![]() Obama has honored that tradition in his conversations in person and by phone with Trump. “All of us who have served in this office understand that the office transcends the individual.” Bush had said to him, “We want you to succeed.” At that moment, party no longer mattered. Eight years ago, at that gathering of Presidents, George W. Any new President arrives thinking he knows better, with millions of votes-even if not a majority-in his pocket to affirm his sense of mission.īush And Obama: Eric Draper-The White House/Getty Images Obama and trump: Pete Souza-The White Houseīut Obama also leaves office all too aware of the burdens that are about to shift from his shoulders. Any outgoing President is mindful of his legacy. Kennedy dismantling Eisenhower’s national-security structure. It recalls Ronald Reagan ordering Jimmy Carter’s solar panels removed from the roof, or John F. On the one hand, Obama has principles to defend in the face of an incoming President who has vowed to dismember Obamacare, trade treaties and environmental guardrails. That this followed a brutal campaign in which he had called Obama “the worst President” and Obama called Trump “unfit to serve” is not actually unusual, judging from past presidential handoffs. “I will tell you, I really liked him, I think he liked me,” Trump told TIME a few weeks later. Even he has shown some surprise at adopting his new identity, starting with his Oval Office meeting with Obama two days after his victory. There is no predicting the impact any of this will have on the actions and attitude of a newly inaugurated President Trump. It’s unusual to move into a new workspace with nearly 100% turnover, with the incoming team just meeting one another for the first time under the bright glare of the international spotlight. and 3 p.m., so stagger your coffee runs). They cover everything from distinguishing what’s important from what’s merely urgent, to managing your health, mastering the computers and navigating the White House mess (closed between 2 p.m. In the pages that follow, veterans of the Obama White House offer their own counsel to the incoming team-including some of the best advice they got from the departing Bush team eight years ago. “Just as President Bush did for me,” Obama said. He called the cooperation a “hallmark of our democracy,” running deeper than his disagreements with the man who will replace him. 10, Obama had to stop and quiet those in his crowd who booed his promise to ensure a smooth transition of power to Trump. ![]() This suggests that the weeks to come will involve a steep learning curve not just for the new Commander in Chief but for the rest of us as well. 11 press conference, everything about the Trump transition has tested the machinery of power and protocol. Whether it’s his disdain of intelligence analysts, his distance from his party’s agenda, his Twitter torture of corporations or his defiant and diversionary Jan. Even veterans eager to help him find themselves challenged not just by his unfamiliarity with the ways of Washington but also by his indifference to them. Since Donald Trump’s race for the White House was one long, looping detour from convention, it’s natural that the final lap has veered off road as well. These sessions aren’t required by law, but everyone seems to appreciate the help. Bush hosted a White House welcome lunch for President-elect Barack Obama and all the living former Presidents, some of the talk was about the economy and al-Qaeda, but much was about how you raise a family in the world’s most turbulent fishbowl. Learning how to do the job usually takes longerĪ Presidential handoff comes with established rites and rituals, some political, others personal, all a measure of the weight bearing down on the rising leader of the free world: a meeting (or meetings) between incoming and outgoing Presidents, a summit for their lieutenants and Cabinet officers, that first glimpse into the secret compartments of national security and the fearsome threats abounding, the tour of the living quarters by the First Ladies, a conversation about the kids. It’s one thing to be elected President of the U.S.
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