Three times a losing presidential candidate and a famous defender of creationism,

William Jennings Bryan is not one of history's big winners.

But one innovation of his has withstood time.

On the 5th of November 1896, Brian sent a telegram from his Nebraska home to William McKinley in Canton, Ohio.

Returns indicate your election, the message read, adding his congratulations.

We've submitted the issue to the American people, and their will is law. The first formal concession of a presidential race,

it began a tradition that endured through the bitterest campaigns.

We've known who won this year's election for two weeks now. No concession so far.

This is checks and balance.

I'm John Prado, the Economist's US editor.

Each week we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in death.

Today, what difference does not conceding really make? President Trump shows no sign of cooperating with a handover to the Biden administration. Most elected Republicans haven't acknowledged the result,

and polls show a huge majority of Republican voters view Biden's win

as illegitimate.

How worried should we be? In this episode we'll find out how a

presidential transition is supposed to work, how the current upheaval among

national security bureaucrats falls short,

and how Richard Nixon dealt with a disputed election. With me as ever to discuss all of this are Charlotte Howard, the economist's New York Bureau Chief, and John Fasman, the Washington correspondent.

Charlotte, how are you doing? You're heading for more months of homeschool it looks like.

It seems that way.

DeBlazio announced on Wednesday

that schools would go remote on Thursday.

...