No Time For ‘Nobody Home’ (Washington Post)…Richard Armitage and Michele A. Flournoy, June 9, 2008, Pg. 17
…The “nobody home” phenomenon that occurs between Election Day and the inauguration, as the old administration empties out and the new one has yet to fill its ranks, poses serious risks. It is imperative that this transition proceed quickly and effectively. As Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently noted, “It’s important for us to get as many principals in positions as rapidly as possible in a time of war.”
… But the world does not wait for presidencies to get established. Several American presidents have been tested within their first few months: Kennedy became embroiled in the Bay of Pigs (April 1961); Nixon ordered secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia (March 1969); Clinton inherited a deteriorating situation in Somalia (May 1993); and George W. Bush had to deal with China’s grounding of a U.S. Navy EP-3 aircraft (April 2001).
The next president is even more likely to be tested early. The nation cannot afford to wait six months to have key national security officials in place. We should aim to have them in office within days or, at most, weeks of Jan. 20, 2009.
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