WASHINGTON - On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama visited wounded troops at a military hospital, helped paint a wall at a shelter for homeless teens and paid tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the civil rights leader's national day. He said there can't be "idle hands" at a time of national hardship and pledged to make the government do its part.
Invoking King's legacy as "not just a dreamer, but a doer," Obama urged all Americans to pitch in and take part in community service.
Ever-growing crowds thronged to the capital city on the eve of Obama's elevation to the presidency. "Tomorrow, we will come together as one people on the same Mall where Dr. King's dream echoes still," Obama said.
At lunchtime, Michelle Obama joined her husband at Calvin Coolidge High School, where the couple greeted 300 people who were writing letters to U.S. troops and doing other volunteer activities. Obama thanked them for following King's path of service.
'This is not just a one-day affair'
"If we're waiting for somebody else to do something, it never gets done," said Obama, once a community organizer in Chicago. "We're going to have to take responsibility, all of us. This is not just a one-day affair."
As for himself, Obama said, "I am making a commitment to you as your next president that we are going to make government work."
On the National Mall, a party atmosphere was already evident by midday as snow fell lightly. Several of the large-screen televisions were reshowing Sunday's concert, while in a corner near the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Boy's Choir of Kenya performed an impromptu selection for the crowd.
At the Capitol, hundreds of people pressed up against the blocked-off seating area in hopes of getting as close to the inaugural stage as possible.
"Everybody's excited," said Donald Butler, 20, a student at the University of Washington. "There are smiling faces everywhere, and it's a nice, diverse crowd. It's history. I didn't think I would see a black president in my generation. I just had to be here." Butler is black.
A day away from becoming the nation's 44th president, Obama made a morning visit to 14 injured vets from Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Then he visited Sasha Bruce House, a shelter for homeless teens, chatting with volunteers who were helping to repaint rooms and then joining in himself.
"We can't allow any idle hands. Everybody's got to be involved. I think the American people are ready to do that," Obama said, grabbing a paint roller to help give the walls a fresh coat of blue. "I think I've got this wall covered," he said.
Use Internet for rebuilding America
Obama, whose presidential campaign made extensive use of the Internet to rally support and gather contributions, said, "We don't want to just use it for winning elections, we want to use it for rebuilding America." He said thousands of people were volunteering on Monday, partly organized by online appeals.
Obama also said he spoke with the pilot who safely landed a disabled airliner in the Hudson River, US Airways Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger.
"He said, 'Me and my crew, we were just doing our job.' And it made me think, if everybody did their job — whatever that job was — as well as that pilot did his job, we'd be in pretty good shape," Obama said. Sullenberger, his crew and family were invited by Obama to attend Tuesday's inauguration.
Michelle Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden's wife, Jill, visited RFK Stadium where people were at work wrapping care packages and writing letters to troops overseas.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, one of those helping out with the care packages, said, "There's a tremendous spirit in Washington."
Bush makes phone calls
President George W. Bush, with just a day left in his term, made phone calls from the White House to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and a dozen other world leaders to thank them for their work with him over the past eight years.
In his final acts of clemency, Bush commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration.
Outside the White House gates, anti-war protesters threw shoes to mark Bush's last day in office.
About 500 people marched to the White House and threw about 40 pairs of shoes at the gate while tourists looked on and took photos.
Supporters said they acted in solidarity with Muntadhar Al-Zeidi, the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December.
The event was sponsored by several peace groups. Organizer Jamilla El-Shafei of Kennebunk, Maine, said the event allowed protesters to express their anger over Bush. She said he is “leaving with no accountability for eviscerating our Constitution.”
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, meanwhile, was designated by the Bush administration to stay away from Tuesday's inaugural festivities "in order to ensure continuity of government," said Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino. One official traditionally stays away when others in the line of presidential succession are gathered together, in case of a calamitous attack.
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