The Romney campaign , in accordance with the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act , had made extensive pre-election plans for a potential transition , called the " Romney Readiness Project " should he be elected president . Former governor of Utah Mike Leavitt was selected in June 2012 by Romney to lead the planning for the project , which included a " 200-day plan " outlining the legislative agenda of the first 200 days of a Romney administration . Leavitt , along with Beth Myers and Bob White , had formed a list of ten candidates for each Cabinet position to aid Romney in making appointments to those positions . The operation included task forces for transitioning specific areas of the federal government . Activities undertaken by the Readiness Project included preparing policy briefings for civil servants at federal agencies , which would be delivered by " parachute teams " following the election ; creating a list of candidates to fill the several hundred political appointments made by the President ; coordinating with the Obama administration for the transfer of occupancy of presidential residences , including the White House and the Number One Observatory Circle ; liaising with the United States Armed Forces for the assumption of National Command Authority and launch control of nuclear weapons ; and developing a post-election communications plan , which reportedly included a 1,000-word victory speech Romney would deliver . These included " landing " teams to be deployed to governmental agencies two weeks post-election and " beachhead " teams to guide the transition following Romney 's would-be inauguration on January 20 . The transition planning effort was divided into four segments , two of which were executed : the " readiness phase , " which lasted from June until the 2012 Republican National Convention and the " planning phase , " which lasted from the convention until election day . Two additional phases were planned , but were not executed owing to Romney 's loss : the " transition phase " and the " hand-off phase , " both of which would have occurred post-election and would have culminated in the transition team 's plan for the first 200 days following Romney 's would-be inauguration as president . On the evening of the election , the Readiness Project 's transition website , declaring Romney 's victory , was accidentally pushed live , but was quickly taken down again . The site was built by a Utah-based web development company , SolutionStream
2012 Republican National Convention
2012 Republican National Convention
Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign