Handing the Country to Your Opponents: A Look at the Transition of Power in the US Since 1788
October 13, 2025
David McKay, Senior Lecturer, History
The most fragile point for any democratic republic is the transition of power between opposing parties. Historically a rare and often dangerous event, the peaceful handover of the government from one party to the next was one of the crowning achievements of the United States for nearly two and a quarter centuries. But it wasn’t always easy, and there were times when it appeared that it wouldn’t happen at all. From the first transition in 1800 through the rocky handovers of the Gilded Age to the January 6 Insurrection in 2021, the United States has survived numerous threats to that achievement. Join us for a look at how some of these transitions have unfolded and what that means for the United States going forward.
Lectures will be held on Mondays at 3 p.m. in the Olm Fellowship Hall of Fairhaven Senior Services, 435 West Starin Road, Whitewater. They are open to the public and registration is not required. Lectures may be recorded and posted to our Fairhaven Lecture website and YouTube channel. Videos of lectures in this series and in past series can be accessed for free any time after they are posted online.
Follow us on social media for more information. Any other questions, please contact Kari Borne at bornek@uww.edu or 262-472-1003.
