Letters to the Next President

Catherine Ashton, Jason Bordoff, Arancha González, Martin Kimani, Mark Malloch-Brown, Joseph S. Nye Jr., Danny Quah, Nirupama Rao, and Joseph E. Stiglitz

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The tradition started with a cartoon elephant and some turkeys. On Jan. 20, 1989, before leaving the Oval Office for the last time, Ronald Reagan put pen to paper with some advice for his vice president and successor, George H.W. Bush. “You’ll have moments when you want to use this particular stationery,” Reagan wrote on a notepad illustrated by children’s book author Sandra Boynton. The caption? “Don’t let the turkeys get you down.” As with so many elements of political life in the United States, Reagan’s influence is still felt, as U.S. presidents continue to leave their successors handwritten missives. Most recently, Joe Biden described Donald Trump’s as “shockingly gracious.”