The gracious art of the concession speech

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, November 7th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a history of throwing in the towel.

It’s the norm today for presidential concession speeches to be delivered publicly… and primarily aimed at the candidate’s supporters.

Over the course of the last century or so from about the turn of the 20th Century up to 2016, 31 presidential candidates delivered those types of speeches.

REICHARD: Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris became the 32nd candidate to admit defeat. She delivered her address at her alma mater, Howard University.

HARRIS: The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say, hear me when I say, the light of America's promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up And as long as we keep fighting.

WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has a history of past concession speeches and what makes them so important.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Before the televised concession speech, there was the concession telegram—not necessarily sweet, but at least short.

BAKER: You think you paid by the letter on those.

That’s political scientist Hunter Baker, a regular contributor to WORLD Opinions.

Baker says that throughout the history of presidential elections in the U.S., the losing candidates were gracious in the face of defeat. And there’s a reason for that.

BAKER: Many of these people who lose are still thinking about a potential political future. They’re also, if they are patriotic at all, which, generally speaking, I think that these people would be, they are hoping for the best for the country.

Structurally, these concessions begin with commendations. Mitt Romney, 2012.

ROMNEY: I have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory. His supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations…

And that’s followed by well-wishes and a call to let bygones be bygones. Jimmy Carter, 1980.

CARTER: I urge all of you to join in with me in a sincere and fruitful effort to support my successor when he undertakes this great responsibility as President of the greatest nation on Earth.

No concession would be complete without acknowledgement of the efforts of disappointed supporters and reassurance that it was not all in vain. Hubert Humphrey, 1968.

HUMPHREY: I shall continue my personal commitment to the cause of human rights, of peace and to the betterment of man. If I have helped in this campaign to move these causes forward, I feel rewarded.

And they all typically follow this basic formula. George H.W. Bush, 1992.

BUSH: May God bless the United States of America. Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much. Thank you.

This model of hoping for the best and uniting behind the president-elect was on full display nearly two decades later. John McCain, 2008.

MCCAIN: (APPLAUSE) I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

The main purpose of a concession speech is not only as a courtesy to the president-elect, but it’s a way of acknowledging the democratic process and aiding in the peaceful transition of power.

Hunter Baker says that’s what sets American politics apart from elections in other countries.

BAKER: Peaceful transfer of power has been a special feature of American politics, probably in part because we are a two party nation, and it's these two basic parties that are always trading power back and forth. I think that it just goes back to that, that idea of candidates being committed to the preservation of the Republic generally and so that dictates this non bitter, non rancorous tone to concession speeches.

One of the best examples was in 1960.

Republican Richard Nixon had served for eight years as vice president to a popular President Dwight Eisenhower. So Nixon was seen as the favorite to hold off the challenger by the name of John F. Kennedy, at that time a U.S. senator.

It came down to a razor thin margin in two states that would have flipped the election to Nixon: Illinois and Texas. 9,000 votes in Illinois, less than 50,000 in Texas.

Nixon could have easily contested the results, but he didn’t.

BAKER: Richard Nixon was more concerned for the good of the country than for his own rights.

But this was at a crucial time for the United States—tension of the Cold War, and the election preceded the Cuban Missile Crisis by just a few years.

BAKER: Nixon knew that the United States could not appear to have a crisis of leadership. And so he was very gracious to concede that election and not not kick up a lot of drama when he really could have.

NIXON: Well, you know, I thought that we...I thought...I was going to say that I thought that we had the last rally of the campaign, but here we go again. [cheers and applause]

And so, Nixon conceded.

NIXON: Thank you very much. And I want to say that one of the...I want to say that one of the great features of America is that we have political contests. That they are very hard fought, as this one was hard fought, and once the decision is made we unite behind the man who is elected.

40 years later, another contested election, another concession.

After Americans cast their ballots on Tuesday, November 7th, 2000, the results out of Florida were undecided. After a series of recounts and a number of legal battles over 35 days past election day that culminated in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision declaring George W. Bush the winner.

BAKER: You have this very tense month where you're not sure who is going to end up in the White House? And there's all this, you know, suspicion and distrust about the way the votes are being counted and and whether or not the Supreme Court intervened in a valid way, all of these kind of questions and Gore at the end of that really makes the right choice, which is to approach it as a statesman.

GORE: Just moments ago, I spoke with George W. Bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States. And I promised him that I wouldn't call him back this time.

Baker says these speeches can tend to usher in a peaceful transition of power, and they’re one of the most important traditions of American politics when it comes to a presidential election.

BAKER: I think that it has been an American norm to hope for the success of the person who won the race and and I think, I think that all of that is aimed A) at protecting the system, but B) also at protecting the career of the person who lost.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

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