Presidential Transitions, Then And Now

Then: January, 1993, the transition from George H.W. Bush to Bill Clinton:

[Outgoing President George H.W. Bush] was dignity personified. The campaign was spirited. Republicans accused former President Bill Clinton of somehow being politically compromised because of a student trip he took to the Soviet Union in 1969. Bush himself, in a campaign speech, called Clinton a "bozo," a comment he said later he hadn't thought was all that offensive.

And, as a strategist for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign, I can tell you we launched our fair share of attacks as well, taunting Bush for pledging "read my lips, no new taxes" and mocking Bush's seeming inaction in the face of a recession. Tame stuff compared to today, to be sure. But the potential for a deep and lasting rupture was real, and both men made a special point to unite the country.

This is where Bush's amazing grace came in. He was a wounded politician, but more than that he was a patriot. "Among the many memories from my first inauguration that I'll cherish for the rest of my life," Clinton recalled to me, "is the extraordinary graciousness that President and Mrs. Bush showed to Hillary, Chelsea and me on what had to have been an incredibly difficult day for them."

The outgoing president and incoming President-elect meet for coffee at the White House before the swearing-in, and one can imagine that the coffee comes with a quite a bit of tension -- especially when you must depart the White House for the last time in the company of the guy who kicked you out. But the Bushes cut through it, Clinton told me. "They treated us with genuine kindness, and expressed a real hope that our country would be successful over the next four years, and that our family would be happy in the White House."

Former first lady Barbara Bush, herself a fierce competitor, shifted into loving grandmother mode. "I'll never forget Mrs. Bush praising Chelsea, who was 12 at the time," Clinton told me, "for the way she handled herself so maturely through the crucible of the campaign. Chelsea replied, 'Thank you, Mrs. Bush, I tried.' And Mrs. Bush said, in her direct, classic way, 'Oh, we all try. But not everyone can do it.'" (From an article at CNN written by Paul Begala; read it here.)

Now: from Donald to Joe Biden

On the morning of January 20, Donald Trump and Melania Trump will depart the White House as President and first lady, but they will not invite their incoming counterparts, Joe and Jill Biden, inside before they do.

The dissolving of one of America's most enduring transfer-of-power rituals -- the outgoing president welcoming the incoming president on the steps of the North Portico, and then riding with them to the United States Capitol -- is just one of the snubs the Trumps are perpetrating as they leave Washington.
Instead of a president and first lady, the Bidens will be greeted by the White House chief usher Timothy Harleth, according to a source familiar with the day's events and planning. Harleth, a 2017 Trump hire from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, will likely not stay on in the Biden administration, the source said, noting the role of chief usher in all probability will be filled by someone more familiar with the incoming president and first lady.

The afternoon of Inauguration Day, then-President Biden will participate in a ceremonial wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery, joined by former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

... The Inauguration Day snub of the Biden's comes on the heels of a series of broken norms and childish behavior that comes directly from the President of the United States, who has been vocal about his disinterest in preserving any semblance of decency towards the man who will succeed him.
Trump, according to several sources, is even mulling whether to write a letter to Biden to leave for him in the Oval Office, a standard-bearing tradition.

Melania Trump, who has not been seen in public in more than two weeks, has not reached out to Jill Biden, dashing expectations she would continue the passing along of hospitality to her successor, hosting her for a tour. (Also from CNN, from an article titled "Trumps' snub of Bidens historic in its magnitude," read it here.)