44, Day 39: Mission Accomplished (in August 2010)

An ongoing log of the daily activities of the 44th president of the United States during his first 100 days:

-President Obama traveled to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to lay out his plan on ending (or at least winding down) the U.S. military involvement in Iraq. As a candidate, Obama vowed to pull troops out within 16 months. Now he's saying it will be 18 months, but even after his target date of August 2010, as many as 50,00 U.S. troops will remain in the country to continue to help training Iraqi forces. Two things to check out if you want to know more: a USA Today live blog of the event and an interview Obama gave to PBS' Jim Lehrer.

-What is it about Democrats when they control both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue? Unlike Republicans, who practically cut their hands and then shake to become blood brothers, Democrats find it necessary to show they can be independent. That's fine and good for the rank-and-file, but when a congressional leader does it, people notice. Following Senator Robert Byrd's blasting of President Obama for appointing too many policy "czars", Politico has a story today about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi making it clear she disagrees with Obama on Iraq, rolling back Bush tax cuts, and prosecuting Bush officials if they were involved in torture.

-Even though it's not taking the same federal emergency loans as its rivals G.M. and Chrylser, Ford Motor Company still decided to meet today with the president's automotive task force. Ford borrowed $26 billion in 2006 to securitize all of the company's assets. "We did not and are not seeking emergency financial assistance from the government," said in a statement. A Bloomberg story quoted an analyst as saying one reason for today's meeting was that the government likely wanted assurances from Ford it wouldn't be coming back again.

by J. Jennings Moss

Sources: The White House, Bloomberg, Politico, USA Today, News Hour,