WASHINGTON — All smiles and compliments, President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, called on President Bush and first lady Laura Bush yesterday in a White House visit that was part political ritual, part practical introduction and a symbol of the transfer of power to come.

The president and Obama talked war and financial crisis. Laura Bush and Michelle Obama talked about raising daughters in the nation's most famous house.

Then Obama flew back to Chicago to work on setting up the new administration that will take over on Jan. 20.

Mrs. Obama went hunting for a new school for the kids, visiting two of the capital city's best-known private schools.

Obama and his wife displayed one similarity to the super-punctual Bushes, pulling up to the White House's South Portico 11 minutes early. The couples traded warm and easy greetings in the crisp autumn sunshine, with the wives exchanging pleasantries about the fall hues each wore — Mrs. Bush in a brown dress and Mrs. Obama in a red one.

While Obama and Bush, in business suits, proceeded waving and smiling down the White House Colonnade for nearly two hours of private talks, Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Bush had their own agenda: talk of raising children in unusual circumstances. Mrs. Bush conducted a tour of the living quarters of the mansion and made introductions to the army of residence staff who look after first families.

Michelle Obama toured the White House before with daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. But the two women had never met.

PRIVATE DISCUSSION

The 43rd president and the man who will be the 44th president met alone in the Oval Office for more than an hour, with no handlers or staff. It was Obama's first time in the storied workspace, even though he had been to the White House previously for events.

Nether the Bushes nor the Obamas spoke to reporters. The president and president-elect talked about an automotive industry now in deep crisis, mortgages and the prospect of a second economic stimulus package, according to two officials familiar with their conversation. The officials wanted anonymity so they could speak candidly about a private conversation.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said that Bush described the meeting as "constructive, relaxed and friendly," covering problems at home and abroad, and that he pledged a smooth transition. After the meeting in the Oval Office, Bush gave Obama a sneak peek at White House highlights, such as the Lincoln Bedroom and the president's office in the residence.

Obama transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the president-elect thanked Bush for both his hospitality and transition help. "They had a broad discussion about the importance of working together throughout the transition of government in light of the nation's many critical economic and security challenges," she said.

STAFFS ALSO MEET

Such White House meetings have a history going back decades. They are discussions that can range wherever the two men choose, whether focused on specific issues, how best to make decisions, the extraordinary resources that accompany any American president, the special weight of the office or even the secrets about the building few people are privy to. It's also a chance to establish rapport between near-strangers, though that is by no means guaranteed.

Michelle Obama arrived in Washington before her husband and stayed awhile after he left, checking out schools.

In the morning, she visited Georgetown Day School. Then in the late afternoon she toured Sidwell Friends School, which Chelsea Clinton attended when her parents were in the White House.

The Obamas' children now attend a private school in Chicago.

While Bush and Obama talked, parallel confabs went on all around the building.

Bush chief of staff Josh Bolten and Obama transition manager John Podesta, himself a former White House chief of staff under President Clinton, held their own talks. Obama's likely White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, got a glimpse of the West Wing digs he will probably occupy — including a bank of television screens on one wall.

ARRIVING IN STYLE

Outside, crowds built throughout the day with people pressing their noses through the fencing around the White House complex in hopes of getting a glimpse of the Obamas. Street vendors operating nearby were already stocked with Obama-related merchandise.

The Obamas traveled the streets of Washington and up the White House drive in a motorcade upgraded from campaign mode to full-blown presidential level. There were the two identical black, heavily armored limousines — one a decoy — like those Bush rides in, only without the seal or flying flags. There was also a hazardous-materials truck, a communications vehicle and an armed-to-the-teeth counter-assault team filling the seats of an open-windowed Suburban.

Obama's staff, most in suits, remarked they had needed to buy "grown-up clothes" that better suited a White House visit than the smart casual look they had adopted for the campaign plane. Even the entourage's ever-cheerful luggage handler donned a coat and tie, though he didn't come along to the White House.

GRACIOUS TONES

And there was one small sign that it will be Obama who will be in charge before too long: He put his left hand on Bush's back as they went inside the building from Obama's motorcade, as if he was guiding the president into his own house.

Later, as he sat on his plane waiting for takeoff, he was heard saying into his cell phone: "I'm not going to be spending too much time in Washington over the next several weeks."

These White House sessions are designed to put the presidency above politics, temporarily at least. This year's took place less than a week after Election Day, giving less time than usual for raw campaign rhetoric to fade. But both Bush and Obama have set a tone of graciousness and cooperation that has surprised — and pleased — many observers.