
The Peaceful Transfer of Power
An Oral History of America's Presidential Transitions
University of Virginia Press
Published on 30. October 2022
Book
Hardback
300 pages
978-0-8139-4776-1 (ISBN)
Description
Ronald Reagan called the peaceful transfer of power from one U.S. president to the next a miracle, and it is. It is also the most delicate and hazardous period in the entire political cycle. Americans learned the stakes in 2020, when President Donald Trump's refusal to trigger the formal start of the transition process to President-Elect Joe Biden created perhaps the worst crisis for American democracy since the Civil War. Even at the best of times, an incoming administration faces a gargantuan task, as every new president must make more than four thousand political appointments in a short period of time.
Yet the day-to-day process of presidential transitions remains poorly understood, even by government specialists. This is why the Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition created Transition Lab, a one-year podcast series that ran through January 2021. The Peaceful Transfer of Power now puts those distinct interviews with scholars, journalists, public servants, and-most important-participants in every transition from Ford-Carter to Trump-Biden into a narrative format that illuminates the long history, complexity, and current best practices associated with this most vital of democratic institutions.
Presidential transitions stand at a critical juncture here and abroad. Highly readable and deeply informative, this book offers every citizen invested in safeguarding our democracy accessible and concentrated insights that will help future transitions run better, faster, and more smoothly.
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that is building a better government and a stronger democracy.
Yet the day-to-day process of presidential transitions remains poorly understood, even by government specialists. This is why the Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition created Transition Lab, a one-year podcast series that ran through January 2021. The Peaceful Transfer of Power now puts those distinct interviews with scholars, journalists, public servants, and-most important-participants in every transition from Ford-Carter to Trump-Biden into a narrative format that illuminates the long history, complexity, and current best practices associated with this most vital of democratic institutions.
Presidential transitions stand at a critical juncture here and abroad. Highly readable and deeply informative, this book offers every citizen invested in safeguarding our democracy accessible and concentrated insights that will help future transitions run better, faster, and more smoothly.
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that is building a better government and a stronger democracy.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Charlottesville
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
12 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 148 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8139-4776-1 (9780813947761)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

David Marchick | Alexander Tippett | A. J. Wilson
The Peaceful Transfer of Power
An Oral History of America's Presidential Transitions
E-Book
10/2022
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
from
€64.99
Available for download
Persons
David Marchick is the former director of the Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition and was the host of its Transition Lab podcast. He has also served as a senior business executive, serves as an adjunct professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and held several positions within the Biden and the Clinton administrations.
Alexander Tippett is a former research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations and previously worked as a researcher at the Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition.
A. J. Wilson is a former speechwriter for British and American government officials and now works as a collaborating writer. His collaborations have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic.
Alexander Tippett is a former research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations and previously worked as a researcher at the Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition.
A. J. Wilson is a former speechwriter for British and American government officials and now works as a collaborating writer. His collaborations have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic.