Difficult Transitions of Power

have qualified, declaring who shall then act as president, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a president or vice president shall have qualified.”

Presidential Transition Act of 1963

As noted at the beginning of this legislation, the Presidential Transition Act served: “To promote the orderly transfer of the executive power in connection with the expiration of the term of office of a President and the Inauguration of a new President.” The Act designated an administrator to provide office space, funds for staff, outside experts and consultants, travel, and communication resources to the “president-elect” once the administrator ascertains who has won the election. It also allocates services and facilities for the outgoing president and vice-president.

Presidential Transition Act of 2000

This Act offers some amendments to the earlier 1963 legislation to have the administrator pay expenses to incoming presidential cabinet appointees during the transition period.

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004

Though not primarily concerned with presidential transitions, in response to the 9/11 Commission Report that noted the abbreviated transition resulting from the 2000 election, made the following provisions and recommendations:

Throughout American history and politics, most presidential transitions have been uneventful, although at particular points in time, some transitions held the possibility for conflict, if not the potential for civil war. The fact that violence did not take place is another testament to the strength of the American system of governance.

The Election of 1800

The election of 1800 in which Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party defeated the incumbent John Adams and his Federalist Party served as the first election that might have created enough political instability to threaten the relatively new American republic. Adams and his running mate Charles Coteworth Pinckney finished third and fourth in the Electoral College while Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral votes. Since neither Burr nor Jefferson had earned a majority within the Electoral College, the decision now rested with the House of Representatives. Requires outgoing executive branch officials to provide the president-elect with a detailed classified, compartmented summary of specific threats to national security as soon as possible after the date of the general election.

Expresses the sense of the senate that the senate should give expedited consideration to national security officials nominated by a president-elect.

Provides for expedited security clearance determinations for members of a president-elect’s transition team.

Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010

This Act provided for the General Services Administration to provide logistical and financial support to eligible presidential and vice-presidential candidates prior to the general election.

Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015

This act directed the GSA to establish a White House transition coordinating council and an agency transitions director council consisting of senior career employees from the various federal agencies.

Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019

In addition to extending the period of GSA support for the incoming president and vice-president, this act requires the GSA to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with eligible candidates regarding the administrative support

and facilities available during the transition.

According to the Constitution, each state delegation had one vote. With 16 delegations, the winning candidate needed to earn nine of these votes. In 1801, the Democratic-Republican Party controlled eight delegations, the Federalists held six, and two delegations were evenly split. The Federalists favored Burr over Jefferson. For six days, the Representatives slept on cots and had meals brought into the chamber. The possibility that the Federalists might deprive Thomas Jefferson of the presidency had some Republicans nearly up in arms. Pennsylvania Republican John Beckley warned such a result would mark “the first day of revolution and Civil War.” Republican governors in Pennsylvania and Virginia made plans to mobilize their state militias to install Jefferson as President. Others considered the possibility of calling a convention to rewrite the Constitution to their favor. Finally, on the 36th ballot, Federalist delegates from Delaware, Maryland, and Vermont abstained which allowed Jefferson to control 10 delegations and to win the election.

Election of 1860

While the Election of 1800 threatened to plunge the United States into a civil war, the election of 1860 actually did. Within a month of Abraham Lincoln securing enough electoral votes to win the presidency, South Carolina voted to secede from the Union. Six other southern states joined South Carolina within a short period of time. Outgoing President James Buchanan did not support the actions of those southern states but did not offer any solution to this brewing crisis. Political leaders including former President John Tyler convened what was known as the “Peace Convention” to attempt to find a compromise to keep the United States from erupting into civil war. Called by Virginia, eventually 21 states took part, though the seven seceding states refused to take part. Six additional states did not send delegates. The Crittenden Plan which had proposed an additional six Constitutional amendments to protect slavery in the South were drawn up.

President Lincoln and the Republican Congress refused to accept this plan and felt Buchanan should not have undertaken these actions as a “lame duck” president. The attack on Fort Sumter in April of 1861 signaled the start of the Civil War.

Election of 1932

The election of 1932 marked another historical milestone in American history as Franklin Delano Roosevelt prepared to assume office as the United States dealt with the devastation of the Great Depression. The banking industry suffered greatly, and unemployment reached nearly 25 percent. The candidates campaigned on widely divergent ideology and policy decisions. Hoover favored what he called “cooperative volunteerism”, while Roosevelt’s New Deal promised massive government intervention. Hoover attempted to get Roosevelt to cancel his proposed public works program, but Roosevelt refused to collaborate with Hoover on his proposed plans. Privately, Hoover referred to Roosevelt as a “gibbering idiot.” This transition marked the end of the extended “lame duck period” which had stretched to March 4. The 20th Amendment moved the presidential inauguration to its current date of January 20.

Election of 2000

Concern over a timely transition in the 2000 presidential election between Democratic Vice-President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush ultimately drew the Supreme Court into the determination of the winner of this extremely close electoral vote. Network forecasts had called the state of Florida for both Al Gore and then George Bush. Believing he had lost the election, Gore called Bush to concede. Shortly thereafter at the insistence of his campaign aides, Al Gore mounted a legal challenge to the vote, which led to a recount in Florida. When the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ordered a stoppage to the recount, Gore conceded the election in a nationally televised address.

Allegations of widespread vandalism—including the removal of the letter W from White House keyboards—surfaced, though Clinton Administration officials denied many of these reports. Given the close nature of this election, the General Services Administration could not “ascertain” the winner of this election as mandated by the Presidential Transition Act. While both candidates did receive classified briefings, the 9/11 Commission concluded this outcome “hampered” the Bush administration’s ability to fill national security positions.

The contested nature of the 2020 presidential election resulted in the GSA waiting to make the ascertainment of a winner before declaring Joe Biden the President-Elect and beginning the formal transition process outlined by the Presidential Transaction Act and subsequent legislation. The GSA official, Emily Murphy, charged with ascertaining the winner of the 2020 presidential election had noted the need for greater clarity and standards to ascertain the winner of the presidential election. As it has done from the initial presidential transition at the turn of the 19th century, Congress will continue to assess and refine the process to ensure effective electoral transitions going forward.