Barack Obama’s first day in office
Jan 21, 2009
WASHINGTON<br><br>US President Barack Obama, acting swiftly on his first full day in office, summoned his economic team and war council yesterday to press ahead on plans for rescuing the economy and withdrawing from Iraq.
WASHINGTON
US President Barack Obama, acting swiftly on his first full day in office, summoned his economic team and war council yesterday to press ahead on plans for rescuing the economy and withdrawing from Iraq.
Fresh from the pageantry of his historic inauguration as the first black US president, Obama was ready to get down to work on the daunting challenges he inherited from George W. Bush, with policies he has promised will break sharply with the past.
Hours after taking office, he ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases.
The Bush administration’s harsh treatment of terrorism suspects held at the detention centre drew international condemnation.
Obama also made a flurry of calls to Arab and Israeli leaders in a signal that Middle East peacemaking is a top priority following an Israeli offensive in Gaza.
A Palestinian spokesman said Obama had told Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas that he was the recipient of his first call as the 44th US president.
The White House source confirmed the calls, on condition of anonymity, and said Obama also telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Jordan and Egypt, the only Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel, are key mediators between the Jewish state and the Palestinians, including in efforts to clinch a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
Obama, who has vowed bold action to deal with the worst economic crisis in decades and to hammer out an exit strategy from the unpopular war in Iraq, planned separate meetings in the late afternoon with economic advisers as well as with his national security team.
Before plunging into his White House duties in earnest, Obama attended a prayer service at Washington’s National Cathedral, a traditional morning-after-inauguration event.
“Now the administration goes to work. This is their first full day on the job and the best we can imagine to begin is by praying with them and for them. We have given them a great deal to do,†the Rev. Samuel Lloyd said, drawing laughter from the congregation. Obama sat smiling in the front pew beside first lady Michelle Obama, vice-president Joe Biden and his wife and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
With markets reeling and job losses mounting, Obama planned to sit down at 3:15pm with economic advisers working with the Democratic-led Congress on an $825b fiscal stimulus package.
He also is seeking fresh approaches to repair the battered financial system and is mulling a host of ideas, including the creation of a government-run bank that would buy up toxic assets from ailing US banks.
Iraq and Afghanistan will dominate Obama’s foreign policy agenda, but he has also said he will take an active role to try to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He has said he favours a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, and officials said he would discuss with military leaders the possibility of accelerating the pullout.
US President Barack Obama, acting swiftly on his first full day in office, summoned his economic team and war council yesterday to press ahead on plans for rescuing the economy and withdrawing from Iraq.
Fresh from the pageantry of his historic inauguration as the first black US president, Obama was ready to get down to work on the daunting challenges he inherited from George W. Bush, with policies he has promised will break sharply with the past.
Hours after taking office, he ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases.
The Bush administration’s harsh treatment of terrorism suspects held at the detention centre drew international condemnation.
Obama also made a flurry of calls to Arab and Israeli leaders in a signal that Middle East peacemaking is a top priority following an Israeli offensive in Gaza.
A Palestinian spokesman said Obama had told Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas that he was the recipient of his first call as the 44th US president.
The White House source confirmed the calls, on condition of anonymity, and said Obama also telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Jordan and Egypt, the only Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel, are key mediators between the Jewish state and the Palestinians, including in efforts to clinch a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
Obama, who has vowed bold action to deal with the worst economic crisis in decades and to hammer out an exit strategy from the unpopular war in Iraq, planned separate meetings in the late afternoon with economic advisers as well as with his national security team.
Before plunging into his White House duties in earnest, Obama attended a prayer service at Washington’s National Cathedral, a traditional morning-after-inauguration event.
“Now the administration goes to work. This is their first full day on the job and the best we can imagine to begin is by praying with them and for them. We have given them a great deal to do,†the Rev. Samuel Lloyd said, drawing laughter from the congregation. Obama sat smiling in the front pew beside first lady Michelle Obama, vice-president Joe Biden and his wife and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
With markets reeling and job losses mounting, Obama planned to sit down at 3:15pm with economic advisers working with the Democratic-led Congress on an $825b fiscal stimulus package.
He also is seeking fresh approaches to repair the battered financial system and is mulling a host of ideas, including the creation of a government-run bank that would buy up toxic assets from ailing US banks.
Iraq and Afghanistan will dominate Obama’s foreign policy agenda, but he has also said he will take an active role to try to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He has said he favours a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, and officials said he would discuss with military leaders the possibility of accelerating the pullout.