Transition - Obama Presidency Oral History

These activities required regular and extensive engagement with the Bush administration. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the 9/11 Commission had issued recommendations to improve the national security dimensions of presidential transitions, and many of these recommendations were formalized in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). Bush was deeply committed to the orderly transfer of power, especially given the vulnerability of American military personnel in active combat zones, and instructed his administration to go beyond IRTPA requirements to assist the incoming administration. As soon as Obama and John McCain became the nominees of their respective parties, they began to receive regular national security briefings, and the Bush White House produced volumes describing all presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed federal positions, along with dozens of memos detailing actions they had taken, the reasoning behind them, and priorities in crucial areas of domestic and foreign policy. Across the Obama Presidency Oral History, Bush White House staff, as well as members of Obama’s transition team, remember the Bush administration’s approach to the process, and share memories of their collaboration. 

Coordination of this sort was particularly urgent as the financial crisis worsened throughout the autumn of 2008. Obama regularly spoke with Bush’s Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, to understand the actions the government was taking to stabilize the financial system, while Obama’s incoming team of economic policy experts began developing countercyclical measures to prevent further job losses, and stimulate economic growth. As the economic outlook deteriorated over the course of the transition, Obama and his legislative staff also met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss possible economic stimulus measures, and worked to prepare legislation so that it would be ready for Obama’s signature shortly after his inauguration in January. These efforts culminated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which Obama signed less than a month after taking office, and are discussed further on the topic page for the Financial Crisis and the Economy. 

National security was another area requiring close and sustained communication between the transition and Bush administration. After the election, president-elect Obama and incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel began to receive the President’s Daily Brief on national security issues, as well as regular intelligence briefings from the Director of National Intelligence and CIA. The Bush and Obama national security teams also met in the White House Situation Room to discuss major ongoing events and risks, and to conduct crisis simulations and tabletop threat exercises. The issues discussed in these sessions included the ongoing war in Iraq and the deterioration of conditions in Afghanistan, the devastating Mumbai terrorist attacks that took place in late-November, and the risk of a terrorist attack at Obama’s inauguration. In their oral histories, narrators speak widely about the transition’s focus on national security, while detailed coverage of these particular issues can be found on the topic pages for Wartime Presidency, Counterterrorism, and the Middle East. 

Over the course of the Obama presidency, new laws further improved and formalized presidential transition procedures, and in 2012 and 2016, the administration prepared for the possible, and actual, transfer of power. Narrators across the project archive remember these preparations, and share stories of their final days in the White House.