U.S. GOVERNMENT | A resilient balance of institutions
16 January 2009
Bush Urges Moral Clarity in Struggle Against Terror
In farewell speech, he calls Obama’s accession a “moment of hope and pride”
Washington — In his farewell address to the American people, President Bush urged the United States to maintain “moral clarity” in its efforts against terrorism, describing it as a struggle between those who advocate an oppressive and fanatical ideology and those who stand for “human liberty, human rights and human dignity.”
“Good and evil are present in this world,” Bush said January 15 in televised remarks from the White House. ”Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right.”
The president acknowledged “setbacks” during his eight years in office and said, “There are things I would do differently if given the chance.” Although there was disagreement with some of his policies, “I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions,” Bush said.
Along with confronting terrorism, he said, the United States is “standing with dissidents and young democracies, providing AIDS medicine … to bring dying patients back to life, and sparing mothers and babies from malaria.”
Bush’s remarks came in his final public appearance before the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on January 20. Outgoing presidents traditionally have only a spectator role in the inaugural festivities, and the president and first lady Laura Bush are scheduled to depart for their new home in Dallas shortly after Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.
The president told Americans that the inauguration continues a long tradition of transferring power to “a successor chosen by you,” through democratic elections. Paying tribute to Obama and the historic significance of the first African-American president, Bush described his successor as “a man whose history reflects the enduring promise of our land.”
“This is a moment of hope and pride for our whole nation,” Bush said.
“FAREWELL ADDRESS” AN AMERICAN TRADITION
Many outgoing presidents have prepared farewell addresses, a tradition begun by the first U.S. president, George Washington, who sent his remarks to be published in a Philadelphia newspaper in 1796. Washington famously warned Americans to “steer clear of permanent alliances” and “trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies."
In contrast, President Bush urged Americans to “engage the world” and continue to promote “the expansion of liberty abroad.”
“It can be tempting to seek comfort by turning inward. But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism,” he said. “Retreating behind our borders would only invite danger.”
Although Bush’s farewell comments were publicly anticipated, similar addresses occasionally have come as a surprise, such as President Richard Nixon’s 1974 announcement that he would resign and President Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 statement that he would not run for re-election.
President Dwight Eisenhower used the occasion in 1960 to warn Americans of the rising influence of a military-industrial complex that could develop priorities contrary to the interests of the nation as a whole.
In 2001, President Bill Clinton told Americans he was leaving the presidency “more idealistic, more full of hope than the day I arrived.”
President Bush ended his farewell address by saying his eight years in office had been “the privilege of a lifetime,” and that he remains “inspired by the greatness of our country and uplifted by the goodness of our people.”
A transcript of the president's remarks is available on the White House Web site.
