by Jim Brady

Created on: November 17, 2008   Last Updated: January 16, 2009

The 47-year-old who will be the 44th President of the United States has been given one of the great opportunities ever presented to an incoming leader.

Handled well, it could be a ticket to greatness.

Barack Hussein Obama takes office at a time of great, authentic peril. We face an economic situation in which even the experts, can summon no confidence because the end is not in sight.

We retain determined, homicidal enemies against whom we have to maintain an exhausting, expensive vigilance.

We stand preeminent in a rapidly changing world, where our military might, and wealth and moral standing have come under open challenge, posing real-time questions about what shape our future will take.

Into this maelstrom comes our first African-American President, who branded his campaign wisely with the concept of change, and who now faces all of the above simultaneously. Indeed, the first 100 days will be pivotal.

Among the first things anyone would counsel would be to build a team with depth, resources and experience. At this writing, indeed scant hours after the cheering of his election had subsided, Obama was hard at just that task. He is reaching out, as promised, in a bi-partisan way, which, coupled with his own familiarity with the workings of Congress and the relationships he has forged in his time in the Senate, will be crucial to the progress of any legislation he champions.

His initial forays overseas among our allies during his campaign were met favorably, allowing him a base upon which to build substantively in the first 100 days. The scourge of terrorism is a problem that is soluble, but the solution requires a commitment to more than military "victory". The governments and influential parties in terrorist states and areas that harbor terrorist actors, must be engaged to get at the roots of the problem, and a policing plan formulated. The election of Barack Obama presents the kind of new face and philosophy to our adversaries that may go a long way toward arresting the momentum of terrorist violence. At the same time, the new President will be well advised to notify the intransigent Al-Qaeda that its deeds and deadly stance will be answered, in the name of world peace.

Having also centered his candidacy on a desire to restore a fairer prosperity to the American economy, the new President must find ways to restore that elusive "confidence" so sorely lacking in the markets. Here, his gifts of oratory will serve him well. The words of a President have much power, and this man has shown a real ability to move audiences with eloquence and thoughtfulness. If the American people invest in him, it will go a long way toward restoring just the gumption and optimism that this nation so sorely needs.

Success for Barack Obama would mean a newly-energized economy, again the envy of the world, and this time, with a stronger, more intelligently regulated structure.

It would mean better relations with trade partners, and peaceful, mutually beneficial engagement with the newest players on the biggest world stage, China and India.

It would mean the opening of a real dialogue with vexing states, like Iran, who might be able to replace their defensiveness with pragmatism, and mutual respect, as they witness the peaceful and productive evolution of our nation.

Finally, we all hope the first 100 days of the Obama administration see a true knitting of the social fabric of the good old USA, as we look at our President and then look at each other and realize we're all in this together.

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