The peaceful transfer of power is one of the fundamental tenets of American democracy. When George Washington ‘s second term was over, he voluntarily stepped down and John Adams, who had won the election, took office. “That was not a constitutional requirement at the time,” says Jon Michaels, a professor in the UCLA School of Law, author of Constitutional Coup: Privatization’s Threat to the American Republic , and noted authority on constitutional law, presidential powers, government ethics, and conflicts of interest. In fact, it’s still not. The 20th Amendment stipulates that a president’s term—outlined in the Constitution as a four-year period—ends at noon on January 20 at the end of those four years. But, the Constitution does not spell out how it is to be handled. Rather, it’s a matter of tradition. When Thomas Jefferson ran a politically heated campaign against John Adams in 1800, the Electoral College was tied and the outcome had to be ...
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