After losing in 1992, George Bush wrote a letter to Bill Clinton. Trump should read it.
Donald Trump's refusal to commit to conceding the election in the third presidential debate is unprecedented in modern political history.
Photos by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images (left) and Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.
"I will keep you in suspense," the candidate said, hinting at the possibility that he might encourage his supporters to reject a potential loss.
This truly is a new and kind of scary thing.
Priming voters to regard the results of an election skeptically undermines faith that the vote itself is likely to be fair — a key reason why no candidate in recent memory has done so.
Even Al Gore who, in 2000, lost despite winning more votes nationwide and enduring a contested recount in Florida that was halted by a Supreme Court decision, ultimately conceded after exhausting all legal avenues to have the votes reviewed again.
It used to be different.
Nostalgia isn't always, or even often, accurate. Longing for a simpler time — when America was great and we all had better jobs, nicer houses, and got along perfectly — often requires ignoring some convenient evidence to the contrary.
But in this case, it's kind of true.
Nowhere is that demonstrated more clearly than in an old letter that surfaced on social media earlier in the week ahead of the third debate — from outgoing President George H.W. Bush to the man who defeated him, Bill Clinton.
Here's the text of it:
Dear Bill,
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.
I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some presidents have described.
There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. I'm not a very good one to give advice; but just don't let the critics discourage you or push you off course. You will be our president when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well.
Your success is now our country's success. I am rooting hard for you.
Good luck — George
Bush's letter isn't just kind and gracious — it serves several important functions.
1. It clarifies that Bush considered Clinton his political rival, not his enemy.
Like most Republicans and Democrats, Bush and Clinton disagreed on a lot. But by taking a magnanimous approach and welcoming Clinton into the office, Bush effectively conceded that they're both public servants trying to do the right thing — even if they have different ideas about how to get there.
2. It affirmed the centrality of the office, not the person who holds it.
Even after four years in office, Bush insisted that he still approached the job with awe and respect. He positioned himself as smaller than the role — as he argued any president should, regardless of political political persuasion.
3. It acknowledged that Clinton would be president of the whole country, including those who disagree with him.
In perhaps the most important passage of the letter, Bush reminded Clinton that he will be "our" — his and Barbara's — president, urging Clinton to consider the desires of those who opposed his election and work to make their lives better while setting an example for those voters who might not be inclined to accepted a Democratic presidency.
Writing this letter couldn't have been easy for Bush.
Photo by Jerome Delay/Getty Images.
Losing any job to a rival after four years is tough. Losing the presidency — especially in an era where one-term presidents are frequently regarded by history as failures — probably hurts a lot more.
But he did it anyway for the good of the country, and that matters.
To our eyes today, it might seem remarkable.
It shouldn't be.
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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.