Obamas Get Grand Tour In Historic Visit

Nick | Nov 11, 2008 | Comments 0

Barack Obama set foot for the first time in the Oval Office yesterday during a historic visit to the White House – a symbolic start to the two-month transfer of power from his host, President Bush.

The president-elect was joined by his wife, Michelle, who got a brief tutorial from First Lady Laura Bush on what life will be like in the White House.

Obama’s landmark journey to Washington had a presidential air to it from the moment he stepped off a chartered flight onto the tarmac at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

He was greeted by former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta – one of three people overseeing the transition – and whisked away in a black Cadillac limousine rather than the SUV he had been using.

Their short drive to the White House was a virtual presidential motorcade, as they rode in the armored limo while flanked by a decoy limo – a Suburban SUV carrying a counterassault team and a haz-mat truck.

The Obamas arrived at the White House 11 minutes early, and the Bushes greeted them on the South Portico.

Obama gave Bush a vigorous handshake and grabbed him on the shoulder. Laura Bush chirped, “Good morning!” although it was well past noon.

The men strolled together along the West Wing Colonnade on the way into the Oval Office.

And in a small but unmistakable sign that Obama will be the one who’ll be in charge before long, he put his left hand on Bush’s back as they went inside, as if he were guiding the president into his own home.

The two met for about an hour without any aides present.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the two men “talked extensively” about the economic situation and foreign policy.

“Obviously, the topics that came up are what you’ve seen and heard about in the news recently, and about what a number of transition officials spoke about on the Sunday [TV talk] shows,” he said.

Topics included “the need to get the economy back on track,” Gibbs said, and “what’s going on in the auto industry . . . It was a discussion about the broad health of the industry, and they also spoke about the housing industry and foreclosures.”