White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel Tuesday sent a memo to the heads of all executive departments and agencies, ordering a stop to all pending regulations until a legal and policy review can be conducted by the Obama administration.

A rule that would eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains except for those in Wyoming was scheduled to be published on January 27. Now it will fall under review with the new administration.

It's the sight many Americans had long been waiting for.

Boarding a helicopter yesterday, George Bush and his wife Laura waved goodbye to a small crowd, a simple gesture closing a controversial eight years in office.

Mr Bush had been greeted with some boos from the two-million strong crowd at the inauguration of new U.S. President Barack Obama - a strong indication of the bitterness with which some, though not all, Americans view the former leader of the free world.

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For once-powerful Republicans, there were two ways to get through today's inauguration -- and neither was entirely without pain.

Some, like former White House aide Suhail Khan, opted to stay in town and witness first-hand the historic transition, even though it meant hearing rebukes from the incoming president and sometimes worse from the inaugural crowd.

"The one sorry note were the boos for President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Justice Roberts," said Khan, who was among a group of former Bush aides standing just a short distance from Obama as he was sworn in by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

"And singing the goodbye song," Khan said. "That was uncalled for."