Name: Why the US waits so long to swear in the new president
Uploaded: 2020-12-04T18:05:11.000Z
Duration: 4 min 46 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Two weeks after the 2008 election, George W. Bush's family

gave Barack Obama's family a tour of their new home, the White House.

It was part of a long American tradition,

of the outgoing president's family meeting with the incoming family,

just as the Clintons had done for the Bushes eight years before,

and the Bushes had done for the Clintons eight years before that.

It's a symbolic start to the beginning of the presidential transition,

where the current president meets with the president-elect,

and, importantly, helps the new administration into their new positions,

"Refusing to begin the transition process."

"Blocking President-elect Joe Biden from receiving critical Covid-19 data."

The presidential transition usually starts right after Election Day, in November,

and it ends when the new president is inaugurated, in late January.

But this year, President Trump didn't allow it to start until three weeks after the election.

And why does America take so long to switch presidents?

Trump is not the first outgoing president to be uncooperative.

In 1932, President Herbert Hoover lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a landslide.

It was the middle of the Great Depression,

and Roosevelt had campaigned on his "New Deal" ideas.

And he used the transition period to keep FDR from getting started on them.

The Constitution, written in the 1700s, had set it at around four months.

After FDR's election, it was shortened, to the current two and a half months.

That's still pretty long. But the modern US, with its expansive federal government,

The federal government is kind of like this huge, massive, big ship,

When the US changes presidents, thousands of federal jobs have to be changed, too.

Those new hires need offices, government emails,

and they need to get fully briefed on the ins and outs of how these departments run.

And, most importantly, the president needs to get caught up on national security and intelligence.

On January 20th at noon, one administration is going to take over,

and the threats that America faces are not necessarily going to respect that gap.

In 2000, the election between George W. Bush and Al Gore was so close

that the winner wasn't actually decided until mid-December.

Which meant Bush's transition had to happen pretty rapidly.

Later, after the September 11th attacks,  a government report said,

“this loss of time hampered the new administration”

in its readiness to deal with national security threats.

They suggested that in the future, the transition should start as soon as possible.

But, unlike in 2000, the delay in transition in 2020

wasn't because we didn't know who won the election.

"CNN projects Joseph R. Biden Jr. is elected."

When the media declares a winner on election night, it feels like a big moment.

But it doesn't actually carry any formal weight. It's a projection.

The election isn't officially over until each state certifies their results,

and the Electoral College votes, in mid-December.

But usually, by that point both presidential candidates

have already acknowledged what the outcome will be.

The loser usually concedes, and that sets off this presidential transition process

where the outgoing administration helps to usher in the incoming administration.

In 2020, we found out what happens when the outcome is widely agreed upon,

Before the transition can start, an office of the federal government

The problem is, that relies on everyone agreeing who the president-elect is.

Eventually, after several key states certified their results,

Trump didn't concede, but he did allow the transition to begin.

Without actually referring to Biden as the president-elect.

"Nearly three weeks after the election...

"President-elect Biden getting daily intelligence briefings..."

"...on everything from vaccine distribution, testing, and PPE supply chains."

But it's necessary to keep America's government running.

And for the incoming Biden administration, it's going to be a lot shorter.

And it shows that our tradition of a smooth transfer of power is just that — a tradition.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Why the US waits so long to swear in the new president

eventually

process

depression

period