Obama's First Month In Office, By The Numbers
He's still new on the job and getting a feel for its perks and peculiarities. He now knows he's not supposed to stop and shake the hand of the U.S. Marine corporal saluting him at the steps of Marine One. But Mr. Obama also knows that as Commander-in-Chief, no one can tell him not to do it.
There are many ways to assess his first month in office. And here are some numbers – in no particular order - from the CBS News database.
Days in Office: 32
Oaths of Office Taken: 2
(One at the Inauguration, and a re-do the next day because Chief Justice Roberts misplaced the word "faithfully.")
States Visited: 7
(Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona)
Flights on Marine One: 16
Flights on Air Force One: 16
Bill-signing Ceremonies: 3
(Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; Children's Health Insurance Reauthorzation Act, or S-CHIP; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka the stimulus bill)
Increase in the National Debt: $163-billion
(to $10.789-trillion)
Cabinet Nominees Withdrawn: 3
(Bill Richardson, Tom Daschle and Judd Gregg)
Cabinet Posts Unfilled: 2
(Commerce and HHS)
Visits to Camp David: 1
Foreign Nations Visited: 1
(Canada)
News Conferences: 2
(One primetime at the White House; one joint session yesterday with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper)
Nights Out: 7
(Including a visit to the Kennedy Center for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
Visits to Schools: 4
(Sidwell Friends, Bethesda, MD – which daughter Sasha attends; Capital City Public Charter School, D.C.; Concord Community H.S., Elkhart, IN.; Dobson H.S., Mesa, AZ.)
Executive Orders: 12
(The last one was yesterday, establishing White House Office of Urban Affairs)
White House Briefings by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: 13
(Plus 8 "gaggles" on Air Force One)
Obama Visits to the White House Press Room: 1
(That we know of)
Visits to the Pentagon: 1
(Jan. 27)
A spokesman says he's aware of no anniversary cakes or other events to mark the one month milestone at the Obama White House.
