Barack Obama will make his first visit to the White House as president-elect on Monday for talks with President George W. Bush on crisis issues including Iraq and the economic meltdown, officials said.

In the first confirmed appointment of the nascent Obama administration meanwhile, hard-charging congressman Rahm Emanuel agreed to serve as White House chief of staff after agonising over family concerns.

Two days after Obama's historic election triumph over Republican John McCain, Bush said he had directed "unprecedented" co-operation between the White House and Obama before the president-elect is inaugurated on 20 January.

"In the coming weeks, we will ask administration officials to brief the Obama team on ongoing policy issues ranging from the financial markets to the war in Iraq," Bush said at the White House.

"I look forward to discussing those issues with the president-elect early next week."

The outgoing two-term president also warned that terrorists may try to use the handover of power period to strike at the United States.

"We're in a struggle against violent extremists determined to attack us, and they would like nothing more than to exploit this period of change to harm the American people," he said.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino said Obama and wife Michelle would visit the White House on Monday.

"The Bushes will greet the Obamas, and then the president will visit with the president-elect in the Oval Office. Mrs Bush and Mrs Obama will meet in and tour the private residence," Perino said in a statement.

"We understand that the Obama children will not be accompanying them on this visit, but we very much look forward to meeting them," said Perino.

Obama said in a statement that he looked forward to meeting Bush, whom he lambasted on an almost hourly basis on the campaign trail.

"I thank him for reaching out in the spirit of bipartisanship that will be required to meet the many challenges we face as a nation," Obama said.

Chief of staff

Emanuel's decision to accept the crucial chief of staff job, confirmed to AFP by a Democratic aide, makes him the first senior level official to join the nascent Obama administration.

Illinois lawmaker Emanuel (48) knows Washington inside-out as a veteran of the Clinton White House, and is credited with masterminding the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 2006.

Emanuel, who had been tipped as a possible future Speaker of the House, is a sharp-elbowed, sometimes profane political operator who is fiercely committed to Democratic ideals and often has harsh words for Republicans.

His appointment stirred the first-post election attacks from the demoralised Republican Party.

"This is an ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the centre," said John Boehner, the Republican minority leader in the House.

Republican National Committee spokesperson Alex Conant added that Emanuel was a "partisan insider who played a lead role in breaking Washington."

"The White House needs a chief of staff — not a chief campaigner like Emanuel," Conant said.

"Our nation will be ill-served if Obama runs the White House the way 'Rahmbo' ran the Democratic Congress."

Other top picks

In another sign of the accelerating transition, Obama arrived at the FBI building in downtown Chicago for his first post-election national security briefing from Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence.

The president-elect was meanwhile also piecing together the framework of his administration.

A report by the Politico website and newspaper said Obama's senior communications strategist Robert Gibbs would take the key job of White House press secretary in the new administration. Senior Obama aides did not respond to requests for comment on the report.

Obama was also expected to hold his first news conference as president-elect on Friday.

Speculation meanwhile swirled about the top picks for Obama's cabinet.

He noted to CNN last week that his economic advisers include Clinton's last treasury secretary Larry Summers (53) as well as former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker (81); and mega-rich investor Warren Buffett (78).

Another name being mentioned in the media for Obama's economic overseer is Timothy Geithner (47) who as president of the New York Federal Reserve has been in charge of executing the US central bank's sudden explosion of market activity.

Obama, a 47-year-old Illinois senator, crushed Republican John McCain (72) in the election with an inspirational message of hope and change.

But he will inherit a stricken economy along with his promises to reduce troop levels in Iraq and make a success of Afghanistan.

AFP