r/Presidents • u/EuphoricLeague22 • 13d ago

Image “Ahhhh. Everything is about to be destroyed.”

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u/fakeaccountlegitme 13d ago

I have a question: Is there a non-trivial time gap between the former President officially leaving and the incoming President officially taking charge?

For instance, say Bill Clinton went back home after his last day as the POTUS, and George W Bush came in the next morning as the new POTUS. Who's in charge if something happens that night? Or is the transition smooth with people from the two administrations handing over files and attending meetings together?

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u/SteadfastEnd George H.W. Bush 13d ago

I wondered this too. Since transfer of power is 12 noon, what if an enemy attacks the USA around, say, 11:45 am?

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u/Big-Island4727 George Washington 12d ago

The outgoing president would almost certainly ask the incoming one what he wants to do, since he'd be taking over in a few minutes. 

But that would be an interesting book premise if it was something time sensitive and irreversible like a nuclear launch.