CLINTON IS WISHED WELL FOR THE SAKE OF AMERICA

page 8a editorial for wednesday

Bill Clinton will be sworn in today as the 41st person to serve as our nation's president. With this inaugural event, and any inaugural event, comes a degree of hope and expectation ... along with an equal measure of apprehension. We choose optimism, cautious as it might be. Despite the opposition to Mr. Clinton's beliefs and actions that have come before, and that will likely come in the future, today we stand together as Americans, members of a nation whose fundamental greatness lies not within its leaders but within its people. We welcome Bill Clinton to the presidency and, for the sake of us all, wish him well.

Gov. Clinton arrives in the world's most powerful, most visible and most scrutinized job with plenty of promises to keep and a galaxy of interests to serve. He was chosen for this high office by less than a majority of Americans and will find that proving himself as chief executive is a much trickier proposition than defeating opponents on the campaign trail. The difference between the responsibility in losing a political race and the responsibility of fouling up a decision that affects all Americans is considerable. Still, only persons who achieve the presidency can ever know if they measure up to it; as the last words of his oath echo around the Capitol grounds this day, the new president will have a clean slate, having made no bad decisions and no good ones. By the end of the day, Bill Clinton may disappoint us, but the new president assumes power with an opportunity to be the best chief executive this nation has seen.

There are indications Gov. Clinton has what it takes to be a good president.

He has been governor of a state for 12 years, which is as good a training ground as any for taking over the nation's executive branch. He knows the pressures and trials of being the person in charge, understands the dynamics of dealing with a legislative body and takes into his new job some lessons about dealing with a broad-based constituency.

If nothing else, Gov. Clinton must be called resilient. Before Bill Clinton was born, his father was killed in a car accident. His stepfather was an alcoholic. The president-elect lost the Arkansas governorship after his first term, yet had the fortitude to wait four years to win it back, then hold on to the office. His campaign this last year had dark moments, yet Gov. Clinton weathered them. America could do worse than having a president that embodies perseverance.

The president-elect says he didn't seek the presidency just to warm the chair, and we take him at his word. He has proven himself to be a hard worker, and we believe he is a man who truly wants to make this nation a better place. If results match his effort, Gov. Clinton should be a good president.

Where Gov. Clinton might falter as president is in misreading or overplaying the supposed mandate for change. Certainly, some modifications in the mixed-up corridors of power in Washington would be welcome, but the shortcoming of any agent of change can usually be found in the tendency to tamper with what already works. Despite how he interprets his mandate, Mr. Clinton might find discretion to be the better part of governance. He should be wary also of endeavors requiring non-existent funds and the swelling of bureaucracy.

This is Inauguration Day, and the peaceful transfer of power and the fluid execution of democracy make us proud as Americans. Our great nation enters a new era, as it does with each president in succession, ever-hopeful that the best days are yet to come.