--- title: George W. Bush's Letter to Barack Obama Revealed description: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush warned their successors of future challenges but also spoke of the thrill of taking office in letters canonical: https://time.com/4640219/letters-george-bush-bill-clinton-inauguration/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-19T22:55:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:38:00.472Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read George W. Bush's Inauguration Day Letter to Barack Obama og:description: And the letter Bill Clinton wrote to Bush og:url: https://time.com/4640219/letters-george-bush-bill-clinton-inauguration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2c0472995b692dc/6988b64b97cdff99056af2bc/inauguration-letters-presidents.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Barack Obama Is Sworn In As 44th President Of The United States og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read George W. Bush's Inauguration Day Letter to Barack Obama twitter:description: And the letter Bill Clinton wrote to Bush twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc2c0472995b692dc/6988b64b97cdff99056af2bc/inauguration-letters-presidents.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read George W. Bush's Inauguration Day Letter to Barack Obama  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 19, 2017 10:55 PM CUT  Former President George W. Bush (2-R), his wife Laura (R) stand with President Barack Obama (2-L) and First Lady Michelle Obama (L) as Bush departs from the U.S. Capitol after the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the U.S. on Jan. 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. Former President George W. Bush (2-R), his wife Laura (R) stand with President Barack Obama (2-L) and First Lady Michelle Obama (L) as Bush departs from the U.S. Capitol after the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the U.S. on Jan. 20, 2009 in Washington, DC.Pool—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 19, 2017 10:55 PM CUT Former Presidents [Bill Clinton](http://time.com/4425599/dnc-bill-clinton-speech-transcript-video/ "undefined") and [George W. Bush](http://time.com/4563361/george-w-bush-donald-trump-clinton/ "undefined") warned their successors of future challenges they may face but also spoke of the thrill of taking the nation’s highest office in [letters that were publicly revealed](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abc-george-bushs-inauguration-day-letter-barack-obama/story?id=44896610 "undefined") Thursday. Clinton wished Bush “success and much happiness” while Bush told [President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4639418/president-obama-final-thank-you-letter/?xid=homepage "undefined") he was “pulling” for him, according to the letters obtained by ABC News from the National Archives and Records Administration. “There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your ‘friends’ will disappoint you. But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me,” Bush wrote to Obama in January 2009\. “No matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead.” Clinton’s letter had a similar sentiment. “You lead a proud, decent, good people. And from this day you are President of all of us. I salute you and wish you success and much happiness,” reads Clinton’s missive to Bush. “The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible. My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed.” > [](https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/822207194963775489) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4640219/letters-george-bush-bill-clinton-inauguration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4640219/letters-george-bush-bill-clinton-inauguration/"},"headline":"Read George W. Bush's Inauguration Day Letter to Barack Obama","datePublished":"2017-01-19T22:55:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:38:00.472Z","description":"“There will be trying moments. 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