Election Day for federal offices is always the Tuesday after the first Monday of November. But, since 1937, Inauguration Day has always occurred on Jan. 20th. So why the long wait?

During the transition period between the presidential election and the inauguration, presidents-elect get a chance to put together their team for the next four years.

Following the traditions of presidents-elect before him, President-elect Barack Obama used the time to choose and later announce his administration’s Cabinet members and White House staff to the public.

“The transition period determines who the leaders will be for the next four years,” Political Science Prof. Hanes Walton said.

Walton said the sitting president’s lame-duck period is normally a time for turnover in Washington, D.C.

“The transition period is a time in which politics are restructured,” he said.

Though Obama’s decisions represent a major shift of power, Walton said the president-elect can’t accomplish much until he officially takes over the White House.

“There’s not too much else (the president-elect) can do because there’s the president,” Walton said.

He said a unique aspect of the transition period for Obama is that he’s meeting with key Congressional leaders to discuss economic concerns — a decision Obama’s staff would argue is necessary for a president set to take office with the economy in a tailspin.

Past presidents during this period generally use the time to strengthen their own political party’s power in the House and the Senate, Walton said. He added this often includes campaigning for fellow party members in elections following the presidential race.