Handing over the keys to the White House

Why is there such a long gap?

The American Constitution mandates it. It calls for the presidential election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and for the president to be sworn in on 20 January. (Until 1937, the inauguration took place even later, in March.) This gives the president-elect and his advisers about ten weeks to hire nearly 8,000 appointees to run the White House and 15 executive branch departments. During this time, aides to the incoming president set up shop in the White House and work alongside the departing president's staff, reviewing policies and budgets.

But is there much for them to do?

Masses. The FBI has to perform hundreds of background checks, and the new team must get up to speed on sensitive national-security issues. Indeed, there's so much to do that presidential candidates often start planning their transitions as soon as they've locked up their party's nomination. But typically, they keep quiet about those efforts, for fear of appearing presumptuous. When word leaked out that Barack Obama had formed a transition team well before the election was over, John McCain complained that his rival was "already measuring the drapes" for the Oval Office.

Are transitions just one big job fair?

No, they also set the tone for the first year of an administration - and beyond. Ronald Reagan, for instance, announced early on that his first cabinet appointments would be the secretaries of defence and treasury, a clear signal his defining issues would be a defence build-up and tax cuts. Bill Clinton's transition, by contrast, was chaotic and marred by internal disputes, as various aides jockeyed for position. Before taking office, Clinton added to his troubles by casually mentioning that he wanted to lift the ban on gays in the military. The ensuing uproar persisted into the first months of his administration, and as he struggled to find some way of appeasing both gays and the military brass, he lost focus on his major campaign themes of healthcare and the economy.

Have transitions always been so elaborate?

No. For most of American history, they consisted of just a few meetings between the outgoing and incoming chief executives. They only became part of the official process a few years after Franklin Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover, in 1932. With the country on the brink of the Great Depression, Hoover suggested that he and FDR make some joint declarations on the economy. Roosevelt refused ("It's not my baby," were his words), so Hoover found it impossible to rally support for his recovery plan, and by the time Roosevelt took office in March, a full-blown depression was underway. That disastrous delay prompted Congress to amend the Constitution and move the inauguration to January. Some feel that's still too long. "It is ironic," says former Senator Claiborne Pell, "that our Constitution provides for up to ten weeks of crippled leadership each time the presidency changes hands."

Are transitions always cordial?

A strained civility usually prevails, but not always. In the waning hours of his presidency, John Adams sabotaged his successor and erstwhile friend, Thomas Jefferson, by appointing