# So any idea on what Bush's note to Obama said? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321 "2009-01-21T17:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/1 "2009-01-21T17:21:28Z")
Is this a common practice to leave notes to the new POTUS? Anyone has any sort of idea what it could say? I have not heard anything from the media. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/2 "2009-01-21T17:22:39Z")
It is traditional, and usually private. We’ll not likely ever know what was written. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/3 "2009-01-21T17:27:18Z")
Don’t get Cheney wet? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/4 "2009-01-21T17:33:54Z")
The [Metro](http://img.metro.co.uk/e-edition/A11liz/Metro20090121/resources/4.htm) managed to get hold of a copy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/5 "2009-01-21T17:35:23Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Don’t get Cheney wet? Or feed him after midnight. Damn, too late. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/6 "2009-01-21T17:45:34Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > The [Metro](http://img.metro.co.uk/e-edition/A11liz/Metro20090121/resources/4.htm) managed to get hold of a copy. 😉 The link froze my browser. What did it say? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/7 "2009-01-21T17:47:00Z")
Just what you’d expect. Lots of misspellings, mangled words and ideas, hubris, and something along the lines of what we’ve been hearing for years. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/8 "2009-01-21T23:16:57Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > The link froze my browser. What did it say? just satire, not terribly amusing ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/9 "2009-01-22T01:34:20Z")
[Write two letters](http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1819340). ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/10 "2009-01-22T13:25:31Z")
“It really _is_ the economy!” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/11 "2009-01-22T13:33:40Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > [Write two letters](http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1819340). I read that exact same story on these boards, but then Khrushchev was Reagan and Brezhnev was the guy that succeeded Reagan as Governor of California. I was wondering: were any of these notes (I guess it’s been a tradition for quite some time now) ever made public? Isn’t everything that the POTUS touches supposed to be catalogued for generations to come? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/12 "2009-01-22T13:40:43Z")
The keys under the mat,feel free to use up anything left in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/13 "2009-01-22T14:28:03Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > I was wondering: were any of these notes (I guess it’s been a tradition for quite some time now) ever made public? Isn’t everything that the POTUS touches supposed to be catalogued for generations to come? > [@](#): > > During his last moments in the Oval Office, former President Ronald Reagan scribbled a note for his successor on a notepad with a turkey insignia that said “Don’t let the turkeys get you down.” He, too, slipped the note in the presidential desk for his successor, President George H.W. Bush. “Continuing Tradition, Bush Leaves Note: Begun With President Reagan, Outgoing Presidents Send Successor Message In Oval Office Desk,” [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/20/national/inauguration09/main4737479.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics\_4737479](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/20/national/inauguration09/main4737479.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_4737479) ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/14 "2009-01-22T14:29:20Z")
Reminder: This is General Questions, a few jokes are ok, but we’ve had those now. We’ve got other forums for gags about this. **Gfactor** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/15 "2009-01-22T15:20:01Z")
\*Dear Barack: Congratulations on becoming President. Laura and I will be praying for you and for your family. This is a tough job - no one knows that better than I. Please feel free to call on me if I can be of any assistance. Wishing you the best. Sincerely. George W. Bush\* Or something like that. He knows what it’s like to come into a White House that has been trashed out of spite, so he isn’t going to do or say anything nasty. Not sure why this wasn’t moved to a different forum, or locked, since there is not going to be a factual answer. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/16 "2009-01-22T16:15:19Z")
Strangly it appears that the note left for the girls from the Bush twins was not keep private: > **[Bush twins offer advice to Sasha, Malia Obama - CNN.com](https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/bush.twins.letter/index.html)** > > Jenna and Barbara Bush know a lot about growing up in the White House. There, I provided a factual answer for the thread. Can I please take a jab at Bush now, please . . . ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/17 "2009-01-22T16:48:37Z")
"The Printer’s Almost out of Ink. And don’t forget to jiggle the handle." ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/18 "2009-01-22T16:59:47Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Strangly it appears that the note left for the girls from the Bush twins was not keep private: > > [Bush twins offer advice to Sasha, Malia Obama - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/bush.twins.letter/index.html) > > There, I provided a factual answer for the thread. Can I please take a jab at Bush now, please . . . That was very sweet and I think highly of the girls for writing it. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/19 "2009-01-22T17:02:30Z")
I doubt it’s a briefing on something of national import, he’s had a couple months of those already… I assume most of the notes are “good luck”, “wish you the best”, and “I’m available for advice” type of messages. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321/20 "2009-01-22T22:06:15Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Strangly it appears that the note left for the girls from the Bush twins was not keep private: > > [Bush twins offer advice to Sasha, Malia Obama - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/bush.twins.letter/index.html) > > There, I provided a factual answer for the thread. Can I please take a jab at Bush now, please . . . Sardines! I loved playing Sardines! (Although they forgot to add-“And don’t get caught trying to buy beer with a fake id.”) -Just kidding-that was really sweet of them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-any-idea-on-what-bushs-note-to-obama-said/482321.md?page=2)