Power switch

By Our Washington Staff

Published: January 19 2009 21:18 | Last updated: January 19 2009 21:18

A new occupant in the White House is always a harbinger of change in Washington, this election made all the more visible with a 47-year-old African-American from Chicago taking over from a 62-year-old white Texan.

Barack Obama’s team reflects the change too. They are younger, more diverse, more tech savvy and geographically distinct from those they replace.

Our interactive graphic profiles the new players in Washington and shows their connections – whether through Capitol Hill, Chicago, university, or the Clinton administration.

But it’s not just the faces that are changing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The Obama-led White House may be more crowded: So much time are staffers expected to be spending at the White House that Obama officials are already exploring ways in which their families can regularly visit them.

Grassroots campaign rhetoric aside, Mr Obama is likely to take a top down approach to implementing a more grueling schedule for his team. Mr Bush was usually in bed by 10pm and only rarely accepted invitations to dinner outside of the White House, but Mr Obama is a regular night bird. His staff will have to get used to a diet of evening meetings as well as the usual murderously early morning start. And Sunday may turn into a working day as well. Unlike Mr Bush, who had six weekly intelligence briefings a week, Mr Obama has been receiving seven.

(more... and for interactive "power switch map")