Bush: Obama victory 'cause for pride'
Barack Obama’s election as the first black president of the United States “gives us all reason to be proud of our democracy and our country”, President George W. Bush said during the traditional transition announcement.
Speaking to members of his executive staff on the South Lawn of the White House, the president said: “All of us must ensure that the next president and his team can hit the ground running.”
It will be America’s first wartime transition in four decades and an “unprecedented” effort is under way to ensure a peaceful transition, one of the “hallmarks of a great democracy”, Bush said.
Bush said he expected to meet Obama at the White House to discuss key issues such as the war in Iraq and the economic crisis “early next week”.
The president was surrounded by members of his cabinet as he made the traditional announcement.
Meanwhile, speculation surrounds a host of key appointments in the Obama administration, with the 47-year-old Democrat expected to make his first public announcements by the end of the week.
