(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama took time out from piecing together his leadership team Tuesday to honor the country's fallen veterans.
Barack Obama and veteran Tammy Duckworth place a wreath at a memorial Tuesday in Chicago, Illinois.

Obama laid a wreath in Chicago, Illinois, and Vice President-elect Joe Biden spoke at a Veterans Day event in New Castle, Delaware.
Obama called on Americans to "rededicate ourselves to keep a sacred trust with all who have worn the uniform of the United States of America: that America will serve you as well as you have served your country."
"As your next commander in chief, I promise to work every single day to keep that sacred trust with all who have served," he said in a statement.

Biden thanked the veterans present for their service and reiterated the Democratic campaign's promise to care for those coming back from foreign battlefields "in this war that we ignore in everyday life."
John Podesta, the co-chairman of the Obama-Biden transition team, provided an update on the presidential transition Tuesday afternoon.
Podesta laid out the ethics rules for the transition, but he did not make any key staff announcements.
Under ethics guidelines, Podesta said, federal lobbyists are banned from contributing money to transition and they cannot lobby during their work with the transition, among other things.
No Cabinet appointments were expected this week, but Obama's transition team could make some key staff announcements.

With the transition process under way, President Bush welcomed the president-elect to the White House on Monday.
The two had a "relaxed" and "friendly" meeting, a White House spokesman said.
Bush said Tuesday that he and Obama had a "good conversation."
Bush said he called former President Clinton before the meeting and told him that he hoped he could be as gracious to President-elect Obama as Clinton was to him.

In addition to policy discussion, the president said Obama seemed particularly interested in how his daughters would like the White House.
"I know his girls are on his mind and he wants to make sure first and foremost he's going to be a good dad, and I think that's going to be an important part of this presidency," Bush said.