BackStory

The following links and documents relate to the BackStory episode “The More Things Change: The History of Presidential Transitions”, originally broadcast in January of 2009. You can listen to the entire episode here.

All Centuries

• “I Do Solemnly Swear…“: Presidential Inaugurations at the Library of Congress
• Inaugural addresses from Washington to Obama
• Historians discuss inaugurations past and present on the PBS NewsHour
• White House Transition Project‘s report, “Lessons from Past Transitions” (PDF)
• Inauguration history from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
• National Archives reporting on abrupt transitions
• Presidential inaugurations resource list

18th Century

19th Century

• Why did President Polk want war with Mexico?

20th Century & Beyond

• Text & video of Barack Obama’s 2009 inaugural address
• A series of reports on presidential transitions
• White House transitions interviews from the Nixon to Clinton administrations
• Week one and counting – how presidents spent the first eleven weeks in office
• A day-by-day account of Barack Obama’s transition