While the problems may be onerous, Obama is blessed with formidable advantages as he takes office, writes Denis Stauntonin Washington
WHEN BARACK Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20th, he will take office with a clear mandate for radical change in his country's domestic and foreign policies.
The economic and financial shock that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment bank in September has created a political consensus in favour of a bigger role for government in the US economy, stronger financial regulation and a more equitable distribution of wealth.
In foreign policy, even the Bush administration has now acknowledged the need for a timetable for the withdrawal of most US soldiers from Iraq and many conservatives have joined liberals in backing direct negotiations with adversaries such as Iran and Cuba.
The huge crowds that filled the streets of Chicago, Washington and cities around the world on November 4th to welcome Obama's election expressed the deep yearning for change that has gripped the US.
At the beginning of 2008, however, before the first caucuses and primaries, it was far from clear that the US was preparing for a dramatic change of course, much less that it would choose as its leader a young, African-American, first-term senator from Illinois.
Before his victory in Iowa on January 3rd, Obama had failed even to win the support of a majority of black voters, many of whom believed he could not win a general election.
Before Iowa, Hillary Clinton was the clear favourite to win the Democratic nomination and most pundits expected the Republicans to choose Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney, not John McCain whose campaign had all but collapsed the previous summer.
Clinton had run a cautious campaign, distancing herself from her vote to authorise the Iraq war without ever disowning or expressing regret for it and depending on the party establishment to deliver the nomination.
Domestically, Clinton promised a return to the market-orientated centrism of her husband's administration, along with a commitment to introduce universal health coverage.
Internationally, the former first lady rejected what she described as George Bush's "cowboy diplomacy" and promised more multilateral action. But she adopted a hawkish tone towards Iran and Russia and an uncompromisingly pro-Israel line on the Middle East peace process.
Obama's early opposition to the Iraq war allowed him to challenge Clinton from the left, despite domestic policies that were often more conservative - notably on healthcare, where he rejected a universal requirement to take out medical insurance. He not only drew huge crowds everywhere he spoke but created an organisation that gathered contact information from everyone who came to his events, building up a vast database of potential donors and volunteers.
After Iowa, African-American voters moved en masse behind Obama, completing a coalition of younger voters and affluent, educated liberals that was now strong enough to vanquish the Clinton machine.
Obama's progress was made smoother by Clinton's mistakes - the squabbling within her campaign, its shifting messages and her delay in spending her own money when campaign funds ran out.
Obama could not have defeated Clinton or won the presidency, however, without the discipline and clarity of vision of a campaign that was free of drama and infighting throughout.
By the time Obama secured the Democratic nomination in June, Giuliani and Romney had imploded, leaving John McCain to represent a Republican Party that had never warmed to him.
Days before the Republican national convention in St Paul, McCain surprised the entire political world by choosing Sarah Palin, the obscure governor of Alaska, as his running mate. At first the gamble appeared to pay off as Palin's robust conservatism rallied the Republican base, energised donors and wrong-footed the Democrats, who struggled to find an appropriate means of attack against her.
It soon became clear, however, that Palin was her own worst enemy as she turned in unpersuasive performances in prime time interviews and became a target for late-night comedy shows. Palin's lack of experience and her glaring ignorance of policy also undermined one of McCain's most powerful arguments against Obama - that the Democrat was not ready to lead the US at such an uncertain time in its history.
McCain's campaign was doomed by his disastrous response to September's crisis on Wall Street, briefly suspending his campaign as he contradicted himself about the strength of the US economy. Obama, by contrast, radiated calm throughout the crisis.
The financial meltdown had a more profound effect on public opinion, however, highlighting for many Americans the failure of an increasingly deregulated economy that rewarded a handful of wealthy risk-takers at the expense of everyone else. Suddenly, for the first time in decades, a political consensus emerged around the idea that only the government could save the US economy - taking stakes in banks to ensure the continued flow of credit and imposing tougher rules on financial institutions.
By the time he won November's election, Obama had gained a popular mandate to apply much more radical economic remedies than he had dared to advocate during the campaign. With Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal as his inspiration, the president-elect has promised the biggest investment in public infrastructure the US has seen for 50 years and an economic stimulus package targeted at poor and middle-income households.
The new president will inherit the most perilous economic conditions the US has known for a generation. However, he takes office with a number of formidable advantages, however, notably a vast reservoir of goodwill at home and abroad, a hunger for change among the American people and above all, the keen intelligence and clarity of purpose he has shown since he emerged on the public stage.