In 1797, President George Washington was determined to unambiguously hand over the nation’s reins for the first time.
He attended the inauguration ceremony of John Adams to show his support. Unfortunately, Adams struggled to follow Washington’s lead bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
He attended the inauguration ceremony of John Adams to show his support. Unfortunately, Adams struggled to follow Washington’s lead bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Adams wouldn’t be the last leader to act out during these critical moments for American democracy.
On his first full day as president, John Adams found the time to complain to his wife in a letter about Washington’s magnanimous behavior bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
On his first full day as president, John Adams found the time to complain to his wife in a letter about Washington’s magnanimous behavior bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Washington, he wrote, “seemed to enjoy a triumph over me. Methought I heard him say, ‘Ay, I am fairly out and you fairly in! See which of us will be happiest!”
Indeed, Washington’s return to Mount Vernon was a happy one bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Indeed, Washington’s return to Mount Vernon was a happy one bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Adams, meanwhile, became engulfed in controversy.
He waged a vicious war on the political opposition, using the Alien and Sedition Acts to prosecute followers of Thomas Jefferson. Thin-skinned and vindictive, Adams tried to stay in power – and failed bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
He waged a vicious war on the political opposition, using the Alien and Sedition Acts to prosecute followers of Thomas Jefferson. Thin-skinned and vindictive, Adams tried to stay in power – and failed bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Jefferson ultimately defeated Adams.
Well before dawn on Inauguration Day, Adams left Washington in a horse-drawn carriage. Some of his more charitable biographers have argued that this flight was simply an attempt to avoid stealing the limelight bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Well before dawn on Inauguration Day, Adams left Washington in a horse-drawn carriage. Some of his more charitable biographers have argued that this flight was simply an attempt to avoid stealing the limelight bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
But his son John Quincy Adams did something very similar in 1828 when he lost to Andrew Jackson.
Unlike his dad, his decision was based on the cabinet’s advice, almost all of whom hoped to avoid further embarrassment after a brutal campaign bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Unlike his dad, his decision was based on the cabinet’s advice, almost all of whom hoped to avoid further embarrassment after a brutal campaign bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
When Jackson stepped down, he gave way to Martin Van Buren, his hand-picked successor.
No conflict there. In fact, the two men invented a new transition tradition: outgoing and incoming presidents riding together to the inauguration in a carriage bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
No conflict there. In fact, the two men invented a new transition tradition: outgoing and incoming presidents riding together to the inauguration in a carriage bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Presidential transitions remained remarkably civil until Andrew Johnson’s disastrous term.
Much like President Trump, Johnson proved a terribly divisive figure. His replacement, Ulysses S. Grant, loathed him as much as anyone bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Much like President Trump, Johnson proved a terribly divisive figure. His replacement, Ulysses S. Grant, loathed him as much as anyone bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
In the end, though, it was Grant who came off looking like a sore loser — despite winning the election. He:
🚫Had “bitter personal and party animosity”
🚫Blew off Johnson’s New Year’s reception
🚫Refused to share a carriage with the outgoing president bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
🚫Had “bitter personal and party animosity”
🚫Blew off Johnson’s New Year’s reception
🚫Refused to share a carriage with the outgoing president bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Grant's behavior during the transition was a harbinger of troubles to come.
Though subsequent transitions have been tense, they never degenerated to this degree bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Though subsequent transitions have been tense, they never degenerated to this degree bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
➡️Hoover despised FDR, but they still shared a carriage on the way to the ceremony
➡️Eisenhower and Truman squabbled, but they rode together in a limousine.
➡️Carter did the same after his defeat by Reagan, as did H.W. Bush and Clinton bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
➡️Eisenhower and Truman squabbled, but they rode together in a limousine.
➡️Carter did the same after his defeat by Reagan, as did H.W. Bush and Clinton bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
It may not be a coincidence that presidents who behave badly during transitions usually share something else in common, too: They’re viewed as the worst presidents overall.
As for Trump, he’s a throwback to a less civilized era of petty partisanship bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
As for Trump, he’s a throwback to a less civilized era of petty partisanship bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
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