Following the election, a president-elect traditionally engages in limited outreach to foreign leaders. Building relationships with key foreign leaders is critical and can help determine the success of the new president’s foreign policy. During the transition period, however, it is important for the president-elect and the staff to ensure the government is always speaking with one voice, particularly on matters of national security and foreign policy. As a result, the State Department traditionally has helped coordinate phone calls between a president-elect and foreign dignitaries. Best practice would be for the president-elect to avoid commitments that might undermine the current administration.
In the case of President-elect Barack Obama in 2008-2009, engagement with foreign leaders began with a series of phone calls placed shortly after Election Day to close American allies. This list included the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Canada and Mexico. This engagement was strategic and intended to emphasize the importance of these nations to the United States.
Two days later, Obama placed calls to leaders in Russia and China, countries with more complex relationships with United States. The chart below, compiled by the Center for Presidential Transition and the Boston Consulting Group, illustrates the calls placed by Obama and offers a rough roadmap for what we can expect from Vice President Biden should he win the election.
A paper by UVA’s Miller Center Director and CEO William Antholis and Center for Presidential Transition Director David Marchick featuring lessons learned from previous transitions that occurred during political and economic crises.
The Center for Presidential Transition’s comprehensive guide on the activities required during the transition. This guide for the 2020 presidential election cycle was produced in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group. It features detailed outlines of transition best practices, historical materials from past transitions, and recommendations for a successful presidential transition to a new or second-term administration.
Preparing for the enormous
responsibility of running the federal
government is the most important
job for any presidential candidate.
Beginning in March 2016, several government management organizations—the transition partners—came together to advance the common goal of ensuring a smooth, safe and effective presidential transition. Our purpose was to help the next administration be ready to govern from day one. The transition partners identified six management priorities vital for the success of the administration’s policy agenda. The group has outlined several practices in each area that new leaders can adopt immediately to improve government performance and enable policy implementation. You can view these recommendations here.
Memorandum from Vice President-elect Mike Pence to President-elect Donald Trump with a summary of transition accomplishments. Topics included are presidential appointments, legislative affairs, communications and correspondence, website, agency action (agency review), policy implementation, president-elect support, Office of Nationwide Engagement, financials and transition statistics.
The National Academy of Public Administration, the American Society for Public Administration and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government published this set of 25 memos to national leaders on five themes: managing government; strengthening policy leadership; managing across boundaries; sharpening the tools of government; and increasing capacity to manage complex policy issues.
A framework developed by the Partnership for Public Service and PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC), which describes the entities and relationships that a president has available to implement policy and manage the government enterprise. The report depicts the White House offices, key personnel, policy and management councils and the role of the Office of Management and Budget as the key to the center of government design and operation.
This document contains seven smart strategies that can help the Trump administration succeed in achieving successful policy implementation.
The Office of Management and Budget is the one federal agency that can play a pivotal role in ensuring the effective implementation of programs and policies across the entire government. Besides its budget responsibilities, OMB can and should be doing more as a government-wide catalyst for evidence-based decision-making, innovation, management reform and interagency and intergovernmental coordination.
In this report, “From Decisions to Results: Building a More Effective Government Through a Transformed Office of Management and Budget” the Partnership for Public Service suggests six target areas for the next president to focus on in order to transform the Office of Management and Budget into a primary coordination hub for translating decisions made at the White House and Congress into results for citizens.
