Obama Plants Tree On White House Lawn In Spot Where Bush's Tree "Did Not Take" (PHOTOS)

Of all the matters Barack Obama inherited from his predecessor, this one was relatively small.

There was a historically-significant hole on the White House North Lawn that needed to be filled, as it had been a year before him by George W. Bush and by another president more than a century before. W.'s tree, a Scarlet Oak, "did not take," and so, following White House tradition, Obama was called on to replace it.

From the pool report:

"This is a nice looking tree, don't you think?" Obama said as he approached
the scene, accompanied by Retired Rear Admiral Stephen W. Rochon, chief
usher of the White House, about 5:30 p.m.

"We've got to get a couple, do a little work here," Obama said, reaching
for a ceremonial shovel. Nine times he plunged it into the topsoil.

In a minute, he was done, leaving a mostly empty hole but fulfilling an
obligation of planting his first tree on the White House grounds.

"This a little easier than it should be," Obama joked.