Memo to the candidates.

• Author: Hagel, Chuck
• Position: National Affairs - Essay

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HUGH SIDEY, one of our nation's greatest journalists, wrote in 1979, "Politics, when all is said and done, is a business of belief and enthusiasm. Hope energizes, doubt destroys. Hopelessness is not our heritage." These are wise words as the U.S. prepares for a defining presidential election.

Elections are about course corrections, and Americans are in a serious mood to change the direction of their country. According to a Washington Post-ABC poll, 84% of citizens believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. Gallup results say it is 83%. These are historic numbers, and they register the depth of discontent with the current policies, leadership, and politics of our nation. I believe what awaits the next president is an inventory of problems more complicated than what Franklin Roosevelt faced on March 4, 1933, and will require the same boldness of leadership and initiatives that FDR brought to his time in order to meet the challenges of our time.

The 2008 presidential election flows into a historic confluence of events. Our nation finds itself bogged down in two wars--with record-high energy prices; deep devaluations and displacements in the housing, financial, and credit markets; record private and public debt; inflation on the rise; the future of health care uncertain for millions; intense economic pressures for many; a combustible, unpredictable, and dangerous world; and a sense that the U.S. may be on the backside of history. The world is in a state of transformation, with an astounding diffusion of power occurring around the globe. State-to-state relationships are maturing, shifting, and redefining alliances and geopolitical influences.

The great challenges facing mankind in this new century are not unique to nations, regions, religions, or cultures. All citizens of the world must confront the threats of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, pandemic health issues endemic poverty environmental degradation and, the most insidious and difficult of all, despair. These are 21st-century challenges that will require 21st-century thinking within a 21st-century frame of reference. History instructs and is a guide, but it cannot navigate our way, develop our strategy, or implement our policy. The rate and intensity of change today in a world saddled with less and less margin for error has brought with it an unprecedented immediacy to actions, reactions, and consequences--but wise leadership exercising wise judgment that results in wise policy never is outdated.

Over the next couple of months, the two candidates for president, Sens. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D.-Ill.), will have not just an opportunity, but an obligation, to present their views and policies clearly, for these will be the foundation that guides their prospective presidencies. We live in complicated times; the issues that will determine our fate demand more than glib 10-second answers and clever 30-second television ads. Both candidates are smart, capable, and decent men who love their country. Presidential campaigns are tough and there should be vigorous debate that produces political tension, but they must not allow this reality to control the process, thereby obfuscating the no-nonsense discussion of serious and specific issues so critical to the future of the U.S. and the world.

Americans will decide whom they believe is the more capable candidate to lead us over the next four years, but the candidates also should note that the world's leaders and citizens will be listening carefully while observing this election. As the campaign heats up, this global audience will begin to form expectations, shape judgments, and adjust their own national strategies and policies based on what they perceive to be the U.S.'s direction under a new leader. That process of evaluation is happening now.

One of these candidates is going to have to bring this country together, make Congress a partner, form a broad consensus to govern, and help lead the world. If they so polarize and divide our country during the campaign, they will find it difficult to govern. The complexities of an interconnected world will require leadership and decisions from the new president the day he takes office. These realities will not wait until the country might come back together.

This election presents unparalleled opportunities for the country and the candidates. They must not squander the magnitude of the moment. The next president and his team will have a unique opportunity to capture domestic and international support unlike any time since Sept. 11, 2001. I believe that the U.S. and the world will follow an honest, competent, and accountable president. To seize this moment, the next president will not have the luxury of extra time to prepare to govern. The candidates must begin that work now as they earn the trust of the people over the next several weeks.

What better optic for the world to see than a presidential campaign of relevant, vital, and imaginative ideas and inspirational leadership...