President Obama visits PSA 402

Obama has busy final day before taking office as Bush says farewells

President-elect Barack Obama dashed across the city on his final day before taking office as he paid tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and called on Americans of all ages to perform acts of service to help the government rebuild the fabric and the spirit of communities across the nation.

"Given the crisis that we're in and the hardships that so many people are going through, we can't allow any idle hands," Obama said. "Everybody's got to be involved. Everybody's going to have to pitch in. I think the American people are ready for that."

As tens of thousands of citizens arrived here from all corners of the country, traveling to the capital to see the inauguration of the 44th president just before noon on Tuesday, Obama opened his day by visiting wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and concluded it by honoring his former Republican rival, Senator John McCain.

"We will not always agree on everything in the months to come, and we will have our share of arguments and debates," Obama said, speaking to a bipartisan audience at one of three banquets he attended on Monday evening. "But let us strive always to find that common ground and to defend together those common ideals, for it is the only way we can meet the very big and very serious challenges that we face right now."

While contributors flocked to black-tie dinners, other revelers filled the Mall, eager to catch a glimpse of the spot where Obama will be sworn in. Though Washington became virtually mired in gridlock, there seemed to be more waving flags than blowing horns as people navigated the city's crowded corridors.

Obama delivered a few test runs of his Inaugural Address, which advisers said would be about 20 minutes long. The final draft of the speech was largely written by Obama himself, after he studied several previous addresses that were given at times of great challenge to the nation.

"I'm not going to make a long speech," Obama said as he entered Calvin Coolidge High School on Monday afternoon to take part in a community service project. "I've got to save my best lines for tomorrow."

His appearance a few hours earlier at the Sasha Bruce House, a shelter for homeless teenagers here, allowed Obama to make good on a promise to become more involved with his new home city, even as he showed his stripes as an ordinary guy in the process. With a paint roller in one hand, he joked, "This is good practice, because I'm moving to a new house tomorrow."

Deborah Shore, who founded the shelter 34 years ago, said later in a telephone interview, "He painted very well, I might say." She added: "They have said that they're going to have a different relationship with the city than has often been, a deeper, closer relationship. I think this is proof of that."

In his final day in the White House, President George W. Bush was out of the spotlight on Monday. He spent his morning on the telephone calling the leaders of Brazil, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Bush also spoke with Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico.

A White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said the president had thanked the leaders for their cooperation and hospitality over the years.

In one sign that power in Washington is about to change hands, the White House issued a quick correction on its statement late Monday afternoon about the selection of Alan Lowe, a former National Archives official, as director of Bush's as-yet-to-be-built presidential library and museum.

The statement originally went out by e-mail, under the customary headline: "Statement by the President." Two minutes later, the White House sent it out again, under the headline "Statement by the Bushes" — a reflection that the library is not a public endeavor, but a private one.

Story by Jeff Zeleny and Sheryl gay Stolberg of the Herald Tribune