CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama used his first post-election news conference yesterday to pledge that he'll lead a fast effort to tackle what he called "the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime."

A cool, resolute Obama tried to lower expectations that he could ignite an instant economic recovery, noting that "it is not going to be quick and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in, but America is a strong and resilient country."

On other topics at his first meeting with the news media since his victory Tuesday, Obama took a hard and wary line on Iran, discussed the travails of searching for a dog for his daughters and struck a bipartisan, statesmanlike tone.

"We only have one president at a time," he said, "and I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole, that I am not the president and I won't be until Jan. 20."

Obama took care to say he intends to work smoothly with President Bush, whom he'll meet Monday at the White House.

"I'm not going to anticipate problems," Obama said. "I'm going to go in there with a spirit of bipartisanship and a sense that both the president and various leaders of Congress all recognize the severity of the situation right now and want to get stuff done."

He discussed foreign policy only once, saying he was "aware" that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had sent him a letter of congratulations. He said he would review the letter carefully and respond "appropriately."

During the campaign, Obama was criticized for saying that he was willing to engage in personal diplomacy with Iranian officials. Yesterday, he called Iran's nuclear program "unacceptable," adding that the country's "support of terrorist organizations, I think, is something that has to cease."

4 KEY ECONOMIC POINTS

The economy dominated the news conference, even as Obama offered no new specifics.

"I want to see a stimulus package sooner rather than later," he said. "If it does not get done in the lame-duck session, it will be the first thing I get done as president of the United States."

Obama said he would review how the Treasury Department is implementing its plan to spend $700 billion to rescue the financial markets, including whether bank executives receiving government help are being unduly rewarded by their firms. He added he would move with "all deliberate haste" to make appointments and order his transitional economic team to work on options to aid automakers.

The team, drawn from a broad swath of academia and finance, convened behind closed doors at the Hilton in Chicago. Members included former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, newly appointed chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, vice president-elect Joe Biden, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons. Billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett participated via speakerphone.

Their meeting came as the government reported that October unemployment jumped to 6.5 percent, its highest rate in 14 years.

"Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes," Obama said. "Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we're going to have to act swiftly to resolve it."

He listed four key economic points: helping the middle class; addressing the "spreading impact of the financial crisis on other sectors of our economy," such as small businesses and state and local governments; reviewing the implementation of the administration's financial-rescue program; and looking for ways to help the economy in the long run.

SEEKING ADVICE

The president-elect also said he would "reread some of Lincoln's writings, who's always an extraordinary inspiration."

The president-elect said he had spoken to former presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, and made one awkward aside, noting that he had only spoken only to living ex-presidents. "I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances," he said, perhaps unaware that Reagan is ailing.

Reagan consulted an astrologer while her husband was in the White House.

Later, he called the former first lady to apologize for what his spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter called a "careless and offhand remark."

Obama said no decision had been made on where to send daughters Malia and Sasha to school or what kind of dog to get them.

"Our preference would be to get a shelter dog," he said. "But obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me. So, whether we're going to be able to balance those two things, I think, is a pressing issue in the Obama household."