距離美國白宮權力交接只剩下一天，在這個特殊時刻，讓我們來回顧一項延續了32年的傳統。從里根開始，每一位美國總統在卸任時都要給繼任者留下一張手寫便條，想知道這些便條都是什么內容嗎？一起來看看。

Presidential traditions are usually known for their solemnity and carry the weight of future historical significance. This one began with cartoon turkeys and a reference to lunch.

在大眾眼里，和總統有關的傳統往往是莊嚴肅穆且對未來具有重大歷史意義的。然而這個傳統卻是從火雞漫畫開始的，還提到了午飯。

As he was preparing to leave the White House in January 1989, President Ronald Reagan wanted to leave a note for his successor, George H.W. Bush, and reached for a pad emblazoned with a cartoon by humorist Sandra Boynton under the phrase, “Don’t Let the Turkeys Get You Down.” It featured a collection of turkeys scaling a prone elephant, the symbol of both men's Republican Party.

1989年1月，羅納德·里根總統準備離開白宮時，他想給繼任者喬治·布什總統寫一個留言，于是就隨手拿起了一本裝飾了幽默畫家和作家桑德拉·博因頓漫畫的便箋簿，漫畫上方寫著：“別叫蠢人壞了你的心情”。漫畫上，一群火雞正在給一頭俯臥的大象稱重。大象是里根和布什所在的共和黨的象征。

"Dear George, You’ll have moments when you’ll want to use this particular stationery. Well, go to it,” Reagan scrawled. He noted treasuring “the memories we share” and said he'd be praying for the new president before concluding, "I’ll miss our Thursday lunches. Ron.”

里根用潦草的字跡寫道：“親愛的喬治，有一天你會想用這本便箋簿。那就用吧。”他在便條中提到他很珍視“兩人共同的回憶”，并表示他會為新總統祈禱，結尾他寫道：“我會想念我們周四的午餐。羅恩。”

Thus was born the tradition of departing presidents leaving a handwritten note in the Oval Office for their successors. The missives' contents start off as confidential, but are often eventually made public by archivists, references in presidential memoirs or via social media after journalists and others filed requests to obtain them.

從此這項傳統就誕生了，即將離任的總統都會在總統辦公室為繼任者留下了一張手寫的便條。便條的內容一開始是保密的，但是最后往往被檔案保管員、記者或其他想知道的人在總統回憶錄或社交媒體等渠道公開。

The 32-year tradition is in peril this year. President Donald Trump has refused to accept the results of November’s election and vowed not to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. That makes it doubtful Trump will leave behind any handwritten, friendly advice for Biden.

這項延續了32年的傳統在今年可能會被打破。特朗普總統拒絕接受11月大選的結果，并聲稱不參加本周三（1月20日）拜登的就職典禮。這讓人懷疑特朗普是否會給拜登留下任何包含友好建議的手寫便條。

Presidents often write reflectively at the end of their time in office, including George Washington, who stated that he was “tired of public life” in recording why he wasn't seeking a third presidential term. But historians say Reagan's is likely the first instance of a personal letter being passed between presidents as they left and entered office.

在任期結束時，總統們通常會寫一些反思的話，包括喬治·華盛頓在內。華盛頓曾寫道，他“厭倦了公眾人物的生活”，這就是為什么他不再參加第三次總統競選。但是歷史學家指出，里根的留言應該是第一封總統離職時寫給下一任總統的私人信件。

The notes are striking in their simplicity given just how big the job of the presidency is. But they are also notable in their camaraderie and common purpose — especially since the handoff of power is often an unhappy one: Reagan to Bush was the last time the country had one president from the same party succeed another.

考慮到總統的工作如此繁重，這些留言都非常簡單。但是留言中也流露出志同道合的情誼，這一點很難得，因為權力的交接往往是不愉快的。里根和布什的權力交接是美國最后一次由同黨派人士接任總統。

camaraderie [?kɑ?m??rɑ?d?ri]: n. 友情

Despite losing to Bill Clinton in the bitter 1992 election, Bush followed Reagan's lead, this time on more stately, White House stationery. “I leave a note on the desk for Bill Clinton. It looks a little lonely sitting there," Bush recalled in his book "All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings.”

