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Bush welcomes Obama to White House

By Christina Bellantoni (Contact) and Jon Ward (Contact) | Tuesday, November 11, 2008

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Only six days after his election to the highest office in the land, President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on Monday toured the national treasure that will soon be their home, visiting President Bush and first lady Laura Bush at the White House.

Mr. Obama met with Mr. Bush in the Oval Office for more than an hour — afterward pronouncing it "a very, very nice office" —, while Mrs. Bush gave Mrs. Obama a tour of the White House residence. The Obamas stayed for two hours, 30 minutes longer than planned.

It was a day of photo ops and images. No public words were spoken by either the sitting president or his successor in waiting, or their spouses.

But an Obama spokesman said it was a bit of a momentous day. And such was the anticipation surrounding Mr. Obama's coming that a few hundred spectators spontaneously gathered outside the gates of the White House, and an overflow press contingent packed into the press area inside the West Wing.

Around 1:46 p.m., Mr. and Mrs. Obama arrived at the White House in a dark limousine similar to the one used to carry sitting presidents, in a motorcade virtually identical in size to that of one used to transport Mr. Bush.

Mr. and Mrs. Bush stood on the walkway outside the South Portico in the afternoon sun, waiting to greet the Obamas. Mr. Obama, wearing a dark blue suit and blue tie, and Mrs. Obama, sporting a striking red dress, emerged and greeted the president and first lady.

The men shook hands, and the women hugged. Mr. Bush, wearing a grayish blue suit and blue tie, and Mrs. Bush, in a rust-colored dress, posed for pictures with Mr. and Mrs. Obama — who in her red heels stood taller than her husband and either of the Bush's — before turning to walk inside.

After a brief greeting and conversation among the two couples, the Republican president and Democratic president-elect strolled down the Colonnade along the Rose Garden outside the West Wing, and sat down in the Oval Office for a private meeting.

As the two men walked down the Colonnade, Mr. Obama talked and gestured to the sitting president. As they reached the door to the Oval Office, Mr. Bush pulled it open and ushered in the president-elect.

Despite their party differences, the two men "are now going to be in a very small club," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.