[2] More substantive planning for a potential presidential transition by Reagan began in the Spring of 1980, substantially before the Republican National Convention was held.

[5] Helene von Damm acted as James' deputy in overseeing the pre-election transition planning effort.

[7] Lawyers of the Federal Election Commission, in September, drafted an advisory opinion that stated that, so long as the transition trust was "completely separate" from Reagan's campaign committee and funds raised by the trust did not go towards assisting in Reagan's election, such a trust would be allowed to operate outside of campaign finance laws that limited individual contributions to $1,000 (and Political Action Committee contributions to $5,0000).

[7] It was in September that the existence of this planning effort became public knowledge, with the New York Times reporting on it in mid-September.

[6] In 1987, historian Carl M. Brauer described Reagan's pre-election transition planning effort as "modest in scope, and clandestine in style".

[12] Six additional deputy directors were named, Michael Deaver, Drew Lewis, Lyn Nofziger, Verne Orr, and William Timmons.

[11] Lewis acted as a liaison to the Republican National Committee, women's groups, the business community, and state and local government, and also worked to develop a program for providing policy briefings to cabinet-designees and senior staff.

[11] Timmons oversaw the Reagan transition team's assessment of existing programs and policies,[13] and collected information on departments and agencies.

[14] Richard Wirthlin utilized his polling skills to inform planned strategy for Reagan's administration.

The five clusters were economic affairs, national security, human services, resources and development, and legal-administrative.

[6] In the early weeks of the transition, Reagan remained on the West Coast, meeting with a "kitchen cabinet" of advisors.

[1] However, within weeks of his election, Reagan moved into a row house in Washington, D.C., which would serve temporary quarters for him until he was sworn-in as president.

[23] Reagan had originally favored choosing Meese for his White House chief of staff, but some of his advisors convinced him to instead pick James Baker.

[3] During the transition, along with Meese and Michael Deaver, Baker would be part of a "troika" of top deputies to Reagan, a dynamic that would continue into the presidency.

[19] The first Cabinet member designees Reagan designated were largely uncontroversial, and even received praise from both the business community and the moderate wing of the Republican Party.

[13] The transition saw Mark Anderson and David Stockman, Reagan's choice for Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shape the incoming administration's economic policy agenda.

However, many of his advisers spoke publicly about issues, often creating problems where the transition's press secretary James Brady would have to disavow their statements.

For instance, they gave salary to employees of federal agencies who had been assigned to the transition effort on a non-reimbursable basis.