Transition of Power—Only If You Wish It
by Gil Kahn, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science
The United States has just endured one of the scariest and most dangerous periods of presidential transition since the inauguration of George Washington as the first President in April 1789. Historically, the transfers of power, except when it occurs as a result of a death, usually have transpired smoothly with only the natural glitches that one might expect involving two very powerful personalities. One individual moving in and taking over the job held by the person moving out. Most of the time this takes place with the American public witnessing an orderly transfer of power.
Doolittle, Amos. A new display of the United States. , 1799. [New Haven: Printed & sold wholesale by Amos Doolittle, August 14'] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003656585/
In 1797, after opting not to stand for a third term in office, outgoing President George Washington turned over the office of the presidency to his successor, John Adams, who was Washington’s Vice-President. Adams had barely squeaked into office in the election of 1796 by a vote of 71-68 electoral votes over his opponent Thomas Jefferson; the majority of electoral votes then required being 70. As this election occurred prior to enactment of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, it was Jefferson who then assumed the office of Vice-President, while President Washington retired to his plantation in Mount Vernon.
Nothing quite so “simple” occurred in 2020-21. President Trump lost both the electoral vote as well as the popular vote but refused to recognize the legitimacy of the election tallies. He challenged vote totals in numerous states, demanded widespread recounts, and litigated his case in courts all over the country. Except for a few isolated irrelevant miscounts, Trump’s effort was a total failure. He did succeed in using violent rhetoric to plead his case and energize his core base into believing that the election had been stolen from him. It was his inflammatory behavior which encouraged his minions to rally in Washington on January 6, to follow his incendiary messaging, and to invade the Capitol.
In the midst of this extensive confrontation and agitation following November 3, the Biden team’s efforts to establish an orderly transition were constantly thwarted. It took weeks for the General Service Administration even to permit departments and agencies to begin the most basic transfer process so that the new Administration would be able to govern after the Inauguration. These legal and political maneuverings were further aided by the overt, cynical political machinations employed by the Trump Administration to compromise the incoming Democrat and the new president to appear inept.
This behavior by the outgoing Trump Administration can actually help explain a famous quotation attributed for years to George Washington when he was asked about the viability—read future transition—of the American experiment:
He was reported to have said:
What is most important of this grand experiment, the United States? Not the election of the first president but the election of its second president. The peaceful transition of power is what will separate this country from every other country in the world.
What is curious about this quote is that Washington archivists and scholars have never located its source in Washington’s papers. It seems, nevertheless, even if Washington did not say it, to have been extremely prescient, considering the struggle that the Biden transition team had to bring the new president into office.
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