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President Obama faces the first major test of his international leadership skills as he prepares to take off on a challenging five-nation European trip.

The president lands in London later today, ahead of the crucial G20 economic summit. Mr. Obama will be making his premier appearance on the world stage at the London meeting and at a weekend NATO gathering in France and Germany.

His most pressing agenda items, the economy and the war in Afghanistan will dominate the ambitious journey.

The London meeting will perhaps be the most important summit since the Cold War era when U.S. and Soviet leaders negotiated arms control agreements. This time, instead of the nuclear balance, the world's economic fate will be on the line.

In an interview with The Financial Times of London, Mr. Obama said summit leaders should "deliver a strong message of unity in the face of a crisis."

Many news previews of the London summit have suggested it will be a debate on the president's economic stimulus approach versus European calls for tougher regulation of the financial sector. In the Financial Times interview, the president complained, "The press has tended to frame this as an either-or approach."

He said, "We need stimulus and we need regulation."

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Peter Maer is a CBS News White House Correspondent.

The old Frank Sinatra song "My Way", especially the refrain "Regrets I had a few...." comes to mind following President Bush's final news conference.

It was a defiant, wistful and sometimes unusually introspective performance.

Mr. Bush elaborated on his intention to let history be the final judge of his White House years. He told reporters, "I've had my time in the klieg lights." But as he heads into his last full week in office, the president clearly hopes to control the focus of those lights on his legacy.

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Click Here For More Of CBSNews.com's Special Coverage Of President Bush's Legacy

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Reflecting on the sour economy, Mr. Bush said, "I readily concede I chucked aside some of my free-market principles when I was told by chief economic advisers that the situation we were facing could be worse than the Great Depression."

He said, "I inherited a recession. I'm ending on a recession." But Mr. Bush also inherited a balanced budget. There was no mention of the massive budget deficits that have piled up over the past eight years as he defended the tax cuts that some critics blame for much of the red ink. Mr. Bush insisted the cuts were "the right course of action." In something of an understatement, he said his successor "would have his hands full with the economy."

Watch Bush talk back to his critics here:

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As the Bush administration continues to buff its legacy, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley is weighing in on the foreign policy record.

In remarks prepared for a Washington speech later today, Hadley says, "Today, despite the violence in Gaza, there is the prospect of a freer and more hopeful future for the region."

While the administration's strategy has failed to produce an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, Hadley says the president has pushed for "Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security."

Hadley says Iran poses "the biggest (Mideast regional) challenge" for the incoming administration. He warns that, "negotiations with Iran, as some have proposed, without leverage on Iran will not produce a change in Iranian behavior or advance U.S. Interests."

Hadley contends the Bush administration has left the Obama team with significantly increased leverage on Iran.