Day 13: High-powered lunch date
Updated on 08 January 2009
Wednesday 7 January 2009: After adding another person to his team, Barack Obama heads to the White House for lunch with his predecessors.
He announced the creation of a new White House position, Chief Performance Officer, and his intention to nominate Nancy Killefer to fill the post.
"During the campaign, I said that we must scour this budget, line-by-line, eliminating what we don't need, or what doesn't work, and improving the things that do," President-elect Obama said. "As the first Chief Performance Officer, working with Peter Orszag and Rob Nabors at the Office of Management and Budget, Nancy Killefer is uniquely qualified to lead that effort."
He then headed off to the White House for a photo call and lunch with the world's most exclusive club - all the living presidents.
He met with President George W. Bush and his father, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
"This is an extraordinary gathering," Obama said. "All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office. For me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary."
