In mid-October, the George W. Bush administration convened a 14-member council to coordinate with and brief the winning campaign's transition team.
The New York Times reported that White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten then planned to recruit his predecessor, Andrew Card, to oversee the activity.

On November 6, Obama received his first classified intelligence briefing from Director of National Intelligence John Michael McConnell and Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden.

President Bush invited Obama and his team to attend the 2008 G-20 Washington summit held between November 15 and 20 in order to introduce him to more than 20 world leaders who attended the event.
However, Obama did not come, and his transition team instead sent former Republican Rep. Jim Leach and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to meet with the heads of state.
Obama was expected to address a United Nations global warming summit in Poland in December or allow a representative such as Al Gore to present his policies.

On November 10, Obama traveled to the White House and met with President Bush to discuss transition issues while First Lady Laura Bush took his wife Michelle on a tour of the mansion.
NBC News reported that Obama advanced his economic agenda with Bush, asking him to attempt to pass a stimulus package in a lame duck session of Congress before the inauguration.
He also urged Bush to accelerate the disbursement of $25 billion in funds to bail out the automobile industry and expressed concern about additional Americans losing their homes as mortgage rates increase again.

The Bush administration reportedly went out of its way to make the transition as seamless as possible for the incoming administration, earning accolades from Obama staff members and outside experts alike.
According to nearly all accounts, the Bush administration streamlined the process for new officials to obtain security clearances and planned training exercises for the incoming national security team, to ensure that they would be ready to face a possible crisis on the first day in office.
Part of this enhanced cooperation is required by laws passed at the behest of the 9/11 Commission, while part is attributed to the difficulty that the Bush administration had with its own transition, which lasted only five weeks and was felt to have had a deleterious effect on Bush's ability to govern. "
I'm not sure I've ever seen an outgoing administration work as hard at saying the right thing", said Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution. "
This is really quite memorable."
In mid-October, the George W. Bush administration convened a 14-member council to coordinate with and brief the winning campaign's transition team. The New York Times reported that White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten then planned to recruit his predecessor, Andrew Card, to oversee the activity.
On November 6, Obama received his first classified intelligence briefing from Director of National Intelligence John Michael McConnell and Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden.
President Bush invited Obama and his team to attend the 2008 G-20 Washington summit held between November 15 and 20 in order to introduce him to more than 20 world leaders who attended the event. However, Obama did not come, and his transition team instead sent former Republican Rep. Jim Leach and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to meet with the heads of state. Obama was expected to address a United Nations global warming summit in Poland in December or allow a representative such as Al Gore to present his policies.
On November 10, Obama traveled to the White House and met with President Bush to discuss transition issues while First Lady Laura Bush took his wife Michelle on a tour of the mansion. NBC News reported that Obama advanced his economic agenda with Bush, asking him to attempt to pass a stimulus package in a lame duck session of Congress before the inauguration. He also urged Bush to accelerate the disbursement of $25 billion in funds to bail out the automobile industry and expressed concern about additional Americans losing their homes as mortgage rates increase again.
The Bush administration reportedly went out of its way to make the transition as seamless as possible for the incoming administration, earning accolades from Obama staff members and outside experts alike. According to nearly all accounts, the Bush administration streamlined the process for new officials to obtain security clearances and planned training exercises for the incoming national security team, to ensure that they would be ready to face a possible crisis on the first day in office. Part of this enhanced cooperation is required by laws passed at the behest of the 9/11 Commission, while part is attributed to the difficulty that the Bush administration had with its own transition, which lasted only five weeks and was felt to have had a deleterious effect on Bush's ability to govern. "I'm not sure I've ever seen an outgoing administration work as hard at saying the right thing", said Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution. "This is really quite memorable."
Presidential transition of Barack Obama