Obama Tweets Tribute to David Letterman Prior to Cameo on Final 'Late Show'

President Barack Obama took to his official Twitter account Wednesday evening to honor David Letterman prior to his final appearance as the host of The Late Show.

With the post, the president also tweeted a photo of his 2012 visit to the show, which shows Letterman holding a photo of Obama’s infamous Scott Van Duzer bear hug.

Van Duzer, a then-46-year-old, very large Republican man, took heat after Obama paid a surprise visit to his restaurant, the Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Italian Restaurant while campaigning in Florida. Mr. Van Duzer spontaneously hugged the president, and even picked him up off the ground.

Some struggling Floridians boycotted his restaurant over the incident, which he later claimed hurt business.

The first sitting president to appear on The Late Show, Obama first appeared alongside Letterman on Sept. 21, 2009, and has since stopped by the Ed Sullivan Theater twice, once on Sept. 18, 2012 and most recently earlier this month, according to TheWrap.

“Dave, let me just say this,” Obama said during a May 4 appearance. “And I mean this sincerely, and I know I speak for Michelle, she probably had a chance to say it herself. You know, we’ve grown up with you.”

He added: “The country I think has, you know, after a tough day at the office or coming home from work, knowing you’ve been there to give us a little bit of joy, a little bit of laughter, it has meant so much, and you’re part of all of us … you’ve given us a great gift, and we love you.”

The president also made a small cameo appearance at the beginning of Letterman’s final broadcast on Wednesday.

At the start of the show, a clip of President Gerald R. Ford’s inauguration address was aired.

“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over,” Ford said in reference to the country’s 1974 Watergate fatigue.

The phrase “our long national nightmare is over” was then declared by Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and President Obama, who ended the segment by saying, “Letterman is retiring.”

The show’s final Top Ten list also featured cameos from Alec Baldwin, Barbara Walters, Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld, a heavily bearded Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Peyton Manning, Tina Fey, and Bill Murray, respectively.