Concession Speech

[12th Doctor]

I guess I would like to start by thanking my supporters and those who have stood by me in my campaign.  I am happy with the results of this race.  I don’t think we could have a better President than Siege.  He’ll do a great job in the White House and I am proud to have had the opportunity to run this race with him.

General Douglas MacArthur once said that “old soldiers don’t die… they just fade away.”  I guess that I can think of nothing more fitting to say at this moment than that.  This will be my last campaign.  I have concluded that my time as an active political figure in Atlasia has come to an end.  I think that the results of this election have indicated that it is time for me to step out.  I do this with much sorrow and much hope.

Over the past few days, I have wondered about what my legacy to Atlasia would be.  I don’t consider myself to be a great man, but I have always tried to learn from them and figure out what makes them who they are.  I never won the Presidency, as was my aim in life.  My accomplishments in the Senate could probably be written on a bubble gum wrapper.  I never did any of the things that are usually equated with greatness. 

But, that is when I get to thinking about what defines greatness.  Nolan Ryan never went to the World Series, but we remember him as a great pitcher.  Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl, but we remember him as a great quarter-back.  Many of the great, towering political figures of the 20th century never were rewarded with the highest office in our land, and their names are no longer spoken in the class rooms or town halls of our nation, but they will always be remembered by those whose lives they touched.

So, in the end, I must conclude that greatness is not determined by what titles we win, or the spectacles that we commit ourselves to.  Greatness is born of the spirit.  It is a matter of the heart.  It manifests itself in how we live our lives and how we treat those around us.  I hope that perhaps, I have left some of that behind to the citizens of Atlasia, over the years.  Though, I can’t hope to be remembered for much, I hope that people will remember and share in that.

And so, I leave you now, looking to a promising future, with a new President, who I am sure will bring greatness to Atlasia.  Good bye.  Good bless you all.  God bless Atlasia.  And God bless President Siege.