First days of the presidency: Past and present

It looks like Prez Obama wasn’t playing when he said he was going to enact change immediately upon entering office. He’s been our country’s leader for all of three days and already he has:

  • Halted Bush's last-minute orders in their tracks by directing all federal agencies and departments to stop any pending regulations until they can be reviewed by incoming staff. Controversial late rules by the outgoing Bush administration include prohibiting medical facilities from receiving federal money for discriminating against doctors and nurses who refuse to assist with abortions or dispense contraceptives based on religious grounds.
  • Formalized strict new limits on lobbyists operating in his White House. The new rules require that any lobbyists who get a job across his administration may not work on matters that they lobbied on and cannot even work in any agency they lobbied over the past years. Additionally, the new lobbying rules bar any Obama aides from trying to influence his administration when they leave, prohibiting them from lobbying former colleagues for two years.
  • Repealed a 2001 executive order granting former presidents, and vice presidents, the ability to seal their papers forever.
  • Issued a fresh directive on how to interpret the Freedom of Information Act which would demand that officials and agencies lean toward making information public instead of coming up with legal justification for withholding it. "The old rules said that if there was a defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people, then it should not be disclosed. That era is now over. Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known," Obama said.
  • Froze the salaries of high-paid aides in a symbolic nod to the country's economic turmoil. The pay freeze would hold salaries at their current levels for the roughly 100 White House employees who make over $100,000 a year. "Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington," said the new president.
  • Signed orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, shut down secret overseas CIA prisons, review military war crimes trials and ban the harshest interrogation methods.

How do recent past presidents add up?

President George Bush, Jr.

  • Day 1 (2001): Announced the end of U.S. funding for international centers that offer family-planning counseling and perform abortions.
  • Day 10 (2001): Creates an Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to help religious groups obtain federal tax dollars to address social problems.

President Bill Clinton:

  • Day 3 (1993): Revoked the Gag Rule, allowing federally funded clinics that serve low-income patients to offer abortion counseling. Lifts the moratorium on federal funding for fetal tissue research.
  • Day 6 (1993): Names first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to head a task force on national health care reform.