Washington: President Barack Obama, Vice
President Joe Biden, senior officials and Cabinet members were
gathering away from the White House this weekend to discuss
administration progress at the six-month mark and plot a
course ahead.
The meetings were scheduled for Blair House, the
government guest property across from the White House on
Pennsylvania Avenue.
Obama and Biden walked over together yesterday evening,
chatting as they went, to join their colleagues for dinner.
Obama returned to the White House about four hours later,
again strolling across the avenue with his press secretary,
Robert Gibbs.
Asked how the meeting went, Obama said: "It went fine."
Several hours of meetings were scheduled for today,
though Obama was not expected to attend. The president was
departing Saturday morning for a weekend at Camp David. Biden
was to deliver remarks to open the second day of meetings.
"It`s an opportunity for the president and the vice
president, senior White House staff and Cabinet officials all
to get together and talk about the agendas, both past and
forward," Gibbs said.
The dinner yesterday and meetings today were closed to
the media.
Gibbs said virtually every president since Dwight D
Eisenhower has conducted a similar assessment.
Bureau Report
