Changes

In the history of presidential electionelections, there has been no shortage of acrimony between rivals for the country's top elected job. However, even before formal laws were established, and despite personal acrimony, presidential transitions since 1801 have been relatively without trouble. Presidents such as Hoover did sometimes work behind the scenes to impede the incoming administration's policies, but no president has formally impeded the process once election results were certified. In fact, only the 2000 and 2020 elections have taken more than a few days after the election to formally launch the transition process. For the 2000 election, it did provide important lessons that limiting the transition time can have negative consequences for the country, particularly on national security issues.