Transition of Power Quotes

President Bush says now he is sticking to his plan for handing over power to the Iraqis on June 30. It's also part of his plan to hand over power to John Kerry on January 20.

There's a great difference of running for president and being president. I think that deer in the headlights look in President-elect's Trump face when he was going in and out of a meeting with our president said that, that he does see it's different now, but he doesn't seem to think it's different enough.

There comes a time in every man's life when he must make way for an older man.

The president-elect [Donald Trump] finds himself in an unfamiliar and, perhaps, uncomfortable position. The enemies he's been fighting against are gone.

When I turn over the keys to the president-elect, America will be much stronger than it was when I came into office.

The efficiency of a President at the beginning of his term depends on their capacity to get everything under control. That was my case. But once the institutions have been put in place, and the responsibilities delegated, the leader becomes a reference, a referee, a symbol and unifying figure for the nation. The issue is how and when to recognize the moment when staying in power becomes counterproductive.

The historical record suggests that the transition to to a new hegemon has always been attended by what I have elsewhere called hegemonic war.

In this case, the government will essentially be run by the people who are running it now. The top level [Barack] Obama appointees will leave by inauguration day.

Democrats are awfully sensitive to losing power for a few years. I report, you decide.

The older generation sat looking at the younger, and Kat wondered exactly when and how the baton had been passed. She wanted to know if it was too late to give it back.

Barack Obama says he's gonna stay in Washington, but presidents don't stay in Washington. Presidents, they get out of there as fast as they can, 'cause it's like a prison to them. And Michelle Obama's even said as much about the White House. So the fact that he's gonna stay there has always told me that he's gonna stay there to protect his legacy, whatever it is, and that he's not gonna observe the age-old protocols of standing aside and staying silent for awhile while the new president takes office.

The usual practice is that the people in their jobs keep their jobs until their successors are named. Now, that's the way the [George] Bush administration treated the [Bill] Clinton people. And that's the way the [Barack] Obama administration treated the [George W.] Bush people.

[Barack] Obama, he'll be out of office soon and, frankly,[Donald] Trump relies on him .

This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.

Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.

It is only after mature deliberation and thorough preparation that I have decided upon the Program of Revolution and defined the procedure of the revolution in three stages. The first is the period of military government; the second, the period of political tutelage; and the third, the period of constitutional government.

I feel great. George W.Bush is leaving. We're leaving. It's all perfect timing.

It was a day of liberation-not only for black South Africans but also for us white South Africans. Suddenly, the burden of three hundred and fifty years had been lifted from our shoulders. For the first time we could greet all our countrymen without guilt or fear as equals and as fellow South Africans. When I awoke that morning I was still the president of South Africa. When I went to bed the mantle had passed from me to Nelson Mandela. Few heads of government could ever have laid aside their high office with a greater sense of accomplishment, regardless of the uncertainties of the future.

The sensible thing for everyone to do would be to write all their op-eds and think pieces now so they're ready the day after the election when [Donald] Trump is no longer in the picture. God, I can't wait for that. I hope he just goes away.

In his speech last night, John Kerry said this was the beginning of the end of the Bush administration. I agree. Sure, it may take another five years, but this is it.

The old order changes yielding place to new.

I served. And now it's time for the new man to serve. I have zero desire to be in the limelight.

The [Barack Obama] administration is sharing its knowledge, its expertise with the incoming administration. And this, to us, is a sign of encouragement, to continue the good cooperation that we have built between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany that is in our mutual interest.

There was a sense of palpable relief that George [W.] Bush was leaving and that the Republicans had slipped back and that was a wonderful feeling.

Discharge my followers; let them hence away, From Richard's night to Bolingbrooke's fair day.