The peaceful transfer of power from one presidential administration to another, or from a first to second term, is the cornerstone of American democracy. In this episode of “Profiles in Public Service,” Rachel Klein-Kircher and Loren DeJonge Schulman are joined by three practitioners and experts on presidential transitions who discuss the major challenges the Biden-Harris team had to overcome during the toughest transition in modern U.S. history, how a new administration identifies, recruits and nominates the right people to fill the nearly 4,000 presidential appointee positions who serve across government, and lessons that can be learned by examining the complex process that is fundamental to our democracy.

Our expert guests include:

• Gautam Raghavan, the current director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel for the Biden Administration and a former presidential team lead for Biden-Harris transition.
• David Marchick, author of, “The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of Presidential Transitions,” a joint project between The University of Virginia Press, UVA’s Miller Center, and the Partnership for Public Service, released in October 2022.
• Valerie Smith Boyd, current director of the Partnership’s Center for Presidential Transition.

A full transcript of this episode can be found here.

Additional resources:

• Purchase “The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of Presidential Transitions.”
• Read Valerie Smith Boyd’s blog post about the importance of chronicling presidential transitions.
• Learn more about the Center for Presidential Transition.
• Listen to Transition Lab, a podcast from the Partnership for Public Service.
• Learn more about the White House Personnel Office.
• Submit your resume to serve as a political appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration.
• Explore internship opportunities at The Executive Office of the President.
• Apply to be a White House Fellow.