Not every departing President has given a farewell speech, although it’s become a tradition in the modern era. When they do, they can vary from a speech to a joint session of Congress to a brief nationally televised address. And they’re not always given in Washington, DC.
Like Andrew Jackson's, George Washington’s farewell address was published in a newspaper. Jackson’s is the longest, at over 8,200 words, although it was Washington’s 6,000 word address that is most referenced by his successors and others. In it, he warned the nation against “entangling alliances.” It was prescient. Dwight Eisenhower’s Oval Office farewell may be a close second, with his warning of the consequences of a “military-industrial complex” also prophetic.
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In the modern era, since the end of World War II, we’ve seen 13, including Donald Trump, via a videotaped address four years ago. Barring the unforeseen, he’ll likely be the first President to give a farewell address twice. Do you think he’d pass up the opportunity? He’s also the first and only president since Grover Cleveland to be elected to non-consecutive terms.
John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and Franklin Roosevelt were tragically denied opportunities to give farewell addresses. And oddly, given his loquacious and lengthy annual State of the Union Addresses, Bill Clinton’s farewell is the shortest on record, as measured in words. It seems there’s a 116-year gap in presidential farewells, between Andrew Jackson’s in 1837 and Harry S. Truman’s in 1953, although I did find this one by Calvin Coolidge in February 1929. Andrew Johnson, a perpetual score-settling drunk supposedly wrote one, but it I’ve not been able to locate it. Like Trump, he refused to participate in the inauguration of his successor, Ulysses Grant.
I strongly recommend reading or listening Truman’s farewell address (I can’t find video). It is plain-spoken, direct, and transparent as he walks through the major events, as he sees them, during his nearly eight years as president. It read as a concise historical summary of the era without the usual bells and whistles of presidents of the modern era.
Barack Obama and George H. W. Bush chose to give theirs elsewhere: Obama in his hometown of Chicago, Bush at West Point. Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford decided to give theirs as a “State of the Union” Address before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber where each began their respective political careers.
Ronald Reagan’s soared rhetorically and was deeply personal. It was a victory lap following only the second time in American history since Jackson that a two-term President was succeeded by his vice president.
Richard Nixon’s address was more than a “farewell” address; he announced his resignation. One might argue that Nixon’s real farewell speech was the emotional and extemporaneous goodbye he gave in the East Room of the White House staff the following morning before he departed for San Clemente and gave way to the unelected Gerald Ford. I disagree, but it is amazingly genuine and heartfelt. Ford ascended to the Vice Presidency months earlier by congressional confirmation following the resignation of Spiro Agnew.
Joe Biden will give his Wednesday evening. It promises to be as delusional as many of his post-election comments about how he could have won reelection if he’d not dropped out to how “successful” he’s been.
Joe Biden’s presidency has been an abject failure, from massively increasing public debt by trillions of dollars, feeding 40-year high inflation amidst a massive growth in maxed-out credit cards for millions of Americans, foisting expensive and failed bureaucratic boondoggle after boondoggle, starting with the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, and embarrassing debacles and home and abroad. America has, in effect, subsidized both sides of the Israel vs. Hamas and Russia vs. Ukraine wars via financial support for Iran. And that doesn’t include the biggest scandal of his presidency. Not the pardon of his felonious and miscreant son, Hunter, but the well-documented four-year cover up of his diminishing mental faculties.
The legacy media is part and parcel of the corruption.
Don’t get me started on the Afghanistan debacle, one of the most shameful moments in modern American history and that began his inexorable slide to ignominy that concludes with shameful pardons of violent criminals on death row, and another one to his son. We may see a few more dubious pardons over the weekend.
If Biden had his wits about him and any sense of the reality of the moment, including his broken promise given moments after he was sworn in as the 46th President, in his forgettable and uninspiring inaugural address:
“Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this:
“Bringing America together.
“Uniting our people.
“And uniting our nation.”
This was a lie. It was always a lie, and re-reading the speech exposes an insincerity and vacuousness that is painfully obvious today. Biden would later fearmonger more than once in disparaging terms in front of ominous backdrops about patriotic Americans. Remember this gem, his infamous “Soul of the Nation” speech in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall weeks before the 2022 midterm election?
Yeah, that one. Unity!
In these last few days and hours of the Biden presidency, he can only do two things to salvage a little dignity as he heads back to Delaware. With his media accomplices ready to regurgitate, he can lie, distort, deflect, and obfuscate it, as his failure of a National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan continues to do by claiming “the United States is in a stronger, more secure position” than when they took office. Or, Biden can be brutally honest and cast his legacy upon the tender mercies of a forgiving people.
The odds of the latter are between zero and a hard place. I’m sorry about the mixed metaphors. The best way to summarize the Biden record is the largely preventable tragedy in Los Angeles County these past several days: a crisis of incompetence.
What follows is a rough draft of the speech I’d like to see and hear from Biden. We deserve it, but we won’t get it if only because the fact is, he’s too diminished and incapacitated to deliver much of anything than what the teleprompter and his third-rate staff tell him. If he delivered something like the following, he would earn newfound respect. He’ll earn even more respect if he breaks Bill Clinton’s record for brevity.
