Obama turns Oval Office work culture upside down

Washington: He promised change in the White House and he has been true to his word. President Barack Obama gets into the Oval Office two hours later than George W. Bush, allows "business casual" dress at weekends and is often seen at his desk long after his predecessor would have been in bed.

In less than a fortnight, Obama has turned the stiffly formal work culture of the Bush White House upside down. He has been photographed in the Oval Office without a jacket and wanders the corridors seeking out aides instead of summoning them.

Although Obama is famous for his "cool" demeanour, the temperature of the White House has been raised since he arrived - a result of the President's Hawaii roots, which made him favour an office so warm, his advisor David Axelrod joked, that you could "grow orchids in there".

Obama goes to the gym at 6.45am before having breakfast with his wife and their daughters before they go to school. He arrives in the Oval Office just before 9am.

Bush, who would go to the gym around midday, was often there at 7am. Under Bush, meetings would start on time and finish on time, or even a touch early. Colin Powell, then Secretary of State, was once locked out of the Cabinet Room when he arrived a few minutes late. There is also no indication of a return to President Bill Clinton's era.

Clinton would end up hours behind schedule, but Obama's meetings often run late. His habit of walking into the office's of his staff has already caught them off guard.

Robert Gibbs, the new Press Secretary, had his feet on his desk when the President appeared. "Wow, Gibbs," Gibbs recalled Obama saying. "Just got here and you already have your feet up."