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WASHINGTON (CBS) ― President Barack Obama began overhauling U.S. treatment of terror suspects, signing orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Obama also has signed orders reviewing military trials of terror suspects and banning the harshest interrogation methods.

With three executive orders and a presidential directive, Obama is reshaping how the United States prosecutes and questions al Qaeda, Taliban or other foreign fighters who pose a threat to Americans.

The centerpiece order would close the much-maligned U.S. prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. It would fulfill a key Obama campaign promise.

A draft copy of the order, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, notes that "in view of significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally, prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained at Guantanamo and closure of the facility would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice."

The executive order was one of three expected on how to interrogate and prosecute al Qaeda, Taliban or other foreign fighters believed to threaten the United States. The administration already has suspended trials for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo for 120 days pending a review of the military tribunals. An estimated 245 men are being held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, most of whom have been detained for years without being charged with a crime.

On Thursday, Mr. Obama was visiting the State Department to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was easily confirmed by the Senate Wednesday, and his top national security advisers to round out a day focused on restoring the U.S. image abroad by making a clean break with some of the Bush administration's most controversial national security policies.

White House aides announced that the president would meet with retired military officers about the executive orders in the morning, but would not confirm that Mr. Obama planned to sign them immediately.

The Obama-Clinton meeting also was to include Vice President Joe Biden and national security adviser Jim Jones and his deputy. It was to be followed by an address by Mr. Obama and Clinton to department employees.

The address could provide an opening for Mr. Obama to enter the daunting thicket of Middle East diplomacy, long dodged by deferring to President George W. Bush, who left office Tuesday.

It could also be the time he announces George Mitchell, the former Senate Democratic leader, as his special Mideast envoy. Mitchell, 75, will return to a role he pursued during President Bill Clinton's presidency when the former senator took on several difficult diplomatic assignments, including chairing peace talks on Northern Ireland.

Mitchell also led an international commission to investigate violence in the Middle East. His report, issued in spring 2001, after Clinton had left office, called for a freeze on Israeli settlements on the West Bank and a Palestinian crackdown on terrorism.

Mr. Obama has vowed to move swiftly to meet challenges in the Middle East and other troubled overseas regions.

On his first full day in office, Mr. Obama made telephone calls Wednesday to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Mr. Obama emphasized that he would work to consolidate the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Gibbs said.

"He used this opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term, and to express his hope for their continued cooperation and leadership," Gibbs said.

During his two-month stint as the president-elect, Mr. Obama promised he would have plenty to say on the Mideast conflict as soon as he was in office, but the country could only have one foreign policy voice at a time.

Mr. Obama was starting his day Thursday with a private meeting on the nation's struggling economy, a signal to the millions of Americans struggling with tighter credit, increasing home foreclosures and the dollar's shrinking value.

Mr. Obama's plan to award a $500 tax credit to most workers is expected to advance through a key House panel today.

Democrats are preparing his $825 billion economic recovery plan for a floor vote next week.

Plans to extend and boost unemployment benefits, give states $87 billion to deal with Medicaid shortfalls and help unemployed people retain health care will also advance.

Republicans are turning against Mr. Obama's economic stimulus program, despite promises by both Mr. Obama and Capitol Hill Republicans to work together.

At the same time, Timothy Geithner, Mr. Obama's nominee to become treasury secretary, was expected to win approval by the Senate Finance Committee today, despite acknowledging "careless mistakes" in failing to pay $34,000 in payroll taxes. His confirmation by the full Senate is expected soon.

And signs point a Wall Street jittery about the prospect of the U.S. nationalizing banks, reports CBS News correspondent Priya David.

"We're moving towards a situation where the government is kind of quietly nationalizing these banks anyway," Stephen Gandel, senior editor at Time, told CBS News. "We're putting 20 billion in here 20 billion in there, eventually we own the bank. The government is already the largest shareholder in Citibank, in fact you can already say that we've kind of nationalized Citibank, but the difference is we're not running it."

But few economists feel the government has the desire or the ability to run the nation's banks.

"Just because you put the banks in the hands of government doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to make better loans," NYU economist Ann Lee told CBS News.

Some of Mr. Obama's other promises already were being implemented on his first full day in office. On Wednesday, he signed executive orders to limit his staff's ability to leave the administration to lobby their former colleagues. He also limited pay raises for his senior aides making more than $100,000 a year - a nod to a flailing economy and voters' frustrations.

The new commander in chief held his first meeting in the Situation Room, where he, Biden and senior military and foreign policy officials discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Obama campaigned on a pledge to withdraw U.S. combat forces from Iraq within 16 months, and to beef up the commitment in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama asked the Pentagon to do whatever additional planning necessary to "execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq."

Mr. Obama also had Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts readminister the oath of office he fumbled on Inauguration Day.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)