Dear presidential candidates:
A little over a year from now, one of you will take the oath of office. Before Inauguration Day is over, the unexpected could occur — a terrorist threat, a global or domestic crisis — and require your immediate attention.
Will you be ready?
As president, you will be in charge of the largest and most important organization in the world. You will have to make 4,000 political appointments, including more than 1,000 for Senate-confirmed leadership positions; oversee a $3.7 trillion budget; and manage a workforce of 2.1 million civilian employees and more than 2 million active-duty and reserve members of the armed forces. You will have to make decisions on a wide range of critical issues and reach accommodation with an often unruly 535-member board of directors known as Congress.
Despite the magnitude of this task, most candidates do not adequately prepare to govern. Campaigns are contentious and consuming, and carrying out transition planning well in advance of the election has been derisively viewed as presumptuous, with candidates often accused of prematurely “measuring the drapes†before votes are counted.
But the 77 days between the election and the inauguration do not provide enough time to identify and vet your top management team or get up to speed on the complex policy and management issues you will face. Even waiting to begin this work until after your party’s nominating convention this summer will be far too late.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
