Obama’s unusual transition: Already a co-president
By David Lightman | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — America has never seen anything quite like this: The president and president-elect acting like co-presidents, consulting and cooperating on the day’s biggest crises.
“It’s pretty unusual,” said George Edwards, a presidential expert at Texas A&M University, in College Station.
What Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer calls “the split-screen presidency” is the result of several historic forces converging this fall:
The 24-7 nature of the global economy, which demands timely reaction.
Incoming and outgoing presidents who have personal and political reasons to show that they can manage a crisis.
A president-elect, Barack Obama, who “believes in strong government and wants to get things under way immediately,” said William Leuchtenburg, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor who’s written extensively about the presidency.
A lame-duck president, George W. Bush, who’s leaving office voluntarily. “Bush was not defeated. That makes for an easier relationship,” Leutchtenburg said.
Monday gave a vivid illustration of the comity that’s characterized the Bush-Obama minuet. Bush’s statement took only two minutes, but it included this paean to his successor: “I talked to Obama about the decision we made. I told the American people, and I told the president-elect when I first met him, that anytime we were to make a big decision during this transition, he will be informed, as will his team.”
About an hour and a half later, Obama unveiled his economic team at a Chicago news conference and mentioned that he’d spoken to Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke earlier Monday.
It’s not unusual for presidents and successors to talk and consult each other, particularly about crises, though the shared spotlight this time takes that to a whole new level. In December 1992, the George H.W. Bush White House briefed CIinton on its plan to send American troops on a humanitarian mission to Somalia, and the president-elect issued a statement commending Bush for his “leadership.” That’s more typical.
“People feel a need for immediate action,” Edwards said. “In the past, you could usually wait.”
Obama, analysts argue, needs to appear in control not only to reassure markets but also to establish his credibility. The former Illinois U.S. senator has no record of economic management and was barely known outside his home state until he ran for president.
“It’s not unusual for the president-elect to have news conferences, but in an economic crisis, it’s particularly important that you give people confidence,” George Edwards said.
Bush has his own motivations.
“To a large degree, Bush’s legacy is in the hands of Barack Obama,” said Tim Blessing, the director of the presidential performance study at Alvernia University in Reading, Pa. The more they’re seen working together, the more Bush could get some credit for any Obama successes next year.
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