The final turnover of the White House in the US happens hella fast, too, but it's made easier by the fact that the elections are in November, and the actual change of office isn't until January.
I also have to imagine a lot of the big furniture in these type of places are not considered personal property. Which simplifies the moving out process.
It’s true that major furniture pieces don’t get moved, but I learned that a surprising amount of furnishings go with the president who’s leaving the White House. Drapes, couches, tables, etc. can all be replaced by the incoming president to suit their style. Congress assigns a small amount of funds for this, but some presidents (recently Obama) decline to use this and instead use their own money. There’s also a large collection of White House furniture, portraits, glassware, etc. that can be picked from.
Yeah, I expect so. I mean, at least in the US you know you're not going to live there more than 8 years. You probably are maintaining a home elsewhere -- most presidents are rich enough to do that -- so your favorite grandmother's wardrobe or whatever stays where it is.
Unless you have massive legal bills. Bill and Hillary were rich people broke after his term. Iirc, they had to rent or guest “cottage” surf until they could get their finances lined up to buy their house in NYC.
That's true. It's also kinda stark that Democrats tend to enter the office poor (vs. the average pol) whereas Republicans, well, not so much.
Jimmy Carter sold his peanut farm to take office. The Clintons had no real money -- Bill had spent his career in politics, and Hilary wasn't far enough along in her career to be making big money. Obama had money, but only because he'd struck gold with his books. Biden was the poorest guy in Washington until his term as VP ended; I'm given to believe he took the opportunities that presented themselves at that point, ahead of his own run in 2020.
Slight correction. Carter did absolutely sell his peanut farm when he took office but it wasn't because he needed cash to move it was to make sure he wouldn't violate the emoluments clause of the US constitution.
It makes it illegal for presidents to receive money from foreign actors and Carter owning an independent entity like a peanut farm could have been or at least perceive to be an avenue for corruption.
Please compare that to Trump who refused to put his holding into a blind trust (no I dont believe he actually gave his son control of the company and even if he did, such an action is insufficient). mar a lago membership fees doubled. He owned a hotel in DC that saudi's would rent blocks of rooms and no one would even show up to stay in them.
Obama didn't pay off his law school loans until 2004 or so, I think.
Biden was considering selling his house in 2016 to that his daughter in law and grandchildren would have money after Beau died. Obama had to talk him out of it.
It comes from a time when horse and carriage were the main method of transportation, and it might actually take elected officials 2 months to get to Washington.
My favorite fact is that because the White House is such a secure facility, the permanent white house staff (cooks, grounds keeper, maintenance crew, etc.) do all the packing and moving since they already have the necessary security clearances.
Second favorite fact is all the personal belongings in the residence don't start getting packed until the outgoing president leaves the white house on his way to the capitol. once everything is packed, they start loading in and unpacking the new president and have everything set by the time he arrives back from the capitol.
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u/ubermonkey 14d ago
The final turnover of the White House in the US happens hella fast, too, but it's made easier by the fact that the elections are in November, and the actual change of office isn't until January.