WATCH: On This Day in History, Reagan Bids Farewell to the Nation

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Since the days of George Washington, when presidents leave office, they often offer the nation some kind of farewell address. Washington’s was written and published in the American Daily Advertiser. Andrew Jackson’s was, according to the History Channel, the longest in history at 8,247 words.

Harry Truman was the first one to broadcast his from the Oval Office. Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against the “military-industrial complex,” and Andrew Johnson’s was reportedly so bad that many presidents who came after him decided against delivering a formal goodbye to their constituents.

But there’s one farewell address in history that often stands out among the rest, especially for people who were born and lived in the 20th century: that of President Ronald Reagan. On this day in 1989, Reagan sat behind his desk in the Oval Office and began:

This is the 34th time I’ll speak to you from the Oval Office and the last. We’ve been together 8 years now, and soon it’ll be time for me to go. But before I do, I wanted to share some thoughts, some of which I’ve been saving for a long time. It’s been the honor of my life to be your President. So many of you have written the past few weeks to say thanks, but I could say as much to you. Nancy and I are grateful for the opportunity you gave us to serve.

The late president went on to admit that “parting is such sweet sorrow” but that he was looking forward to returning to his ranch in California and enjoying some freedom again, even though he’d miss the beauty and history he saw in Washington, D.C.

“It’s been quite a journey this decade, and we held together through some stormy seas. And at the end, together, we are reaching our destination,” Reagan continued as he went on to list some of the obstacles the nation overcame during his presidency. But he said there were two things he was most proud of:

One is the economic recovery, in which the people of America created — and filled — 19 million new jobs. The other is the recovery of our morale. America is respected again in the world and looked to for leadership.

Ironically, it seems like those are exactly the two things Americans crave at the moment, and why they voted for Donald Trump in 2024.

In my opinion, one of the most beautiful passages from the speech was when the president expanded on his concept of the “shining city” he often referenced when talking about the United States:

I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.

As far as I know, Joe Biden hasn’t yet issued a farewell address of his own — though to be fair, I’m not even sure he knows he’s still president and/or is about to leave office — so, I thought you might enjoy watching Reagan’s speech in its entirety. Whether you’ve seen it before or you’re watching it for the first time, you might notice just how refreshing it is to see a president who loved his country, spoke of it positively, and did what he could to improve upon it. Thankfully, it looks like we might be on the verge of that again with the upcoming transition of power.