Adult Bush Administration Could Teach Clinton Holdovers to 'Put Away Childish Things'

All of the telecasts of yesterday's Inauguration lauded the peaceful, and even positive, transfer of power that we take for granted in America. Indeed, it is something to be applauded. The pictures of the Obamas and Bidens seeing the Bushes off in their helicopter, even sharing a joke on the stairs, were a moving testament to the grand idea behind America that extends legitimacy to each executive during each hand-off, no matter how dicey.

Many commentators noted that the 2001 transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush wasn't similarly friendly or celebratory in tone. Because of the controversy over the election's outcome, the incoming Bush team and the outgoing Clinton team were engaged in a P.R. war in the press over transition funds and transition headquarters until late November. Bill Clinton himself was offering helpful soundbites about Gore's fight for "every single vote" to count while Andy Card (incoming COS) and John Podesta (outgoing COS) were publicly arguing about whether Podesta was returning Card's calls.

It was only in mid-December when Al Gore finally conceded the election, that the Bush team officially got to take the reins, pulling off what historians have deemed an impressively smooth transition considering they had about half the time other administrations have had.

Beyond the contentious election, which iced already chilly Clinton/Bush White House relations, there was the well-known damage done to the White House and other offices by Clinton staff, inflicting the final indignity of the Mark Rich era of Clinton's presidency. Apparently determined to leave the office of the presidency like disreputable double-wide renters, Clinton staff removed "W" keys from White House keyboards and left obscene voice mails, notes, and trash behind, to the tune of at least several thousand dollars worth of damage, according to a GAO report. Democrats predictably decried the GAO report as a witch-hunt. Although there's some dispute over how widespread the damage was, there were pranks pulled and some damage done.

Clinton staffers dismissed any accusations that they were not cooperative enough, adding that the first Bush had left them a White House missing "even basic office supplies," and had not offered briefings to incoming staff. As reported by the NYT:

It is clear that in addition to the mandates of the transition law, some old grudges are playing out. Mr. Clinton's aides bitterly maintain that the administration of Mr. Bush's father did little to help the incoming Clinton team at the end of 1992, after a hard-fought campaign. They arrived, they say, to a White House lacking even basic office supplies.

Oddly enough, I can find no reporting in the New York Times along these lines from the actual transition of 1993; only retroactive complaints during the 2001 transition, when the Clintons needed a plausible motive for their behavior. In fact, most blame the truly disorganized Clinton transition, not on Bush 41, but on Clinton's continuous campaigning, appointing Cabinet members before appointing a Chief of Staff, and letting the "gays in the military" issue take up too much ink during the transition.

Obama learned from the mistakes of Clinton in transition (as he has shown an ability to do in other areas), and had the benefit of an extremely cooperative Bush administration to keep his transition running well.

During yesterday's peaceful and positive transition, commentators gave the Clinton crew a pass on its bad behavior during 2001. They similarly gave a pass to 2001's protesters, many of whom waved "Hail to the Thief" signs at Bush's limo on Inauguration Day, blaming the behavior on the hotly contested election.