Washington » Short on sleep but with a long to-do list, President Barack Obama walked into the Oval Office at 8:35 a.m. Wednesday for 10 contemplative minutes alone.

Then the change began.

Hours after his whirlwind tour of 10 inaugural balls that ended early Wednesday, Obama jumped into Middle East diplomacy, prepared an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison for terror suspects within a year and pressed his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq. Without holding the usual daily news media briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs resorted to written statements and guidance notes to keep up with his boss.

Barely a day after taking the oath of office, Obama did it again. Chief Justice John Roberts, who flubbed his lines in front of a worldwide audience Tuesday, went to the White House and administered the 35-word presidential oath once more. White House counsel Greg Craig said even though he and legal scholars believe that Obama was duly sworn into office on Tuesday, the oath was administered again "out of the abundance of caution because there was one word out of sequence" and since the wording appears in the Constitution.

Obama assembled his senior staff in the early afternoon so they could be sworn in as well. He announced a pay freeze for White House staffers who make more than $100,000, a symbolic move reflecting the nation's tight economic times for all Americans. He signed an executive order implementing strict ethics rules for his administration. And he promised to conduct government business in the open and try to honor outside requests for information -- in contrast with the Bush administration, which was known for its secrecy.

With first lady Michelle Obama, he attended the National Prayer Service that traditionally follows Inauguration Day and held a midday "open house" for 200 selected guests at the White House. And while staffers were still figuring out how to log on to their computers, the White House Web site had a new Obama message: "Change Has Come to America."

"What a moment we're in. What an opportunity we have to change this country," Obama told his staff at their swearing-in ceremony. "The American people are really counting on us. Let's make sure we take advantage of it."

As first days go, it was customarily crazy-busy. On Jan. 21, 1993, President Clinton had trouble getting an open phone line. "It's kind of a wild ride right out of the gate," recalled Dan Bartlett, who was President Bush's communications director.

Behind the usual mayhem, however, was the understanding that amid a major recession, two wars and the threat of terrorism, things are bound to get busier for the Obama administration.

That was signaled by Obama's choice for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, who warned Congress that the $700 billion being spent to rescue financial institutions and the $825 billion Obama is seeking to jump-start the economy with spending and tax cuts will be only a start. "It is going to require much more substantial action ... on a very dramatic scale," Geithner said.

More executive orders are likely, based on Obama's pledges.

Gibbs said the executive order on Guantanamo Bay would be signed today. It's unclear where Obama would send dozens of suspected terrorists who have been held indefinitely at Guantanamo, a facility that has drawn criticism from around the world.