"Many of the Cabinet members are involved in helping make sure this economy is strong in the future," Bush said before the meeting. "And we have taken extraordinary measures because these are extraordinary circumstances."

He stressed the program "is designed to preserve free enterprise, not replace free enterprise."

For example, the program in which the government would buy direct stakes in nine huge banks "is designed so that these shares will eventually be sold back," Bush said.

The program also is limited, meaning banks would remain privately controlled and the government would be a "passive investor," he said.

"In other words," Bush said, "there won't be government officials sitting on the board of private companies."

Bush also addressed Americans' concerns about the scope of the $700 billion bailout.

"(In) our judgment, had we not acted decisively at the time we did, the credit crunch, the inability for banks in your communities to loan to your businesses would have affected the working people and the small businesses of America," he said. "And that's unacceptable to me and that's unacceptable to this Cabinet."