Bill Clinton's 'Bittersweet Goodbye'

Jan. 21, 2001 — -- Bill Clinton left office on Saturday with a soaring popularity rating and a long list of presidential accomplishments, but also with a legacy of presidential dalliances and scandal.

He may have fallen short of arranging peace in the Mideast — and detente between presidential pets Socks the cat and Buddy the dog — but he worked until the very end, issuing pardons and executive orders.

"You gave me the ride of my life," he told well-wishers before departing the Washington area, "and I tried to give as good as I got."

Early Morning Flurry of Activity

In the morning hours on Saturday, a skeleton staff prepared the White House for the new president. E-mail had been shut down, computers reprogrammed and pictures removed from the walls.

True to his word, Clinton worked until the last possible moment. At 10 a.m. ET, the White House announced he was pardoning or commuting sentences for 176 people, including Susan McDougal of Whitewater infamy, his half-brother Roger Clinton and former CIA Director John Deutch.

Moments later, radio stations broadcast Clinton's last weekly radio address, in which he touted his accomplishments in office and thanked his staff, allies, White House employees and the American people.

"We've had more than 400 of these Saturday conversations now, soit's fitting that this last one comes on my final day in office," Clinton said.

"As my time in office comes to an end, the most important thing Ican say is a simple, heart-felt thank you," he added. "Thank you for theopportunity to serve as your president and as commander-in-chief toour fine men and women in uniform. Thank you for the honor of workingwith you to build our bridge to the 21st century. Thank you for theprayers, love and support you've extended to Hillary, Chelsea and meevery single day."

In the Republican response, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio touted the new president, George W. Bush, and wished the Clintons well.

"We wish President Clinton and his family the best as he leaves office,and we welcome President Bush and his family as they settle into theWhite House," Boehner said.

‘Bittersweet Goodbye’

Before departing, Clinton left a private note in the Oval Office desk for Bush, as Bush's father had done for Clinton.

"I had a very good morning and I think we all did," Clinton said later. "We had a sort of bittersweet goodbye at the White House. We walked around and said goodbye to everybody and walked around and looked at all the rooms."

Clinton left the White House for the last time as president late in the morning. He was heard to say "Let's go" as a Marine band pianist played outside the White House, before he finally headed to the inauguration ceremony.

Clinton, at 54, is the youngest man to relinquish the presidency since Theodore Roosevelt, who was 50, in 1909.

Clinton traveled by motorcade to the Capitol with Bush, sitting in a place of honor on the passenger side while Bush sat next to him and waved as the limousine pulled out.

The Bushes and Clintons are not close personally. But John Podesta, the outgoing White House chief of staff, said on Good Morning America that he thought Clinton would be gracious with Bush on the ride and during the swearing in.

"I think he'll open up, and probably as they ride up they may have some last-minute conversations about the things going on in the world and again how we can succeed as a country and succeed in the world," Podesta said.

After Clinton's departure, the West Wing was crawling with moving company workers rolling some furniture out of the Clinton offices and painting crews swarming through the halls to refurbish many of the rooms.

Two white moving trucks were visible in the driveway by the South Lawn — one near the Oval, one near the diplomatic entrance where family and guests come and go.

Clinton staffers had disappeared with the exception of one aide in the Lower Press Office, where packing cartons were strewn about — filled with everything down to the paper clips, staplers, and office supplies.

In the afternoon, offices that were being used just four or five hours previously would have carpet ripped out. Walls would be bare, desks would be gone, and carpet-cleaning crews would be roaming the complex. A smell of cleaning fluid would waft through the press room.

Bush Thanks Clinton

At a noontime ceremony, Clinton sat near the podium and watched as Bush was sworn in. Clinton received some jeers from the Republican crowd, but Bush had a few gracious words for the outgoing administration.

"As I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to our nation," Bush said. "And I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace."

After Bush took his oath of office, the White House home page on the World Wide Web, www.whitehouse.gov, switched its message to one touting the new president.

"We are pleased to provide information about America's Forty-Third President, George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney," it read. "Also, look for the biographies of First Lady Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney."

‘Next Chapter’

At 1 p.m. ET, the Clintons arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Buddy the dog boarded the plane as the Clintons headed for an airport hangar. Socks the cat, unable to get along with Buddy, had been dispatched to live with Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie.

The former president reviewed lines of troops as a military band played. Then Clinton, standing at a podium with his wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea behind him, said he was leaving Washington but would not fade away.

"Now, we have to go on to the next chapter in America's life and our lives and our struggle to do the things we believe in," Clinton said. "I will always feel good about this, and you made that possible. You see that sign over there that says, 'Please don't go?' I left the White House, but I'm still here.

"We're going to New York and [will] spend the weekend," said Clinton, who has rented office space in Manhattan and has a home in Chappaqua, N.Y., with his wife, Hillary, now a U.S. senator. "Then Hillary will show up [in Washington] very promptly so as not to miss any votes and to perform the oversight function for the U.S. Senate."

After mingling for a long while with his well-wishers, the Clintons boarded the plane formally known as Air Force One.

Around 3 p.m. ET, they were gone.

ABCNEWS' John Cochran, Josh Gerstein and Ann Compton contributed to this report.