Kelly in Kansas

This entry by Senate historian Donald Ritchie provides some good insight:

Why Does the Transition Take So Long?

Filed in A-Editor's Picks , A-Featured , American History , Current Events , Politics on December 2, 2008 |

The election seems like old news at this point and yet we are still over a month away from inauguration day. Donald Ritchie, author of Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps, Our Constitution, and The Congress of the United States: A Student Companion, looks at this lag in historical perspective. Ritchie, who has been Associate Historian of the United States Senate for more than three decades, explains why a President-elect may need this time prepare to take over.

Many Americans, and the rest of the world, wonder why so much time elapses between the U.S. presidential election in November and the inauguration on January 20. Why not reform the system and reduce the interval? The answer is we did reform it–the interregnum used to last twice as long.

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Labels: presidency, transition