Barack Obama: New Us President Wastes No Time on First Full Day

After 13 hours of gruelling ceremonies yesterday, including the drama of his stumbled swearing in, the enduring of interminable marching bands and stepping on his wife's dress at 10 separate inauguration balls, Barack Obama could have been forgiven for heading straight to an Hawaiian beach for an extended recuperation.But life is not like that for the president of the United States. Four hours after he and Michelle finally had the chance to test out the mattress springs in their White House bed, Obama was up again, at the start of his first full day in the job.White House reporters, keen to show they were just as capable of putting in long hours as the man they now shadow, dutifully recorded that lights were spotted in the private residence at 5am. By 8.35am, Obama was savouring his first moments in the room that will be both the metaphorical and the physical heart of his presidency: the Oval Office.He will have walked across the carpet that dominates the room and that bears the design chosen by Laura Bush in her husband's first term. She opted for a cream-coloured burst of sunlight, following George's desire to express his optimism for the future of America. (That was eight years ago; a lot of water has flowed since then.)The carpet is one of two final remnants of Bush left in the White House, and it too will soon be gone when Obama, following tradition, designs his own Oval Office rug. The other remnant was a letter bequeathed to his successor by Bush.We know nothing about the contents of the letter - tips, perhaps, on how to become the most unpopular president in modern US history. All that has been divulged is that the envelope was signed, with Bush's characteristic elegance and in reference to the two men's position in the lengthening line of presidents: "From 43 to 44".

The letter was left in a top drawer of the Resolute desk, at which Obama is likely to conceive and sign his most significant executive decisions. The desk was a gift from Queen Victoria in 1880, crafted from the wood of a British vessel rescued by Americans from the Arctic three decades prior.

The new president should find it comfortable - Ronald Reagan, who at 6ft 1 inch (1.9 metres) was just half an inch shorter than Obama, had it raised by two inches to accommodate his long legs.

Obama was joined in the Oval Office by his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who ran through the day's schedule, as he will every day.

In that early morning period, Obama managed to make four known phone calls, all to Middle Eastern leaders relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He spoke to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and pledged to work from day one to achieve peace in the region.

Then Michelle joined him in the Oval Office and from there the new First Couple was driven in the armour-plated battle bus that masquerades as a Cadillac limousine, known as the Beast, to Washington's National Cathedral for morning prayers.

There was much about the service that smacked of new era. The sermon was read for the first time by a woman, Rev Sharon Watkins, and prayers were led by representatives of the Protestant, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Jewish and Muslim faiths.

It's not often that a cleric raises a communal laugh in church when at prayer, but Rev Samuel Lloyd succeeded when he said of the leaders lined up before him: "This is their first full day on the job and the best [way] we can imagine to begin is by praying for them."

If the multi-denominational tone was suggestive of a new unity and togetherness between religions, then the seating arrangements in the front pew were suggestive of rather more frosty relations between politicians.

The Obamas sat at one end and the Clintons at the other, with vice-president Joe Biden and his wife Jill acting as an international buffer zone in the middle.

It was when a gospel choir began singing that the unique nature of the Obama Age really became apparent. They sang a spirited version of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. As they ran through the lyrics it was like hearing a psephologist taking stock of Obama's electoral appeal.

"He's got the young and the old, in his hands." True."He's got the rich and the poor, in his hands." True."He's got the whole wide world, in his hands." True, pretty much.

It was only when they sang the second verse - "He's got the sun and the moon, the wind and the rain, the earth and the sky, in his hands" - that one wondered whether expectations were running wild.

In the early afternoon, having completed his preparations at the base camp of his presidency, Obama began the long, hard ascent that lies before him.

First, he laid out the parameters of his presidency, committing himself and his staff to a new openness, "transparency and the rule of law". He even put his and his advisers' money where their mouths were: any White House official earning more than $100,000 would have their pay frozen.

After lunch, there was one last celebratory event to pack in, an open house in which people from Washington communities will join him in the White House.

If by then Obama felt a little ragged from all the glad-handing, he could have cheered himself up with the thought this was nowhere near as onerous as in past presidencies. At an annual open house on New Year's Day in 1930, Herbert Hoover shook hands with 6,348 people; the experience was so traumatic he promptly vowed never to repeat it.

At last, at 3.15pm Obama's began, with a meeting of his economic team to discuss the $825bn economic recovery package. That was followed at 4.15pm by a scheduled convening of his national security advisers, including the staying-on defence secretary Robert Gates, on the state of play of America's two wars, and the president's plans to withdraw US troops from Iraq within the next 16 months.

All in all, an exhaustingly busy day. Assuming he wins a second term, there's only 2,919 to go.