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Obama steps to door of White House - and history

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-20 08:48

On Tuesday morning, he and first lady Laura Bush will greet Obama and his wife, Michelle, at the storied mansion's front portico and see them in for a brief visit. By the time Obama returns at mid-afternoon, he will be the nation's 44th president, Bush will be en route to a Texas retirement, and the moving vans will have departed with one family's belongings and arrived with the other's.

Mike Wild holds a bust of US President-elect Barack Obama near the White House, as people continue gathering in Washington January 19, 2009, one day before Obama's inauguration. [Agencies]

There was one unscripted moment Monday, when Jill Biden blurted out while taping the Oprah Winfrey show that her husband had been offered a choice of vice president or secretary of state by Obama.

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"Shhh!" said the vice president-elect, whose attempt to silence his wife sent the audience into laughter. A few hours later, his office issued a statement that said: "To be clear, President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only — to be his running mate. And the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer."

For the most part, the day went according to a script designed to emphasize the theme of community service.

Obama issued a statement declaring, "King's was a life lived in loving service to others. As we honor that legacy, it's not a day just to pause and reflect — it's a day to act."

He began his day with a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he visited 14 veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Then his motorcade headed for the Sasha Bruce House, a facility for homeless teens, where he grabbed a paint roller and helped volunteers who were fixing up rooms.

"We can't allow any idle hands," he said. "Everybody's got to be involved."

Later, Obama joined his wife at a high school where they greeted 300 volunteers who were writing letters to US troops and doing other volunteer work.

The president-elect thanked them and said, "If we're waiting for somebody else to do something, it never gets done. We're going to have to take responsibility, all of us. This is not just a one-day affair."

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