Lingering decisions on how quickly the Pentagon can get U.S. forces out of Iraq and into Afghanistan are being pushed off until after the Obama administration takes over next week as military commanders continue to wrangle over where the troops are needed most. 
As Americans get ready to turn the page on George W. Bush, the president offered his own first draft of history.
The New York Post reports that the Clear Stream Avenue Elementary School will not be changing its name to honor President-elect Barack Obama. 
Rick Warren is in a place he never expected to be: at the center of a culture war. The pastor chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to give the inaugural invocation backed Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in his home state of California. But he did so belatedly, with none of the enthusiasm he brings to fighting AIDS and illiteracy.
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson
to be commerce secretary, adding a prominent Hispanic and one-time
Democratic rival to his expanding Cabinet. 
There have been letters, discreet inquiries and bold appeals. Some are
using their connections; others are just seeking a foot in the door. 
Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday. 
As Election Night made way for a new day, a pastor named Bryant
Robinson Jr. clicked off his television to accept a sleep of sweet
promise. His mostly black congregation now had two blessings awaiting
it in 2009: the inauguration of the first African-American president
and the finished construction of a new church. 
The Congressional Black Caucus announced its new leaders Wednesday without mentioning President-elect Barack Obama until asked. Members disputed the notion that his historic presidency would affect their profile or their role.
In the final months of George W. Bush's presidency, reviews are mixed on the Administration's Faith-Based and Community Initiative, which has fundamentally altered the government's strategy to assist America's poor since 2001.
Al Qaeda's deputy leader accused Barack Obama of betraying his race and his father's Muslim heritage on Wednesday and urged more attacks, as the group tried to counter the incoming U.S. president's global popularity. 
A former opponent of Barack Obama's has come back to haunt him over questions regarding Obama's citizenship. 
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has conditionally offered Eric Holder the job as attorney general, and the former top Clinton administration official has accepted, a senior Democrat said on Tuesday.
A Texas Southern Baptist group this week urged President-elect Barack
Obama to restrict abortion and called on Christians not to support
charities or other groups that promote abortion or embryonic stem-cell
research. 
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday he is concerned about executive
orders from President Bush in his last few months in office and the
effect they could have on the incoming administration. 
As the dust settles on Washington following the Barack Obama
earthquake, one group more than any other is expecting to be out in the
cold. 
The winning lottery number in Illinois was 666, which, as everyone knows, is the sign of the Beast. On Nov. 5, Todd Strandberg was at his desk, fielding E-mails from around the world. 
President-elect Barack Obama has often praised Abraham Lincoln for his
"team of rivals" approach to governing, and there are signs the
Democrat may seek to emulate that tactic. 
Americans painted a new picture of the "values voter" in the recent election. They rejected the "culture wars," with its narrow agendas and liberal-conservative divisiveness, in favor of politics that build bridges on a range of contentious issues.
Sen. Hillary Clinton emerged on Thursday as a candidate to be U.S. secretary of state for Barack Obama, months after he defeated her in an intense contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. 
Zealous guardians of his words and his likeness, the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is demanding a share of the proceeds from the sudden wave of T-shirts, posters and other merchandise depicting the civil rights leader alongside Barack Obama. 
Purpose Driven Life Pastor Rick Warren weighed in on the economic downturn and President-elect Barack Obama's proposed plan to redistribute wealth during an interview this week. 
In the aftermath of the election victory of Barack Obama, white
supremacists rushed to online discussion forums to vent anger and
disbelief that voters had chosen an African-American candidate as the
next president of the United States. 
Barack Obama could not run his campaign for the Presidency based on
political accomplishment or on the heroic service of his youth. His
record was too slight. His Democratic and Republican opponents were
right: he ran largely on language, on the expression of a country's
potential and the self-expression of a complicated man who could
reflect and lead that country. 
No matter how people remember President Bush's time in office, let there be no doubt about how he wants to end it: gracefully. 
Backstage, behind the floodlights, moments before he gave the 2004 Democratic convention keynote address that would launch his career into the national stratosphere, Barack Obama made a confession to his wife, Michelle.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President-elect Barack Obama agreed to meet soon during a telephone conversation on Saturday, a Kremlin spokesman said. 
At Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's South Side, where President-elect Barack Obama embraced Christianity, the pastor and congregation rejoiced Sunday and shouted, "Yes, we did!" 
Two years ago, Barack and Michelle Obama were tested for AIDS before an
audience of thousands here in an effort to remove the public stigma
from the disease. 
President-elect Barack Obama is looking forward to Monday's White House
transition talks with President Bush and is already examining ways to
make a quick impact upon taking office, top Obama aides said Sunday. 
Jubilation, pride and relief permeated pews and pulpits at predominantly black churches across the country on the first Sunday after Barack Obama's election, with congregrants blowing horns, waving American flags and raising their hands to the heavens.
Michelle Obama has no interest in being a "co-president." Barack Obama will consider Republicans and current members of the Cabinet for top positions in his administration.
Top advisers to Barack Obama sent a strong message yesterday that
Republicans will play a vital role in his administration, even as
looming questions over healthcare and the economy are poised to stir
partisan debate - and debate within the Democratic party - about the
best way forward. 
Billy Graham, the American preacher who harnessed the media and made Christian evangelism a global phenomenon, will celebrate his 90th birthday. 
The nation's unemployment rate
bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000
jobs were cut, stark proof the economy is almost certainly in a
recession.
Each of us lives a life of contradictory truths. We are not one thing
or another. Barack Obama's mother was at least a dozen things. S. Ann
Soetoro was a teen mother who later got a Ph.D. in anthropology; a
white woman from the Midwest who was more comfortable in Indonesia; a
natural-born mother obsessed with her work; a romantic pragmatist, if
such a thing is possible. 
The campaign of change that led Barack Obama to the White House will bring tangible change to Illinois, where embattled Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich has the task of selecting the junior U.S. senator's replacement. It's a position of power Blagojevich, whose administration has been dogged by federal investigations, seems to relish. 
As he prepares to take office, President-elect Barack Obama is relying on a small team of advisers who will lead his transition operation and help choose the members of a new Obama administration. Following is part of a series of profiles of potential members of the administration.
