President Barack Obama sought to reassure Americans on Wednesday he was making progress tackling the economic crisis and repairing the United States' image abroad, but urged patience.
"We are off to a good start. But it is just a start," Obama told a White House news conference as he assessed his first 100 days in office and promised to keep up the whirlwind pace. "I am pleased with our progress, but I am not satisfied."
Buoyed by high public approval ratings, Obama focused on the jam-packed policy agenda he has pursued since his Jan. 20 inauguration, topped by efforts to rescue the crippled economy and to repair U.S. relations with the rest of the world.
In just a few months, Obama — a Democrat elected on a promise of sweeping change — has implemented dramatic reversals from his Republican predecessor George W. Bush on issues ranging from the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to healthcare and climate change.
Underscoring one of his sharpest breaks with the past, Obama said "waterboarding" — an interrogation method authorized by Bush — was torture, and any information obtained from terrorism suspects through its use could have been gained by other means.
Even though the White House had dismissed the 100-day marker as a symbolic point largely of interest to the media, it staged two events — a townhall meeting in Missouri and a prime-time televised news conference — for Obama to rally continued public support for the challenges ahead.
Citing approval by the Democratic-controlled Congress of his $3.4 trillion fiscal 2010 budget shortly before his news conference, Obama insisted that his policies had put the country on the right track.
"But even as we clear away the wreckage of this recession, I have also said that we cannot go back to an economy that is built on a pile of sand," he said.
"We have a lot of work left to do. It's work that will take time, and it will take effort. But the United States of America, I believe, will see a better day."
Supporters and critics alike filled the airwaves on Wednesday with conflicting assessments of Obama's record so far, but most analysts said it was too early to judge whether his long list of initiatives would yield success.
FOREIGN POLICY
Obama also insisted he was meeting a key campaign promise to "change the direction of our nation's foreign policy" — an implicit rebuke of the Bush approach to world affairs that had drawn criticism from both allies and foes.
He cited new strategies for Iraq and Afghanistan and his order to close the internationally condemned military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and to halt harsh interrogation methods for terrorism suspects.
Pressed on whether he believed waterboarding, a now-banned technique of simulated drowning, amounted to torture, Obama said, "Waterboarding violates our ideals and our values. I do believe that it is torture."
The issue hit the headlines again two weeks ago with the president's controversial decision to release Bush administration memos on the legality of the interrogation techniques.
Obama also weighed in on the deteriorating situation in Pakistan amid growing U.S. concern about Islamabad's efforts to fight an advancing Taliban insurgency.
He said he was confident about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal but was "gravely concerned" about conditions there because of its weak government.
Defending his plan for winding down the unpopular 6-year-old war in Iraq, Obama said a string of deadly bombings there was cause for concern but such incidents were down from a year ago, and he expressed confidence in Iraq's government.
CALM WORDS ON FLU OUTBREAK
Obama also assured Americans his administration was ready to do whatever it takes in response to a growing swine flu outbreak that has presented him with his first public health emergency.
Obama aides are mindful of the political damage to Bush over the government's inept handling of the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Obama's 100-day mark was further clouded by growing questions about the fates of Chrysler and General Motors, with the administration seeking ways to retool the troubled U.S. automakers for survival.
He said he was very hopeful that Chrysler LLC would again become viable but it remained unclear if the company would seek bankruptcy to complete its restructuring.
The tradition of marking the first 100 days of U.S. presidencies dates back to Franklin Roosevelt, who set the standard by putting in place the building blocks of his New Deal to pull the United States out of the Great Depression.
With his deliberative "no-drama Obama" style, the president has sought a balanced tone between harsh economic reality and and a more hopeful future, which pollsters say has helped ease anxiety in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades.
Underscoring the difficulties Obama faces, new government data on Wednesday showed the economy contracted at a 6.1 percent annual rate in the first quarter, a steeper-than-expected decline.
