for the most part. But nonetheless, yes.
LosPer
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/06/us/clintons-will-return-any-gifts-found-to-belong-to-white-house.html
FlightRisk3154
I'm was too young to remember or care, what happened?
myteetharedryyyyy
they removed all the w's from all the keyboards.
WorldsSmallestMegaDick
They stole a bunch of shit and vandalized the white house.
Cheomesh
Vandalized?
TheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia
There was a story that WH staff pried the "w" keys off the computers. It was later shown to be false.
TheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia
That's an urban legend that needs to die. It never happened.
Agandau
Not according to the New York Times and the GAO: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/12/us/white-house-vandalized-in-transition-gao-finds.html
terkerjerbs
Remind me of how Al Gore acted when he lost to George Bush?
failsafe
There's a stark distinction between challenging a 600 vote difference in one state AFTER an election and claiming the whole system is rigged
eusebiusnicomidea
Not really related as this is that Bush's father.
terkerjerbs
His post is a dig at how trump is skeptical of the system and doesn't know if he will accept the results
eusebiusnicomidea
Ahh I didn't see the debate so I missed the foolishness.
terkerjerbs
Trump was asked if he would accept the outcome, and he said he will see when the results come in. I understand both sides of the argument
eusebiusnicomidea
Ahh, thanks for the heads up and the civility.
jsktrogdor
You mean when the Supreme Court intervened to make Bush President after his brother illegally purged voter rolls of minorities in Florida?
terkerjerbs
I'm not going to refute that because I didn't follow that election closely, but the corruption in this one should allow for his skepticism
TamponShotgun
That came out after the election was over and he had proof of wrongdoing. Trump has zero proof and still thinks its rigged.
terkerjerbs
So you think the videos of the DNC saying they're rigging the election are fake?
failsafe
Are you speaking of the O'keefe video? The one that's cut and pasted? If it's so damming why wouldn't he release the whole thing?
Cheomesh
I thought we were over that conspiracy theory?
jsktrogdor
Not a conspiracy. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jun/06/uselections2000.usa
Cheomesh
Uh huh.
ostrig
Yes, he complained but accepted the result.
terkerjerbs
And asked for a recount
ostrig
Yep, that's what you should do. He said bush won officially good for him now recount. Bush didn't win Florida. He let him be pres.
terkerjerbs
And why is it not okay for trump to be skeptical of this one? Hillary is the most corrupt person to ever run for president
TheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia
There had already been an election in 2000! And it was close! Trump is bitching before a single vote has been counted.
somethingaboutTV
Gore won the popular vote. He just didn't win Florida, which was extremely close. Do you really not see a big difference in these scenarios?
aCoolBreezeOnAHotSummerDay
And that's all Trump would do too. If there is evidence of fraud it should be looked at don't you think?
TamponShotgun
If memory serves correctly, Gore didn't say "the election is rigged" before the election was even happening.
ostrig
He says he won't accept results. He wants his supports to do voter suppression. His surrogate said riot. This is dangerous talk.
leetzeke
He did not say that at all. He said i don't know we will have to wait till the election. And in his case when Hilary just got caught
leetzeke
Paying people to cause mini riots in his rallies.
aCoolBreezeOnAHotSummerDay
He didn't say that. He said we'll wait & see. Al Gore didn't accept the results in 2000. Trump is acting the same way.
ostrig
Gore asked for recount then went home. He didn't whine beforehand, and he denounced violence.
celebratorygunfire
I don't think we really appreciated what a class act Bush Senior was.
IRipTheBiggestFartsOnMyWifeInBed
But he was white
SenatorHillaryIAmStillInTheRaceClinton
He's a truly great American. His son on the other hand was elected because of his last name. Sound familiar?
madetheaccountjustforyou
Dude was head of the CIA. There's no chance he wasn't a monster deep down.
MetaVulture
Implying that everyone who protects the country through intelligence and counter intelligence is a monster?
madetheaccountjustforyou
You know how I know you've never looked at the history of the US?
letsnotandsaywemight
Unreal this is the top comment and contrarians are downvoted. Head of the CIA, teamed up with Cheney/Rumsfeld, wth is wrong with you people?
sam1tahsin
Almost a spotless record except for https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-24-2014/8sxTW4.gif
APlantCell
You forgot
BennyBean1
Holy Jesus, learn your history, man. Wrong Bush, numbnuts...
