# Who Teaches a New President of The U.S. How to Be President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380 "2007-06-09T17:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/41 "2016-11-10T05:40:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > How is Donald Trump supposed to fill every vital position in a fairly short period of time with fairly few insider political connections especially because his team is so small and he probably didn’t really believe he would win? > > Does the Republican Party just have to go into overdrive to start recruiting everyone from the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of Transportation as quickly as possible? Those are the just some of the major positions. There are countless numbers of more obscure ones as well. Traditionally, many of those jobs are already promised even before the election. Between the election and inauguration, some of those promises are confirmed, some are bent, and some are broken. But even if Trump doesn’t have anybody lined up, I don’t think the party has to go into “overdrive”. Firstly, there will be a queue of good people for all the good jobs. Secondly, the administration continues to work even if the appointed jobs aren’t filled. And thirdly, they don’t have to accept the resignation of anybody until they are ready to fill the position. The only ones that are going to be critical are cabinet positions, and they’ve got until mid-January to figure that out. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/42 "2016-11-10T05:57:46Z")
[Here](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/us/politics/in-an-age-of-terror-smoothing-the-transition-to-the-next-presidency.html) is an article from April saying that a presidential aide met with aides of each of the five major candidates to begin transition planning. The article mentions that in the autumn of 2015, Obama pushed his advisers to begin transition planning and that they were influenced by the transition from the GWB administration, which they said did an excellent job of managing the transition. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/43 "2016-11-10T07:40:48Z")
There’s a story from when Carter became President. He was in the White House and was being briefed on various military issues. One officer was explaining how the military had a system to evacuate the President out of Washington at a moment’s notice. Carter then said something like “Okay, let’s do it.” The officer said “What?” Carter said “You just told me there’s a system in place that can get me out of Washington within minutes at any time with no advanced warning. Activate it. I want to see how well it works.” While the plan existed on paper, nobody had anticipated using it that day. It supposedly took almost two hours before Carter was out of the city - long after he would have been killed in a real surprise attack. People forget Carter had a military background. He undoubtedly understood there was a difference between what the military says it could do and what it could actually do. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/44 "2016-11-10T13:18:08Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > And what is the difference between a “procedural matter” and a “crisis situation”. You have an intelligence report _or_ you have a national security emergency. It’s your choice. Sure, you can speak to the FBI and the CIA but ultimately it’s the President who acts. > > **One minute for the President is the equivilent of one hour in real time**. Is this really true? How often does the Prez really have to make a super-tough decision instaneously? Watching the West Wing on television was fun; but almost every episode included a trip to the top-secret situation room, and I doubt if that’s realistic. Let’s examiine one real-life event that we know about: killing Osama Ben Laden, with the famous picture in the situation room. That event took _years_ of preparation, gathering evidence, and planning. The president didnt have to make any momentous decisions under pressure. He only had to decide a few diplomatic issues for which only he held the authority (such as the violation of Pakistani airspace by our air force). That requires wisdom, careful judgement, etc–but I don’t think it’s such a high-pressure event that makes one minute seem like one hour. I’m guessing that the day-to-day work of the President is not so different than a CEO of a company. The difference , of course, is that it’s all under public scrutiny. Most presidents show the stress visibly after years in office–Comparing “before” and “after” pics of Jimmy Carter, he looks to me like a man who had a _lot_ more grey hair and wrinkles in the face than most men of the same age. But I’m guessing that a lot of the stress is just due to the lifestyle : having zero privacy, with every minute of every day planned for you, (even when you will be allowed to use the toilet.) The decisons that must be made are issues that have been in the public realm for years, and hundreds of Congressmen have discussed them before you make the final decision, say, to raise interest rates, cut the budget, etc. Even if the decision involves sending soliders-- to Iraq, or to Vietnam–is doesn’t seem to me that it would be so difficult that one minute seems like one hour. Even the issue of the nuclear red button is not a major source of stress. There were reports that the thumb drive with the launch codes got lost for a few days under Bill Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/45 "2016-11-10T13:34:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m speculating but most Presidents create a transition team. One of their jobs is to come up with lists of people to fill jobs in the executive department. I would expect Pence will be called on for this. You suspect slightly incorrect 🙂 [Chris Christie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_transition_of_Donald_Trump) is leading the transition team for the Trump Administration. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/46 "2016-11-10T15:14:33Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > [Here](http://www.loc.gov/jefftour/lc/) is the room in the Library which Presidents have utilized. Remember that Thomas Jefferson donated his private library collection. There is more of a connection with the Library of Congress and Presidents than you might think. Jefferson’s collection became the Library of Congress, not the presidential library, and virtually all of it was destroyed in a fire a few years later. > [@Princhester](#): > > If you watch “Yes Minister” the BBC TV series, right through to when it becomes “Yes, Prime Minister”, I think you’d get a pretty good idea. I know it’s English, but I suspect it all works the same way, broadly. Also, many politicians I have heard talking about the series suggest it is remarkably accurate. > > The broad summary? When he first becomes a Minister, the main character gets pushed around and told what to do by his advisors and top civil servants. Because they _do_ know what to do procedurally etc, he is at their mercy to some degree (not entirely, but enough to be slightly scary). Gradually, he learns his craft from them. US cabinet departments don’t really have the equivalent of a permanent secretary (the Humphrey Appleby character). There are certainly high-ranking civil servants who will remain between administrations but there tends to be more of a blurred line between political and civil service appointees near the top. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/47 "2016-11-10T15:34:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s a story from when Carter became President. He was in the White House and was being briefed on various military issues. One officer was explaining how the military had a system to evacuate the President out of Washington at a moment’s notice. > > Carter then said something like “Okay, let’s do it.” > The officer said “What?” > Carter said “You just told me there’s a system in place that can get me out of Washington within minutes at any time with no advanced warning. Activate it. I want to see how well it works.” > > While the plan existed on paper, nobody had anticipated using it that day. It supposedly took almost two hours before Carter was out of the city - long after he would have been killed in a real surprise attack. > > People forget Carter had a military background. He undoubtedly understood there was a difference between what the military says it could do and what it could actually do. I read about this in one of Tom Clancy’s books. I tried to find some real sources on this but was unable. Do you know of any cites that have this story? I’d like to read about it some more. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/48 "2016-11-10T16:09:41Z")
