Obama selects chief of staff, to meet Bush on Monday (Roundup)

Nov 6, 2008, 19:17 GMT

(L-R) President-elect Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Jill Biden and vice president-elect Joe Biden stand together after Obama addressed a crowd at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, USA, to celebrate his victory on Election Day 04 November 2008. Obama defeated Republican presidential candidate John McCain to become the 44th President of the United States and the first black president in US history. EPA/SHAWN THEW

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama has made his first White House appointment - picking Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, and will meet with President George W Bush to discuss the transition phase on Monday.

Emanuel, a close friend of Obama's who served as a senior advisor in former president Bill Clinton's White House in the 1990s, accepted the job on Thursday, a Democratic Party aide confirmed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Facing the first wartime handover of power since Vietnam in 1968, Bush met with his cabinet Thursday morning to consider his final priorities and said he would ensure a speedy and orderly transition over the next months.

Obama received his first major intelligence briefing Thursday, and Bush said his staff would immediately begin briefing Obama's advisors on policy decisions and the workings of the various federal departments.

'We all share a steadfast devotion to the United States,' Bush said in a statement on the White House South Lawn, flanked by his cabinet members. 'All of us must ensure that the next president and his team can hit the ground running.'

Bush warned that a series of domestic and international crises would not wait for a new president to settle into office, and said terrorists 'would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change to harm the American people.'

Obama will hold his first press conference as president-elect on Friday in Chicago, after a meeting with more than a dozen key economic aides who have been named a part of his transition team. Obama has been meeting with his closest advisors to discuss a way forward since his election on Tuesday.

John Podesta, chief of staff under former president Clinton, is heading Obama's transition team and some key cabinet announcements could be made in the coming days.

A top priority, with the US economy facing a likely recession and a financial summit in Washington next week, is Obama's choice of Treasury secretary.

Current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a statement said continuity and a smooth transition was especially important, given the precarious state of the financial industry.

'A methodical and orderly transition is in the best interests of the financial markets and Treasury is committed to making sure that the incoming team can hit the ground running in January,' Paulson said.

Bush and his wife Laura will greet Obama and his wife Michelle before the two leaders retreat to a private meeting Monday afternoon. Obama said the talks would help ensure a 'smooth, effective transition' between now and January 20.

'I thank (Bush) for reaching out in the spirit of bipartisanship that will be required to meet the many challenges we face as a nation,' Obama said.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the two families would take a tour of the private residence, which will be Obama and his family's home for at least the coming four years. The Obamas' two children, Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, will not be attending.

Obama's chief of staff pick Emanuel will also be playing a key role in the transition. Currently the fourth-ranked Democrat in the House of Representatives, Emanuel oversaw the successful Democratic effort to regain control of the House in 2006.

But Emanuel is also known by some for an abrasive and direct style during his time in Congress. John Boehner, the top Republican in the House, criticized Obama's first selection.

'This is an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil and govern from the center,' Boehner said.

Bush urged his White House staff to 'conduct yourselves with the decency and professionalism you have shown throughout my time in office' during the final sprint to the finish.

Before leaving, Bush will host a summit of the world's 20 leading economies on November 15 to address the growing global financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund on Thursday forecast a global recession in 2009.