As a large group of onlookers watched from the sidewalk, Barack Obama arrived early at the White House Monday in a motorcade befitting the next president of the United States.

He and wife Michelle Obama were greeted at the White House portico by President Bush and first lady Laura Bush. The two couples posed for photos before walking into the presidential mansion without commenting to reporters.  

In a bit of pageantry for the cameras, the president and president-elect walked along the Colonnade and into the Oval Office. Accustomed to the protocol, Bush waved at the crowd before Obama followed suit. The two stopped for a moment to greet spectators before walking into the Oval Office, Obama's first visit to that storied room.

Despite the tension between the two men during the campaign -- Obama used John McCain's ties to the unpopular president as a weapon, while Bush once seemed to badmouth Obama's foreign policy as "appeasement" -- Bush has pledged to work hand-in-hand with Obama's transition team. 

The meeting between a U.S. president and his successor is a tradition, but this year the private sit-down is coming earlier than usual. The schedule is a reflection of the severity of the challenges Obama will inherit -- two ongoing wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a steep economic downturn. Bush and Obama are expected to review both of those issues. It will be Obama's first trip into the Oval Office.

"President Bush is very much looking forward to this meeting," White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters Monday morning. "It's happening a little bit earlier for us. And that was, one, because we are so committed to making sure that the transition is as smooth as possible, to get he and his team here so that they can start having private conversations amongst themselves is important to us." 

The moment is sure to be steeped in history, part of a symbolic changing of the guard to Democratic leadership and the country's first black president.

Perino said she could not offer a detailed preview, explaining that, "I don't think any of us can understand what it's like ... for two people who are now going to be in a very small club, who understand what it's like to be the commander in chief, to be the leader of our great country." 

She added that, "I'm sure that this won't be the only time that they speak." 

While Bush and Obama were meeting, Perino said Laura Bush would guide Michelle Obama on a tour of the first family's living quarters. 

"We expect that the conversation will include topics such as raising a family in the White House and the support of the executive residence staff, which has been really unbelievable for the president and Mrs. Bush, and they are very grateful for it," she said. 

Obama arrived on an American Airlines charter, having abandoned the campaign plane for something more staid and presidential. Waiting on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport were transition team leader John Podesta, press secretary Robert Gibbs and body guard Marvin Nicholson.

Obama got off the plane wearing sunglasses. He shook Podesta's and Gibbs' hand before getting in a limousine. Podesta joined Obama in the car for the ride into town.

Obama won the presidency in an electoral landslide on Tuesday. He ran a campaign in which he relentlessly linked McCain to Bush and presented his ideas as a fresh alternative to what he called Bush's failed policies. 

Yet the tone changed almost immediately after Obama's win. 

Bush, who had endorsed McCain, lauded Obama's victory as a "triumph of the American story." He warmly invited the Obama family to the White House. 

Obama, in turn, thanked Bush for being gracious. The president-elect has made clear to the people of the United States and those watching around the world that there is only one president for now, and that's Bush. Obama does not assume the presidency until Jan. 20. 

"I'm going to go in there with a spirit of bipartisanship, and a sense that both the president and various leaders of Congress all recognize the severity of the situation right now and want to get stuff done," Obama said last week when asked about his meeting with Bush. 

Josh Bolten, Bush's chief of staff, said Bush and Obama will be the only ones in the room when they meet. 

Obama started his day in Chicago, dropping his two daughters at school, each with a kiss, and then going to a gym for a workout. He traveled to Washington separately from his wife, who a spokeswoman said had a private schedule before being able to travel to the nation's capital.

Unlike the incoming president, Bush knew his way around the Oval Office by the time he was elected in 2000 -- his father had been president. Still, like many before them, President Clinton and President-elect Bush had their own private meeting, keeping up a tradition that temporarily puts the presidency above politics. 

Obama has been to the White House before, including an emergency leadership session to deal with the financial crisis in September. Reported by FoxNews.

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