President Barack Obama waves as he exits Air Force One at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, La., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. Obama makes his first trip to New Orleans as president on Thursday, where he will visit a charter school and attend a town hall meeting.
President Barack Obama is greeted by, from left, Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Gov. Bobby Jindal upon his arrival at Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner, La., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
President Barack Obama talks with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal upon his arrival at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, La., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
President Barack Obama visits the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. As a presidential candidate, Obama said that he would dedicate himself to helping New Orleans and the Gulf Coast recover from the horror of Hurricane Katrina, which took 1,800 lives, caused more than $40 billion in damage and displaced more than one million people.
President Barack Obama visits the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. The visit is Obama's first as president, but he made five other trips to post-Katrina New Orleans before taking office.
President Barack Obama visits the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. The visit is Obama's first as president, but he made five other trips to post-Katrina New Orleans before taking office.
President Barack Obama visits the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. The trip is Obama's first to the Katrina-battered city as president (he made five previous trips before taking office).
President Barack Obama visits the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
President Barack Obama visits the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
President Barack Obama visits the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter School in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
President Barack Obama conducts a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans in New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
President Barack Obama conducts a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans in New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
President Barack Obama conducts a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans in New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.