Carter was the first United States presidential candidate to provide substantial pre-election staff and funding to transition preparations.

[3][4][5][6] Jack Watson had gotten the idea for such an effort around this time, after separate discussions with Jule Sugarman and Charles Kirbo, the latter of whom was serving as the Carter campaign's finance chairman for the state of Georgia.

[7][8] After discussions about this, Watson prepared a memorandum for Carter, with Sugarman and Kirbo's input, outlining the need for presidential transition planning.

[8] By July, following the Democratic National Convention, a formal transition planning team was put in place.

[8] Harrison Wellford, who was Senator Philip Hart's chief legislative assistant, headed efforts related government reorganization and White House staffing.

[4][5][11][14][16] His failed effort to get the FEC to make that change also made the existence of his pre-election transition planning team public knowledge.

[18] In August, Watson and Bowman Cutter spent a day in Washington, D.C. receiving briefings from members of the Senate Budget Committee.

[12] In September and October, Watson held meetings with a number of academic experts, members of past presidential administrations, and Washington, D.C., insiders.

These included members of the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations, such Joseph A. Califano Jr., Clark Clifford, Stephen H. Hess, Bill Moyers, Richard Neustadt, and Ted Sorensen.

[12] Among other individuals that Watson had also met with before the election was former Nixon personnel director Fred Malek, who was willing to provide advice despite being a supporter of Gerald Ford's reelection effort.

[4][26][27] On November 3, Carter sent a letter to outgoing president Gerald Ford informing him that Watson would be his principal representative for coordinating transition arrangements.

[31] The role of the outgoing Ford administration in the transition was headed by White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney.

[37] That same day, Carter met with director of the Office of Management and Budget James Thomas Lynn and secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Blair House.

[36] The following day, Carter conferred with congressional leaders, expressing that his meetings with Cabinet members had been "very helpful" and saying Ford had requested he seek out his assistance if needing anything.

[34] On January 4, Carter told reporters that he would free himself from potential conflicts of interest by leaving his peanut business in the hands of trustees.

[45] On January 6, Carter asked former governor of Maine Kenneth M. Curtis to serve as chair of the Democratic National Committee.

[46] On January 13, Carter set up an economic summit meeting for non-Communist countries in a call with foreign leaders from Japan, France, Germany, and Great Britain.

[47] Having campaigned as an outsider against the "swamp" of Washington, D.C., Carter's advisors urged him to maintain an image of the "citizen president" during his transition.

[48] There was initially conflict between the Democratic National Committee, Carter advisor Hamilton Jordan, and Director of the Transition Jack Watson as to who would take a leading role in hiring.

[52] In his November 15 press conference, Carter pledged to select appointees using a process designed, "to insure that the best person in the country is chosen for each position".

[33] In shaping his presidential administration, Carter granted his Cabinet designees large liberty to help select sub-cabinet appointees.

[11][55][56] Richard Nixon had, similarly, given his Cabinet secretaries large liberty in selecting their subordinates, a decision that is credited with having weakened his control over the policy direction of his administration.

[24] Carter also made an effort to follow through on a campaign pledge to decrease the size of the White House staff by 30%.

[57][59] A week prior to his inauguration, Carter named his White House staff, which consisted largely of individuals from Georgia.

[67] A 1998 article by Anthony J. Eksterowicz and Glenn Hastedt published in 'Presidential Studies Quarterly argued that, "Carter was the first modern president to think systematically about his transition".

[11] Scholar John P. Burke has credited Carter as being the first transition in which significant pre-election planning was undertaken, a practice which has been followed since.

[4] It was argued that Carter's early planning, beginning his transition planning prior to even his party's presidential nominating convention, and the form of his transition as a "systematic exercise" marked a step in the evolution what was previously a more informal process that took place over a shorter period of time and involving fewer individuals.