Before the Oath: How George W. Bush and Barack Obama Managed a Transfer of Power

by Martha Joynt Kumar

It’s one of the hallmarks of American democracy: on inauguration day, the departing president heeds the will of the people and hands the keys to power to a successor. The transition from one administration to the next sounds simple, even ceremonial. But in 2009, as President George W. Bush briefed President-elect Barack Obama about the ongoing wars and plummeting economy he’d soon inherit, the Bush team revealed that they were grappling with a late-breaking threat to the presidency: U.S. intelligence sources believed that a terror group with links to Al Qaeda planned to attack the National Mall during the inaugural festivities. Although this violence never materialized, its possibility made it clear that well-laid contingency plans were essential.

Political scientist Martha Joynt Kumar uncovered this secret peril while interviewing senior Bush and Obama advisers for her latest book. In Before the Oath, Kumar documents how two presidential teams—one outgoing, the other incoming—must forge trusting alliances in order to help the new president succeed in his or her first term.

Kumar enjoyed unprecedented access to several incumbent and candidate transition team members, and she combines in-depth scholarship with one-on-one interviews to put readers squarely behind the scenes. Using the Bush-Obama handoff as a lens through which to examine the presidential transition process, Kumar interweaves examples from previous administrations as far back as Truman-Eisenhower. Her subjects describe in vivid detail the challenges of sowing campaign ideals across a sprawling executive branch as Congress, the media, and external events press in. Kumar’s lively account of lessons learned and pitfalls encountered during past presidential transitions provides an essential road map for presidential aspirants and their advisers, as well as campaign workers, federal employees, and political appointees.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

331 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 2015

Reviews

[Eric Carzon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review.

Martha Joynt Kumar is national expert on presidential transitions, has spent may years in the White House Press room, and has given us a very detailed account of the 2008 - 9 transition between President Bush and President Obama. This transition was especially complex and dangerous, with the nation undergoing the most significant economic crisis since the Great Depression, while also prosecuting a war in two countries. She details the substantial efforts of the Bush administration, the responsiveness of the Obama organization, and the work of the many other players involved. She describes the evolution of this vital process since the Truman administration, the changes required because of the events of Sept. 11th 2001, and the increasing scope and complexity of the federal government. You'll also learn a little about many administrations dating back to the Truman Administration, the federal government and elections in general, and I think have a newly found or deeper respect for the women and men who collaborate together to make the government work. This book is very thoroughly researched, and brings in the words and viewpoints of many senior staff from the Obama, McCain, Bush (W). and others who were directly involved in these transitions of power.

About M. Kumar. (From Johns Hopkins University Press website)
Martha Joynt Kumar is a professor of political science at Towson University. She is the author of Managing the President’s Message: The White House Communications Operation, winner of the American Political Science Association’s 2008 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, and the coauthor of Portraying the President: The White House and the News Media

Availability
This book was published in 2015, and is generally available for purchase on-line from numerous vendors as new, used, or electronic. It has some limited availability in public and university libraries in Maryland, where I live (you may have to use Inter-library Loan).

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but a lot to it - worth a re-read.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book because the subject is important to me. The book is essentially a big "research paper" on the 2008 transition. The author is detailed in her reporting, and there are flashes of excitement and fascinating narrative. But little is revealed that would not be more than common sense: plan ahead to transition the most important job in the world. Many times the author repeats herself, and the writing style lacks any excitement. This is an overview of the transition with no drama. The books is well researched.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too academic for me. Not enough of a narative for the transition. Still some interesting things but i didn't finish.