Although the new president will not take office until January 20, 2009, the Bush administration already is preparing for a smooth and orderly transition. The United States has had peaceful transitions for more than 200 years, which means the governmental institutions – and most of the employees who staff them – remain in place from one administration to the next.
In a recent e-mail to State Department employees, Secretary Rice said, “on November 4, the American people will exercise their right to choose their leaders. The ability freely to elect a government and the orderly transition of power from one administration to the next are the foundations of democracy. As the transition approaches, we must begin preparations for a seamless handover of our foreign policy to the new leadership.”
Rice said she has established a team to oversee the department’s transistion efforts. Despite the transition, the department’s goals remain the same. After November 4, the president-elect, whoever he is, will set up his own transition team to work with members of the outgoing administration to ensure an orderly transfer of power.
“Significant challenges remain before us in the months ahead, and we will continue to work diligently to promote America’s interests. We will depend on all Department employees to continue your hard work in promoting security, prosperity, and democracy around the world, while also preparing our new leadership for their roles,” Rice said.
Comments (3)
ishad Mohammad
19 September 2008 at 05:23 EDT
Permalink
With Barack Obama, America’s long damaged reputation as the most terrorist country in the world would be redeemed, and above all, terrorism all over the world will be a thing of the past.
Therefore, Barack Obama should be seen as a messiah and the only hope for the entire progressive and peace loving Americans, who do not want to see thier children bieng sacrificed by some interest in innocent countries of the world, and thier hard earned monies bieng squandered in the pretence of fighting terror,which America is clamouring to curve, while in real sense, she is the world mother and perpetuator of all terrors.
nguen.b.riek yahy
20 September 2008 at 12:32 EDT
Permalink
yes mr ishad mohammad,
you may have a point, but,what hope people have,must be U S citizens choices.
any way we shall see it.
Nat
24 September 2008 at 22:19 EDT
Permalink
This is what I think about the election with Obama and McCain, and I hope I don’t offend anyone of any race when I say this.
I’m not a racist person, but
“The reality is we live in a racist country.”
If McCain wins, they will say it’s because of his color. If that happens, we will have a race war in our own country, at a time of our depression. This will make crime go up, war, and many other negative things, causing even more problems for us.
Also, if Obama wins, there may be the same conflict as if Mccain would win.
With the money problems we are dealing with, I don’t think we need another war on our hands, especially in our own country.
This is a personal opinion, but I hope whoever the new president is, all of our problems will be solved.