美国国家公共电台 NPR Obama's Farewell Address: How Presidents Use This Moment Of Reflection

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

Tonight in Chicago, President Barack Obama will follow a tradition that dates back to America's first president - the farewell address. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith has this look at how past presidents have used this moment of reflection.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE¹: It all started with George Washington, who offered a series of warnings, what he called a solemn contemplation. His parting words have been deemed so valuable that they're read on the floor of the U.S. Senate each year, including his warning about the dangers of partisanship².

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: It serves always to distract the public counsel...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: And enfeeble the public administration...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: It agitates³ the community with ill-founded jealousies⁴ and...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: False alarms, kindles⁵ the animosity of one part against another...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: Foments⁶ occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: Foreign influence and corruption⁷, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through channels of party passions.

KEITH: The presidential farewell address became a fixture⁸ in the 20th century right along with the arrival of television in American homes. In these modern farewell speeches, almost all of them talk about the difficulty of the job and urge the American people to be nice to the next guy, as President Harry⁹ Truman did.

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HARRY TRUMAN: I want all of you to realize how big a job and how hard a job it is, not for my sake because I'm stepping out of it, but for the sake of my successor. He needs the understanding and help of every citizen.

KEITH: All the presidents look back on their years in office, some lingering on their legacies¹⁰ longer than others. There is pride in accomplishment¹¹, as expressed by President Ronald Reagan, who thanked the men and women of the Reagan Revolution and talked of proving the pundits¹² wrong.

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RONALD REAGAN: Once you begin a great movement, there's no telling where it'll end. We meant to change a nation, and instead we changed a world.

KEITH: But there is often talk of regret, like not securing peace. Gerhard Peters is co-director of the American Presidency¹³ Project.

GERHARD PETERS: They're almost very respectful in the way that they present their administration's accomplishments¹⁴. You know, at times they're also very humble¹⁵.

KEITH: Peters says in most cases it has been a president of one party handing the presidency off to a successor from the other party, and yet...

PETERS: They're very grateful to their successor and I'd expect President Obama to be, even though this has been a very political climate - this transition. I would expect him to be somewhat graceful¹⁶ as well.

KEITH: As with Washington's address, many of these final speeches contain warnings. President Dwight Eisenhower coined a term.

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DWIGHT EISENHOWER: In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous¹⁷ rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

KEITH: Many presidents talk with pride about the peaceful transfer of power and of the balance of power built into the American system of government. Here's President Gerald Ford¹⁸.

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GERALD FORD: This often results in difficulty and delay, as I well know. But it also places supreme¹⁹ authority under God, beyond any one person, any one branch, any majority great or small, or any one party. The Constitution is the bedrock of all our freedoms.

KEITH: Guard it and cherish it, he said. President Jimmy Carter said it could be tempting²⁰ in times of tension and economic distress²¹ to abandon principles.

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JIMMY CARTER: We must never yield to this temptation. Our American values are not luxuries, but necessities - not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself.

KEITH: American values come up again and again in these speeches. Listening to President Bill Clinton in early 2001, you could imagine President Obama striking a similar theme tonight.

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BILL CLINTON: We must treat all our people with fairness and dignity, regardless of their race, religion, gender²² or sexual orientation²³, and regardless of when they arrived in our country - always moving toward the more perfect union of our Founders²⁴' dreams.

KEITH: And ultimately, as so many have before him, President Obama will have to say goodbye. Tamara Keith, NPR News.

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