Rethinking The Clinton Transition

Remember how bad that Clinton transition was? All the nominee juggling. The stronger-than-expected prerogatives of Congress? Early White House chaos? Communications problems?   The point is: transitions are very hard. Maybe it's not fair to compare them. Depending upon your point of view, Obama's transition was stunningly efficient (thanks in large part to the Bush White House) or it vindicated the decisions that Clinton's planners made. In late 1992, Clinton decided to focus on cabinet nominees and policy first, and put off the organization of the White House staff until later. Some of Obama's policy reviews, by contrast, still haven't been completed. The White House staff had weeks to prepare, but in retrospect, the building is like a gravity field operating on energy: everything slows down, regardless of input.  Metrics don't tells us everything either; by this point in 1993, every cabinet member sans one -- the Attorney General -- was confirmed.