Why You Don’t Mess Around With Presidential Transitions

In his new memoir, Barack Obama reveals that there was a terrorist threat on his Inauguration Day. As he addressed the nation, he was prepared to interrupt himself to read evacuation instructions for the millions gathered on the National Mall. Obama had been in the job just seconds, and he was experiencing his first stomach drop—the possibility of a mass-casualty event.

The presidency comes at you fast; it helps if you prepare. This would seem to be axiomatic. If there were any doubts, the devastating consequences of the Trump administration’s botched response to COVID-19, with its improvisation and management-by-chaos, should have dispelled them. Nevertheless, Donald Trump is blocking President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to prepare for the presidency, departing from a bipartisan tradition of smoothing