I wonder if George W. Bush is available, to come in as a mentor. You’re doing a heckuva job, Trumpie. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/49 "2016-11-10T16:13:26Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t mean to just bump my own thread but it is more relevant than I ever imagined until today. People might find it informative but I have additional questions. > > How is Donald Trump supposed to fill every vital position in a fairly short period of time with fairly few insider political connections especially because his team is so small and he probably didn’t really believe he would win? > > Does the Republican Party just have to go into overdrive to start recruiting everyone from the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of Transportation as quickly as possible? Those are the just some of the major positions. There are countless numbers of more obscure ones as well. This guy helped Trump pick Pence, and advising on Vice Presidents is a role he’s filled before. [Trump VP-vetter Culvahouse very unlike the candidate himself](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/05/trump-vp-vetter-culvahouse-very-unlike-candidate-himself/85353128/) Now that Trump has been elected, advisers like this will continue to help him find suitable candidates. Furthermore, candidates will approach the administration and talk with his confidants about possible roles in the new administration. The best Republicans will make themselves available when their country needs them. The American people (at least almost half of them) have entrusted Trump to make decisions about whom the best people are for these jobs. Trump doesn’t need to make all these decisions in one day. Trump also has a transition team as noted above, headed by Chris Christie. The executive agencies will prepare briefings for Trump and his staff before the inauguration so they can understand what’s going on at each agency. These agencies want the transition to be smooth as well. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/50 "2016-11-10T17:03:14Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@jtur88](#): > > I wonder if George W. Bush is available, to come in as a mentor. You’re doing a heckuva job, Trumpie. As tempting as it might be in a thread about political transition, let’s still do our best to keep the political pot-shots out of GQ. If you want to bash Trump, there are plenty of other threads where you may freely do so in Elections and the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/51 "2016-11-10T17:18:57Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I don’t mean to just bump my own thread but it is more relevant than I ever imagined until today. People might find it informative but I have additional questions. > > How is Donald Trump supposed to fill every vital position in a fairly short period of time with fairly few insider political connections especially because his team is so small and he probably didn’t really believe he would win? > > Does the Republican Party just have to go into overdrive to start recruiting everyone from the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of Transportation as quickly as possible? Those are the just some of the major positions. There are countless numbers of more obscure ones as well. Trump’s not nearly as much of an outsider as he’s portrayed to be. He has many political connections, especially for someone who has never held office before. [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-lobbyists-washington-insider-213466](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-lobbyists-washington-insider-213466) You know how people complain about “corporate fat-cats” and Wall Street folks pulling the strings in Washington? Trump is exactly the kind of person they’re talking about. It’s just that he’s taking a more hands-on approach now. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/52 "2016-11-10T17:25:45Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > …When Kennedy won in 1960, he thoroughly ignored Eisenhower during a transition briefly. Several months later after he screwed up the Bay of Pigs, he called in Eisenhower again and this time Ike told him to pay attention to him. When someone proposes something ask plenty of questions about it, why it will succeed and what could go wrong. I have read about the Eisenhower-Kennedy transition in a number of places, and believe you are mistaken. Their pre-Inauguration meeting went well, and Ike confided to an aide that he thought better of JFK after having met him. Ike was _in favor_ of what became the Bay of Pigs invasion, and suggested that JFK proceed with it. JFK did meet with Ike at Camp David soon after the debacle, but I have read nowhere that “this time Ike told him to pay attention to him.” See _Kennedy’s Wars_ by Lawrence Freedman, _President Kennedy_ by Richard Reeves and _A Thousand Days_ by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/53 "2016-11-10T17:45:55Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Trump’s not nearly as much of an outsider as he’s portrayed to be. He has many political connections, especially for someone who has never held office before. I would speculate that Trump’s political connections are at a different level than the people he’s dealing with now. He’s probably always dealt with the people at the top: members of Congress, Governors, agency heads. But he probably doesn’t know the staff people all that well. And those staff people are the ones he needs right now as he’s trying to create a presidential administration. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/54 "2016-11-10T17:48:26Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > As tempting as it might be in a thread about political transition, let’s still do our best to keep the political pot-shots out of GQ. > > If you want to bash Trump, there are plenty of other threads where you may freely do so in Elections and the Pit. You didn’t notice that my intent was to bash Bush? Trump’s lack of presidential expertise is already a given “bash” in the OP. Aside from the perfectly legitimate observation that a president-elect with little prior political experience could benefit from a mentor from the list of ex-presidents. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380/55 "2016-11-12T20:17:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m speculating but most Presidents create a transition team. One of their jobs is to come up with lists of people to fill jobs in the executive department. I would expect Pence will be called on for this. > [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > You suspect slightly incorrect 🙂 [Chris Christie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_transition_of_Donald_Trump) is leading the transition team for the Trump Administration. History has vindicated me. Christie has been demoted and Pence is taking over the transition team. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-teaches-a-new-president-of-the-u-s-how-to-be-president/407380.md?page=2)