APlantCell
It's the whole family nigga the loominat built the first 7/11 in team with the bush 1866 learn your history assfag.
hobolaw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush_vomiting_incident
effarydi
I think trump and clinton make most past presidents look better, if not actually pretty good, in hindsight. Silver lining maybe.
oxide454
Jimmy Carter still looks terrible
celebratorygunfire
This is exactly the case.
celebratorygunfire
For example, if Romney were on the Republican ticket, he'd get my vote, even though I thought he was a neo-con drone in 2012.
BALKatalo
So you want another George Bush who was just there for prestige? Pretty irreconcilable. But then again my opinion of people drops every day.
celebratorygunfire
That's not what I said.
BALKatalo
You said a puppet for the neocons is a better president than Hillary Clinton. I lack the character space or the crayons to explain this.
thesplashingblumpkins
He's still alive for anyone reading this and assuming he had died
MrGnosticninja
He was a reptile. It is known
Zaranthan
celebratorygunfire
Aren't they all?
theyar
I remember him for how plain spoken he was. He was the last president that talked to reporters like he was just having a normal chat.
ShieldAnvil1
So did bush jr.
jsktrogdor
All presidents do this. It's tradition to leave a letter for the next president in the desk drawer.
BedBatmanBeyond
Preparing three envelopes?
celebratorygunfire
I wasn't implying otherwise.
FourFiveFire
Sure, but a deeply personal and genuine note is not necessarily required. A note filled with Hallmark well wishes would be easier.
azazyel
One of my favorite Republican Presidents. Got us into a war and then got us out, he did what he thought was best for country, not party.
dekket
Practically unheard of these days.
CowboyScientist
Well said. Thank you, @azazyel.
azazyel
He also warned us about Reagan's "Voodoo Economics"
Samagon
Which is why he only lasted one term.
maxxra
That would be Mr Perot's fault.
azazyel
Not really http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ross-perot-myth-reborn-amid-rumors-third-party-trump-candidacy
2wired
Yea... except no. Its great that he "got US out of a war", but a lot of non-US civilians died, for a bullshit reason, and his son continued
ARandomHelljumper
"Bullshit reason"? Do you America haters even think anymore? Please, look up the Gulf War for the first time in your life.
CthuluIsMyHomie
That one wasn't BS, you can tell bc the parts of the Middle East not called Iran actively took part, not just as a staging ground.
bohemiancrabcity
Liberating a wrongly invaded counrty after several attempts at a diplomatic solution is a bullshit reason?
2wired
Yea yea yea and WW1 started because EVERYONE really loved Archduke Ferdinand.
ARandomHelljumper
bohemiancrabcity
Wut? Not even a semi close comparison.
BALKatalo
He practically invented dirty politics. Don't let the guise fool you. Lee Atwater. John McCain's black baby. He is the original prick.
HighrockTendales
http://www.theonion.com/article/only-news-source-man-trusts-has-logo-eyeball-cross-53106
BALKatalo
Do some reading you damn kids. The things Atwater did to get Bush his two terms are the first steps towards deplorable.
FloodingWaters
A. no he didn't invent dirty politics. Cavemen invented dirty politics. B. Bush Sr served 1 term. are you thinking Jr?
BALKatalo
My bad. He did lose. But in the modern era this man he befriended and made his campaign manager was a forerunner of personal attacks.
FloodingWaters
In literally the first contested election, Jefferson tried to blame the violence of the french revolution on Adams.
FloodingWaters
Even if we restrict the discussion to American politics, Washington won the 1st 2 elections unopposed. The dirty politics started on the 3rd
FloodingWaters
a forerunner of personal attacks? does your knowledge of history only include the current Millennium? there's been others, ya know.
IWasInThePool
Do some reading you damn @BALKatalo. Bush served only one term and "McCain's black baby" was the younger, not the elder Bush.
BALKatalo
Yeah, he gave this man a platform in the national stage, dividing his party further and creating the brand of cut throat GOP advisors today.
IWasInThePool
3) criticized "Daisy" ad. If the worst thing George H.W. Bush did was hire Lee Atwater who aired the Willie Horton ad, then he's one of the
IWasInThePool
4) cleaner politicians.
IWasInThePool
2) Muskie supporters to call voters late at night and harass them, claiming they'd been bused in from Harlem. LBJ played the widely
IWasInThePool
1) He didn't create anything. Dirt has been a part of politics forever. Reagan had states rights and welfare queens. Nixon staffers paid
BALKatalo
Of course there has always been divisive rhetoric and push polling and negative ads. But personal slander is something else to my mind.