Changes

The Twentieth Amendment moved inauguration to January 20th since the time after the 1932 election. That amendment was influenced by the fact that long transitions between November and March, as in previous elections, could be harmful for the country, given an administration without much power can do little to enact new legislation. After the 1932 election, the transition from Herbert Hoover to Franklin Roosevelt appeared to be potentially volatile given the vast differences between the candidates on how to tackle the growing economic crisis. Both had argued different methods for healing the economic crisis that became the Great Depression during the campaign, with Roosevelt's New Deal policies winning out over Hoover's cooperative volunteerism. Within a day after the election, Hoover conceded and wrote: 'In the common purpose of all of us, I shall dedicate myself to every possible helpful effort' in reference to his planned assistance in the transition. However, soon after this statement, Hoover moved to try to get Roosevelt to change his mind about enacting New Deal measures, such as the public works plan. Hoover did not want the government to actively encourage these programs and worked to dissuade Roosevelt and branches of government. Roosevelt reacted by refusing to collaborate with the outgoing president in the transition process, leading to tension between the two. By the time inauguration came around, the two rivals did decide to take the now customary carriage ride together to at least show unity. The lack of preparation and cooperation by Roosevelt and Hoover did possibly delay some relief measures that could have helped households, but, nevertheless, Hoover never really formally attempted to block Roosevelt from taking power or enacting his policies. President Harry Truman helped to set a positive tone and precedent by also inviting the president-elect, Dwight D. Eisenhower, after the 1952 election, to the White House and directly ordering federal agencies to work with the Eisenhower team in preparation for the transition.<ref>For more on this difficult transition in 1932-1933, see: Rauchway, E., 2018. <i>Winter war: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the first clash over the New Deal</i>. First edition. ed. Basic Books, New York.</ref>

There were some positive developments. President Harry Truman helped to set a positive tone and precedent by also inviting the president-elect, Dwight D. Eisenhower, after the 1952 election, to the White House and directly ordering federal agencies to work with the Eisenhower team in preparation for the transition. Inviting the winning candidate to the White House soon after the election began to be a tradition after this time. Although presidential transitions were sometimes tense, on the outside the transitions have been peaceful throughout US history with no incident of verified violence that was encouraged by any side. However, until 1963, there was no formal law that governed how a presidential transition would be handled. To help ensure a continuity of a peaceful and orderly transition, The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 was passed. The act enabled mechanisms for a formal transition, including for the incoming president to access branches of the government to ensure that the incoming president could have knowledge of key information prior to taking office. This act has continually been changed and amended to enable formal links of the government with the incoming president, including establishing the General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator to formally write an "ascertainment" letter that would declare a non-incumbent candidate to be an "apparent winner". This would formally release federal money to enable the transition for the incoming president.<ref>For more on the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and subsequent legislation related to it, see: Campbell, K.M., Steinberg, J., 2008. <i>Difficult transitions: foreign policy troubles at the outset of presidential power</i>. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C. </ref>