Open house as Bush begins work

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush threw open the White House to the public yesterday, saying he slept "pretty well" on his first night and looked forward to getting down to work on his top priority of education reform.

Bush and his wife, Laura, greeted dozens of citizens from around the country and accompanied some of them on a tour of the 132-room mansion on a clear, cold day with Washington dusted white by an overnight snowfall.

The newly inaugurated President said he had not yet done much work but was eager to get going, with his $US47.6 billion ($106.2 billion) education plan to hold failing schools accountable, give local officials more control and teach all children to read by the third grade at the top of his list.

Asked how his first night at the White House had gone, Bush was low key and joked about being tired out from his reluctant dancing at nine inaugural balls: "It was OK. I mean, I'm exhausted from dancing so much last night.

"It's great, you know, it's an honour," he added, saying he woke early to have coffee with his parents and spent the early part of the day greeting college friends, campaign workers and supporters. "I slept pretty well."

Bush and his wife then lined up to greet some of the 2700 people who got tickets on a first-come, first-served basis to tour the executive mansion, which was occupied by his father, former President George Bush, from 1989 to 1993.

"It's such an honour to live here," the new President said. "We want to remind everybody that this is not our house. It is the people's house."

Surrounded by his family, Bush began the first full day of his presidency at a prayer service, where he heard an appeal to "ignite the soul of America" from Franklin Graham, the son of his family's longtime spiritual adviser the Rev. Billy Graham.

In his sermon at Washington's gothic National Cathedral, Graham said that despite America's prosperity there remained a "sense of hopelessness" among some people and that "we still face great social, political and spiritual problems."

If the new Administration worked for equal justice, peace and economic prosperity, Graham added, "you all will have the opportunity to once again ignite the soul of America."

At his inauguration, Bush pledged to work for "a single nation of justice and opportunity."

The election that defeated former Vice-President Al Gore gave Republicans the White House and control of both Houses of Congress for the first time in 48 years.

- REUTERS

Herald Online feature: Election aftermath

Map: final results across the USA

Bush-Cheney transition website