Barack Obama, the 44th president, is wading in the muck of the Bush presidency—two wars and flailing economy. And citizens and pundits are both asking the same question: “How will Obama handle the task at hand?” Needless to say, within the next few months we will begin to gather a sense of his political tactics.

Though he campaigned in black and white, as all candidates do, it will be necessary for Obama to bridge the partisan divide in order to accomplish a bold agenda. He must make tough decisions from the outset, and establish a political temperament somewhere between “cowboy diplomacy” and a passive, methodical approach. He must ease our worried minds by restoring faith in the economy, and he must call for every citizen to embrace an ethic of responsibility. He must establish relationships with foreign diplomats and renew America’s image abroad. He must invest in green energy, therefore creating millions of jobs. He must. He must. He must. The list could go on forever, and Peter Baker of the NY Times writes:

“But the task awaiting Mr. Obama arguably transcends this economic program or that foreign crisis. He takes over a nation weary of the past and wary of the future, gloomy about its place in the world, cynical about its government and desperate for some sense of deliverance. Nearly nine of every 10 Americans think the country is on the wrong track, the deepest expression of national pessimism in the polling history.”

So above all else, it is necessary for Obama to heal our nation and settle our nerves.