President Obama's first month in the White House

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President Obama's first month in the White House

Take a look at the first 30 days of President Barack Obama.

Nearly 38 million Americans watched inauguration coverage of President Barack Obama on television, and more than 1 million people convened onto the National Mall and along the inauguration parade route on Jan. 20 to celebrate the swearing-in of the nation's first black president in what was one of the largest gatherings in the nation's capital.

Obama working in the Oval Office, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009.

And Obama continued to work. On Day Two, he executed three executive orders: one requiring that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility be closed within a year, one creating a Special Task Force to review detainee policy going forward, and one ensuring lawful interrogations by requiring that all interrogations of detainees in armed conflict follow the Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines.

Still, the worsening economy loomed large. On Jan. 23, he meets with members of the Congressional leadership. From left to right are House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of S.C.; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md.; House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio; and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and President Obama. He also struck down the ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions.

After running into tax troubles during his Senate confirmation hearing, Timothy Geithner was confirmed as the the 75th Secretary of the United States Treasury on Jan. 26.

On Jan. 27, Obama says, "Americans are not your enemy" in interviews with Al-Arabiya, a Dubai television network, and says his administration will offer a hand of friendship to the Muslim world but will hunt down terrorist organizations that kill innocent civilians. On that day, His Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, arrived in the region to try to shore up a fragile cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas leadership.

As economic woes continued, iconic American companies like IBM, Jet Blue, and Honeywell sent their leadership to meet with the President to discuss how they can get the economy moving again. On Jan. 28, he sits with Sam Palmisano (left) of IBM and Anne Mulchahy of Xerox. That same day, the House passed Obama's economic stimulus package, sending the $819 billion bill to the Senate.

On Jan. 29, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill of his presidency in a step to end pay disparity and fight discrimination. On that day, First lady Michelle Obama made her first public appearance since Inauguration Day, holding a luncheon in the State Dining Room where she honored Lilly Ledbetter, the woman for whom the bill was named.

On that same day, Obama criticized Wall Street corporate behavior, calling it "the height of irresponsibility" for employees to be paid more than $18 billion in bonuses last year while their crumbling financial sector received a bailout from taxpayers. "It is shameful," Obama said from the Oval Office.

On Jan. 30, Obama announced the creation of a White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families to be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden. "This Task Force will be an important vehicle to assess new and existing policies across the board and determine if they are helping or hurting the middle class. It is our charge to get the middle class 'the backbone of this country' up and running again." - Joe Biden, VP

On Superbowl Sunday, the Obamas invited fifteen members of Congress for a bipartisan Superbowl Party at the White House, including some from Pennsylvania and Arizona. After the Pittsburgh Steelers win, owner Daniel M. Rooney, far right, thanked the President in his victory speech.

And finally, some down time. Although this is a file photo, Obama confesses he'd been playing hoops on the White House basketball court. Bowling's a new favorite with the first family too.

On Feb. 3, Eric Holder (left) was sworn-in as US Attorney General. He is the first African-American Attorney General in the history of the United States.

On that same day, Tom Daschle withdraws as President Barack Obama's nominee to be Health and Human Services Secretary due to due to controversy over his tax records. And Obama nominates Senator Judd Gregg to lead the Commerce Department, the third person nominated to the cabinet position -- he too would later withdraw his candidacy.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet guests after the President signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIP) which renews and expands the plan from 7 million children affected to 11 million. "This is only the first step," he said. "As I see it, providing coverage for 11 million children is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American."

On Feb. 5, Obama signed an executive order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He also took his first flights aboard Marine One and Air Force One, on his way to the House Democratic Issues Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. He's seen here donning his new Air Force One jacket with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in the plane's press cabin.

Feb. 6 was a busy day for the President --he created the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, issued an executive order backing the use of union labor for large-scale federal construction projects and met with relatives of victims of the bombing of the USS Cole and the Sept. 11 attacks. At night, he and the first lady took daughters Malia and Sasha (seen here) to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performance at the Kennedy Center.

Needing Americans to support his stimulus plan, Obama reached out to the public, holding a town hall event in Elkhart, Indiana to discuss the economic recory plan and take quesitons from an audience of about 1,700 people. An estimated 49.5 million people watched Barack Obama's first prime-time news conference as president on Feb. 9. He promoted the recovery plan and answered questions.

On Feb. 10, Obama held a town hall in Fort Myers, FL to talk about the ARRA and the other "legs of the stool." The Senate also voted to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

On Feb. 11, Obama signed legislation extending the deadline for the switch from analog to digital TV signals until June 12.

Forget shrinking at home during Valentine's Day. President Obama and the first lady returned to their hometown of Chicago and spent V-day at Table 52 restaurant. They're seen here leaving their swanky dinner.

On Feb. 12, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire withdrew his nomination to be Obama's commerce secretary. Gregg cited "irresolvable conflicts" with Obama's handling of the economic stimulus and the 2010 census. The commerce secretary post was originally offered to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat who withdrew amid a federal investigation of state contracts won by a politically connected company.

After months of planning and weeks of negotiation, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "What I am signing is a balanced plan with a mix of tax cuts and investments. It is a plan that's been put together without earmarks or the usual pork barrel spending. And it is a plan that will be implemented with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability," President Obama said before signing the bill into law.

Stepping forward with economic recovery, on Feb. 18, Obama signed the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. "In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to continue to deepen," he said in Phoenix, AZ. "But if we act boldly and swiftly to arrest this downward spiral, every American will benefit."

On Feb. 19, Obama made his first foreign trip --journeying to Canada. His host, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (right), welcomed him and so did a crowd of about 1,000 Canadians who braved cold weather to see the President. Obama returned the feelings of good will. "I love this country and think that we could not have a better friend and ally," he said at Harper's side inside Gothic Parliament Hill.

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Nearly 38 million Americans watched inauguration coverage of President Barack Obama on television, and more than 1 million people convened onto the National Mall and along the inauguration parade route on Jan. 20 to celebrate the swearing-in of the nation's first black president in what was one of the largest gatherings in the nation's capital.

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