My fellow Americans,
Five days from now, I will join President-elect Trump at the Capitol and participate in one of the foundations and traditions of our great country—the peaceful transfer of power. This is an example of American exceptionalism, which makes stand out from so much of the world.
It has become a tradition for departing presidents to deliver final thoughts to the nation before leaving office. Thank you for giving me a few moments of your evening.
Like my predecessors, I am grateful to you, the American people, for giving me the honor of a lifetime to serve as your President. Jill and I are beyond thankful for your prayers and support.
The truth is, it hasn’t. We saw the highest inflation in forty years and mortgage interest rates in two decades. Inflation has come under control, but I know too many live on borrowed money and max-out credit cards to make ends meet. The White House website brags that new construction is up by double digits over my predecessor. But the reality is that the construction workers making these homes can’t afford to buy them.
Our economy has proven resilient despite regulatory growth and high unemployment. Job growth is strong, and I’m proud of that, but I have to be honest: Much of the job growth has been in government and is growing faster than jobs in the private sector.
I would love to say we have prosperity at home and peace abroad. But we don’t. Looking back, our withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disaster, and for that, I take full responsibility. I apologize to the families of 13 dead Americans and others who were severely injured by the way we departed. We left Americans and allies behind and turned Afghanistan over to extremists that continue to threaten regional peace.
I want to say that Americans are also safer than ever before. I could produce statistics that crime is down, even as major cities refuse to report their violent crime statistics. But our handling of immigration, especially at our southern border these past four years, has been a mistake. I know that you don’t feel safer. Too many innocent Americans have died at the hands of violent criminal aliens we’ve let across our border. Our cities, from New York to El Paso, are struggling under the strain to their schools and public systems.
The new Congress has passed the Laken Riley Act, which requires federal agencies to detail any illegal immigrant engaged in violent crime. It was named after one of the scores of victims of violent crimes, including murder, at the hands of violent, illegal immigrants who should not be here. I apologize to the victims’ families.
Americans killed by criminal aliens
I will sign that bill if it arrives on my desk before noon on January 20th.
I would love to say that the American government works better and more effectively for the American people than ever, but I can’t.
My administration launched a $42 billion project in 2021 to expand high-speed internet access for millions of Americans. However, the program has not connected a single American home or business.
Our Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act committed $7.5 billion to installing thousands of electric vehicle charging stations nationwide. By election day, only eight had been built, but I’m pleased to report that we’re now up to 37 stations, and more are on the way.
If that doesn’t sound impressive, that’s because it isn't. From the Afghanistan withdrawal, where we left behind a perfectly good air base and over eighty billion dollars worth of military equipment, to our failures to expand broadband and build electric vehicle charging stations, it is evident that we have a crisis of government incompetence.
I’m embarrassed that we let a Chinese spy balloon fly across our continent unmolested until it reached the Atlantic Coast. That never should have happened. That’s on me.
We launched every new program and made every decision with the best intentions. But results matter, and we have fallen short. We are leaving office with an unsustainable national debt of more than thirty-six trillion dollars and entitlement programs racing towards bankrupcty within a decade.
Another thing I wish I had done was read some of my predecessors’ farewell speeches. I read a few to prepare for this; there are some pearls of wisdom I failed to heed. President Washington warned us about “entangling alliances.” President Eisenhower warned us about the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.” President Clinton’s first words of advice for the future were the importance of fiscal responsibility.
Don’t get me wrong. We are not suffering from a confidence of crisis, as the late Jimmy Carter discussed 45 years ago. The America I see and the Americans I know have never been more confident of our future. So am I. I pray that my successor, Congress, and leaders across our nation will step up and help give reasons for Americans to trust their government again. On that count, I fell short.
In conclusion, thank you. Please know that despite falling short, we always acted with your best interests at heart. Despite the challenges I leave behind for my successor, you have demonstrated that America remains the strong, resilient, and shining light on a hill that Ronald Reagan so eloquently talked about.
I wish you Godspeed and a good night. May God continue to bless this great country.
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“Don’t get me started on the Afghanistan debacle, one of the most shameful moments in modern American history”
You should probably clarify that you mean the botched implementation of pulling out, as opposed to the entire experience of beating the Taliban and hanging around indefinitely.
Re: your proposed Biden farewell speech, there is about a 1,000x greater chance that AOC will become a Republican than that a fraction of this would come out of Biden’s mouth. But it was good for a laugh.
here, here. Send this to Biden's speech writer asap
“Don’t get me started on the Afghanistan debacle, one of the most shameful moments in modern American history”
You should probably clarify that you mean the botched implementation of pulling out, as opposed to the entire experience of beating the Taliban and hanging around indefinitely.
Re: your proposed Biden farewell speech, there is about a 1,000x greater chance that AOC will become a Republican than that a fraction of this would come out of Biden’s mouth. But it was good for a laugh.