{"id":15182,"date":"2020-02-20T18:41:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T23:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opsweb.wpengine.com\/?p=15182"},"modified":"2020-10-21T15:56:46","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T19:56:46","slug":"interested-in-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-presidential-transitions-so-were-we","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/interested-in-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-presidential-transitions-so-were-we\/","title":{"rendered":"Interested in a behind-the-scenes look at presidential transitions? So were we."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When we launched <\/a>the first episode of our podcast series \u201cTransition Lab<\/a>,\u201d produced by the Center for Presidential Transition\u00ae<\/sup>, we were so excited to share the candid discussions we held with presidential transition experts that we released two episodes at once. Each features a guest from both sides of the aisle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPISODE 1: \u201cThe Tale of Two Transitions\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first episode brought transition leaders from the campaigns of President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton into the same room to discuss how they became involved with the transition, the challenges they faced and what happened after Election Day in 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIGHLIGHTS:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed Meier, transition lead for Clinton, and Rich Bagger, transition lead for Trump, recalled that working in the same building and being in meetings together wasn\u2019t as awkward as people might envision. Both teams were focused on ensuring a smooth presidential transition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t as weird as you might imagine it could be,\u201d said Meier. \u201cRich was more of a colleague than a political competitor because we were learning about transition and really working on this great responsibility\u201d together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bagger recalls the monthly transition meetings in the White House held by the White House Transition Coordinating Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember sitting in those meetings really being incredibly proud as an American participating in a system where an outgoing administration is briefing representative<\/a>s from transition teams [and] planning transition for the competitors for the presidency during a very contentious election,\u201d he said. People at the meeting were \u201csitting down together [and talking] about the fundamentally important things for [the] continuity of government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EPISODE 2: \u201cPeaceful Transition of Power\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our second episode features the chiefs of staff for presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. They discuss three types of transitions and offer advice to the current administration on how to handle the upcoming transition, whether the president heads into his second term or a new president is elected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HIGHLIGHTS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Bolten, Bush\u2019s chief of staff, and Denis McDonough, Obama\u2019s chief of staff, offer suggestions to the Trump administration as the end of its first term approaches. Both agree the transition is crucial no matter if Trump wins a second term or hands off the office to a new president,. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the president is reelected, \u201crethink all of your personnel and know what your priorities are,\u201d Bolten said. \u201cMaybe appoint a transition director of some kind, somebody that the president is close to.\u201d It\u2019s a valuable lesson the Obama administration learned after the fact. \u201cWe sure weren\u2019t thinking about how to reshuffle the Cabinet \u2026 and those are all important things to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDonough echoed the importance of a good transition: \u201cI think a best practice is to think about how do you put this somewhere [with] somebody you trust<\/a> and who\u2019s discreet, who can help you give a good hard look at [transition].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscribe to Transition Lab<\/a> on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read more about Transition Lab, please check out these blog posts:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n