President Joe Biden will deliver a farewell address from the Oval Office on Wednesday, just five days before leaving office.
The White House said the address would begin at 8 p.m. ET.
The tradition of farewell addresses by the outgoing president dates back to President George Washington. Washington delivered his farewell via a written letter in 1796. President Thomas Jefferson also wrote a farewell letter to America in 1837. Both presidents had their letters published in newspapers.
It would not be until 1953 that a president would give a formal goodbye to Americans. President Harry Truman gave his farewell address from the Oval Office on Jan. 15, 1953, five days before he left office.
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Of the 12 modern farewell addresses by presidents, six were delivered in the Oval Office, while two were delivered as State of the Union addresses.
President George H.W. Bush delivered his speech from West Point, while President George W. Bush did his from the White House East Room.
President Barack Obama delivered his address before supporters in his hometown of Chicago.
Of the 12 modern farewell addresses, only President Donald Trump taped his address. His speech was recorded from the Blue Room at the White House.
President Biden leaves office after being the first president not to seek a second full term since President Lyndon B. Johnson.
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Biden opted not to run for reelection in July after a debate performance that faced intense scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats alike. Despite the performance, President Biden maintained on Friday that he could have still defeated Trump had he remained in the race.
“I think I would have beaten Trump, could’ve beaten Trump,” he said. And I think that Kamala could’ve beaten Trump and would’ve beat trump. It wasn’t about, uh. I thought it was important to unify the party. And when the party was worried about whether or not I was going to be able to move, even though I thought I could win again, I thought it was better to unify the party. It was the greatest honor of my life to be president of the United States but I didn’t want to be one who caused a party that wasn’t unified to lose an election and that’s why I stepped aside but I was confident she could win.”