盡管布什在1992年的激烈大選中敗給了克林頓，但布什還是效仿里根給克林頓留言，這一次用的是更莊嚴的白宮便箋簿。布什在他的書《老布什書信集》中回憶道：“我在桌上給比爾·克林頓留了一張便條。這張便條在那里待著，看起來有點孤單。”

"When I walked into this office just now I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago. I know you will feel that, too,” Bush wrote in the note, adding, "I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some presidents have described."

布什在便條中寫道：“剛才我走進這間辦公室時，我感受到了和四年前一樣的驚奇和敬意。我知道你也會有這種感覺。”布什還寫道：“我希望你在這里過得非常快樂。我從來沒有感受過一些總統描述的那種孤獨感。”

He continued, "I’m not a very good one to give advice; but just don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course,” before concluding, “Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. Good luck — George.”

他寫道：“我不是很善于提建議，不過我想說的是，不要被批評者打擊得喪失勇氣或偏離方向。”結尾他寫道：“從現在起，你的成功就是美國的成功。我是你的鐵桿支持者。祝你好運。喬治。”

Those words were so touching that the new president’s wife, Hillary, later recalled they made her cry.

這些話太感人了，當時新任總統的夫人希拉里后來回憶稱，她被感動哭了。

Writing to that president’s son, incoming President George W. Bush in 2000, Clinton noted that the “burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated” and that the “sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible.”

2000年克林頓在給布什總統的兒子小布什總統留言時，他寫道“你現在肩負的擔子是巨大的，但往往被夸大”，“做你認為正確的事所帶來的純粹的快樂是難以言表的”。

In his own letter to President Barack Obama eight years later, the younger Bush advised that "critics will rage. Your ‘friends’ will disappoint you,” but ”no matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead.”

八年后，在小布什寫給奧巴馬總統的信中，他的建議是：“評論界會攻擊你。你所謂的朋友會讓你失望，”但是“不管發生了什么，你總會從你現在領導的人民的個性和同情心中得到啟發。”

Bush’s twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, were 27 at the time. They wrote a sort of kids' guide to the White House for Malia and Sasha Obama, then 10 and 7. It included such advice as “slide down the banister of the solarium" and "when your dad throws out the first pitch for the Yankees, go to the game.”

小布什的雙胞胎女兒詹娜和芭芭拉那時候27歲。她們為當時分別是10歲和7歲的瑪利亞和薩沙·奧巴馬寫了一個白宮兒童指南。其中包括諸如“從日光浴室的樓梯扶手滑下來”和“當你爸爸為洋基隊開出第一球的時候，就和他一起去玩吧”這樣的建議。

In his letter to Trump in 2017, Obama wrote, “This is a unique office, without a clear blueprint for success, so I don’t know that any advice from me will be particularly helpful.”

2017年，奧巴馬在致特朗普的信中寫道：“這是一間獨特的辦公室，沒有通往成功的清晰藍圖，所以我不知道我的建議能否給你什么特別的幫助。”

But Obama did offer some words that now appear prophetic given Trump's impeachment for inciting the deadly mob violence at the US Capitol. “We are just temporary occupants of this office," he wrote. "That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions — like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties — that our forebears fought and bled for.”

但是鑒于特朗普由于美國國會的致命暴亂而遭到彈劾，奧巴馬寫的一些話現在看來似乎具有預示性。他寫道：“我們只是這件辦公室的過客。這讓我們成為守衛者，守衛我們的祖先為之流血斗爭的那些民主制度和傳統，比如法治、分權、平等保護和公民自由。”

"It’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them," Obama continued.

奧巴馬寫道：“在我們卸任時，至少要讓這些民主制度和我們接任時一樣強大。”

Mark K. Updegrove, a historian and CEO of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, said even if the note tradition stops with Trump, it could easily start again when Biden leaves office. He has already been vice president and spent 36 years in the Senate, where tradition and bipartisan congeniality are strong.

林登·貝恩斯·約翰遜基金會的首席執行官、歷史學家馬克·K·阿普德格羅夫說，即使便條傳統在特朗普這里中止了，在拜登離任時也會很容易被重拾起來。拜登曾擔任過副總統，在參議院待了36年，而參議院的傳統意識和兩黨凝聚力是很強的。

"There’s no doubt in my mind that he would do it graciously," Updegrove said.

阿普德格羅夫說：“他會優雅地延續這一傳統，這點我毫不懷疑。”

英文來源：美聯社

翻譯&編輯：丹妮