Following the 2000 election, Bush-Cheney Transition Chairman Dick Cheney communicated the implications of a delayed transition, the requirements of building a new government and his thoughts on the General Service Administration’s denial of transition resources. These quotes are primarily from news conferences on Nov. 27 and Nov. 29, 2000.
The Bush-Obama transition is widely seen as the gold standard of smooth transitions, one that took place during two wars and a financial crisis. Not every handoff has been smooth. This exchange of letters between President Truman and Republican presidential candidate Eisenhower show a more heated transfer of power.
August 16, 1952
Dear Ike:- I am sorry if I caused you embarrassment. What I’ve always had in mind was and is a continuing foreign policy. You know that it is a fact, because you had a part in outlining it.
Partisan politics should stop at the boundaries of the United States. I am extremely sorry that you have allowed a bunch of screwballs to come between us. You have made a bad mistake and I’m hoping it won’t injure this great Republic. There has never been one like it and I want to see it continue regardless of the man who occupies the most important position in the history of the world.
May God guide you and give you light.
From a man who has always been your friend and who always wanted to be!
Sincerely,
Harry Truman
Truman, Harry S. “Message to Dwight D. Eisenhower regarding President Truman’s invitation to a luncheon and briefing at the White House,” Aug. 16, 1952. Retrieved from The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, President’s Secretary’s Files, General File, Eisenhower, Dwight D. (2 of 2: 1950 – 1953), Box 101.
Aug 19. 1952
Dear Mr. President,
My sincere thanks for the courtesy of your note of the 16th. I assure you that your invitation caused me no personal embarrassment.
My feeling merely was that, having entered this political campaign, I would have become involved in the necessity of making laborious explanations to the public, if I had met with the President and Cabinet. Since there was no hint of national emergency conveyed by the telegram of invitation, and since I belong, no longer, to any of the public services, I thought it wiser to decline.
I repeat my gratefulness for the invitation and for the offer to send me weekly CIA Reports. Through these I shall keep familiar with the foreign situation. Further, I assure you of my support of real bi-partisanship in foreign problems.
With renewed assurances of my respect and esteem.
Sincerely
Dwight Eisenhower
Eisenhower, Dwight D. “Response to President Truman’s invitation to a luncheon and briefing at the White House,” Aug. 19, 1952. Retrieved from The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, President’s Secretary’s Files, General File, Eisenhower, Dwight D. (2 of 2: 1950 – 1953), Box 101
November 8, 2020
The Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition is the nation’s premier nonpartisan source of information and resources designed to help presidential candidates and their teams lay the groundwork for a new administration or for a president’s second term. The Center has been active in transition activities on a bipartisan basis for four cycles.
We congratulate Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris on their successful and historic campaign for the White House. In our role we have observed the seriousness with which they have taken the transition planning process. They embraced transition planning early, recruited a seasoned and disciplined team and resourced their transition effort commensurate with the challenges that President-elect Biden will face on January 20. While there will be legal disputes requiring adjudication, the outcome is sufficiently clear that the transition process must now begin.
As candidate Biden becomes President-elect Biden, he and his transition team will quickly shift from campaigning to governing. To build an effective government ready to address the urgent needs of our great country, the new president will have to recruit 4,000 political appointees, including 1,250 who require Senate confirmation; prepare a $4.7 trillion budget; implement a strong policy agenda; and assume leadership of a workforce of 2 million civilian employees and 2 million active duty and reserve troops.
We want to also applaud the two other key stakeholders necessary for a successful transition – the White House staff and the career officials throughout the federal government with responsibility for transition planning under the Presidential Transition Act. The White House staff took implementation of the Presidential Transition Act seriously, met every statutory milestone and worked closely with the career officials responsible for transition planning. The career federal officials with responsibility for transition planning, led by the GSA, did exactly what one would expect from highly qualified, experienced career officials – they planned and prepared methodically for either eventuality – a Trump re-election or a Biden win.
Now the real challenge begins. We urge the Trump administration to immediately begin the post-election transition process and the Biden team to take full advantage of the resources available under the Presidential Transition Act. This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors. “Your success now is our country’s success,” George H.W. Bush wrote in 1993 to the incoming president who involuntarily retired him, “I am rooting hard for you.”
Josh Bolten, White House Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Management and Budget, George W. Bush Administration (Republican)
Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services and Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, George W. Bush Administration, Governor of Utah (Republican)
Thomas F. (Mack) McLarty, White House Chief of Staff, Clinton Administration (Democrat)
Penny S. Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce, Obama Administration (Democrat)
Considering the size of the U.S. government, the importance of its responsibilities and the short time between the election and the inauguration, transitions are always a tall order. But the stakes could not be higher this year.
The modern-day Presidential Transition Act outlines multiple requirements for all stakeholders involved in presidential transitions. This document describes the requirements that apply to the post-election period.
This study, prepared by the Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition and the Boston Consulting Group, analyzes how newly elected presidents have allocated their time between the election and the inauguration, how their spouses handled the transition and the post-election roles taken by presidential running mates.
The transition from George W. Bush to Barack Obama presents a model of how two administrations from different parties can work together to keep America secure in the face of challenges at home and abroad.
Previous presidential transitions have occurred during times of crisis. During the 2008-2009 transition, the two sides closely cooperated to hand over management of the government during the financial crisis.
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.
The transition between a president’s first and second term has been both under-explored and undervalued, but it presents unique opportunities and challenges. In the joint paper from the Miller Center and the Center for Presidential Transition explores the lessons of history to provide a roadmap for future presidents’ fifth years.