Memo to President Barack Obama

As Mr. Obama takes office, we asked 18 leaders to offer him their best advice.

From Reader's Digest

Read more memos to President Barack Obama.
Give your advice to President Obama.

Congratulations on your historic victory. Now you-and we-have work to do. We asked 18 statesmen and—women spanning the political spectrum to give you their best advice on the most pressing issues we face. Their answers offer wisdom and counsel to you—and, by extension, to us all.

In your presidency, you will face crises not matched since Abraham Lincoln saw the Union falling apart or Franklin Roosevelt witnessed the economic collapse of the Great Depression and later the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Like Lincoln and FDR, you must answer a call to greatness, move to unify the nation, and join with Congress to mobilize the country's best minds and strengthen alliances abroad.

Your first step must be to form a bipartisan Cabinet that includes two able members from the other party, as Roosevelt did in 1940 when he recognized the threat posed by Hitler and prepared to meet the challenge of war. Second, you must form a working partnership with Congress. Contrary to what some presidents-most notably, Woodrow Wilson and George W. Bush-have believed, such an embrace does not mean giving up power.

Abroad, you must reinvigorate our Atlantic and Pacific alliances, remembering that, at its best, NATO won the Cold War without firing a shot-the perfect victory. Keep in mind that there are members of Congress who can be part of this dynamic partnership. Your leadership with Congress, with the American public, and with the Alliance means that you must talk but also listen, for only through such civility will we arrive on higher ground and accomplish what now seems impossible. Read more advice.

"Encourage Debate"
Karl Rove is a former top White House aide and longtime political strategist to George W. Bush.

A top priority will be to create a White House where forceful argument can take place. Plain speaking, straight talk, and dissent must be encouraged, with participants thoroughly prepared, ideas offered with deference for opposing views, and colleagues not subjected to self-serving leaks. The power of the Oval Office can cower critics and silence disagreement; the chief executive must labor hard to make it a place of vigorous debate. Read more advice.

"Remind Us What It Takes To Be Great"
Anne-Marie Slaughter is dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and author of the book The Idea that is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World.

Before we begin to tackle the specific problems America faces, your most important job is to change the national frame of mind. You must convince your fellow citizens to believe once again that America can do anything it sets its mind to.

It is not enough to repeat how great we are as a people and a nation. You must remind the country of what it takes to be great and have the courage to call for sacrifice and hard work on the part of all Americans. Read more advice.

"Act Justly and Walk Humbly"
The Reverend Billy Graham has advised every president since Harry Truman.

More than 2,700 years ago, the Jewish prophet Micah said to the people of his day, "What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

Could any words be more appropriate for you as you assume office?

Look carefully at Micah's three injunctions. First, he exhorts you to "act justly"-to do what is right, not just what is politically expedient. Power brings with it many temptations that can be almost overwhelming, as more than one president has discovered, to his shame. Know them, resist them, and make it your goal to live with integrity and with enthusiasm for justice.

Then Micah charges you to "love mercy"—not just to practice mercy but to make it your passion. Never overlook those who cannot care for themselves and those who live under the constant threat of disease, starvation, poverty, or tyranny. Work with compassion and determination for a better world. Love not only those who are your friends but those who oppose you. And never forget your family amid the demands on your time; they need you, and you need them.

Finally, Micah calls you to "walk humbly with your God." Every word in that phrase is important. Our relationship with God isn't something we begin and then forget; it should be a daily walk as we constantly turn to Him in prayer. But you can't truly walk with God if you allow pride or ego to dominate you. The Bible says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." The only person who hears God's voice is the one who humbly seeks it.

May God bless you, your family, and all who work with you for a better and more peaceful world. Read more advice.

"Restate the Case For U.S. Leadership Abroad"
Madeleine Albright served as secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. This advice is excerpted from her 2008 book, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership.

Amid the swirl of events of these past 15 years, four trends hold the greatest peril to American interests: terror and the rise of anti-Americanism in the Arab and Muslim worlds, the erosion of international consensus on nuclear proliferation, growing doubts about the value of democracy, and the gathering backlash against globalization due primarily to the widening split between rich and poor.

There is a fifth danger that could exacerbate the other four. Historically, America has responded to periods of deep involvement overseas by trying to withdraw. This was true after World War I, after Vietnam, and again following the Cold War. After Iraq, Americans will be reluctant to take risks. So should we be, but not so reluctant that new threats are allowed to grow.

We are in a cantankerous mood. A poll found that 42 percent of Americans say the United States should "mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can." Tending to one's own affairs is a virtue in America. Why not disengage? Why wouldn't we let others take the lead?

Your presidency must answer these questions by restating the case for U.S. leadership. This is not 1808 or 1908. If the tools of American power are allowed to rust, alternative powers will fill the void. Some will do no harm; others will do no good. The time will arrive when we must awaken again, and there is a risk that we will respond too late. Far better to remain vigilant. We have unique capabilities; we must use them for the right purposes. Read more advice.

"Honor An American Hero"
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French philosopher and writer. His most recent book is Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against the New Barbarism.

One of your first acts should be to have erected in the center of Karachi, Pakistan, a monument in memory of Daniel Pearl, the journalist who was kidnapped and killed there.

It would render justice to one of today's great American heroes. And it would test the true reliability of Pakistan as our ally. Read more advice.

"Invest in the Nation's Health"
Richard H. Carmona, MD, was the U.S. surgeon general from 2002 to 2006 and is now president of the Canyon Ranch Institute.

Our nation needs a cultural transformation-a comprehensive move from a "sick care" system to a true health care system. First and foremost, this means investing in prevention.

Individuals can prevent disease by eating healthy foods in healthy portions, eliminating tobacco, and being physically active. We must encourage them to do so. As a society, prevention means managing chronic diseases to prevent catastrophic illnesses, changing our nation's reimbursement system to motivate patients and health professionals to practice preventive care, and involving employers in improving their employees' health and wellness.

The strength of our great nation is in the good health of its people. A recent study by Trust for America's Health found that if we spent $10 per person per year on proven prevention strategies, the United States could save $16 billion annually within five years. I ask that you add that $10-per-person prevention plan to the federal budget.

Improving the health and well-being of the American people is always a good investment. Read more advice.

"Stop the Cycle of Debt"
Robert D. Hormats is a former assistant secretary of state and current vice chairman of Goldman Sachs (International).

For the past two decades, the United States sidestepped many needed economic reforms. Too many of us engaged in wishful thinking, believing that the rapid rise in federal budget deficits and debt accumulation would be reversed on its own.

The budget deficit will rise in the near term as the result of the legislation passed last fall to stabilize the financial markets. The numbers will be large, but the programs are needed.

It is the deficits expected in future decades, however, that will present a more ominous problem. Years after the current crises have passed, the country could face even more severe difficulties if the government repeatedly spends far more than it takes in. The threat is not only financial. Chronic, large, and growing budget imbalances and the resulting massive debt will weaken our national security as well as our ability to meet future domestic and international crises—and will impose huge burdens on our children and grandchildren. Read more advice.

"Be Like Ike"
Jonathan Rauch is a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Just two words of advice: Emulate Eisenhower.

Dwight D. Eisenhower is regarded as the boring president of a boring decade. In fact, those times-with major crises in Taiwan, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East-were scarier than ours. Ike also had to close out a stalemated war, bring West Germany into a fledgling NATO, and cope with the threat of nuclear annihilation by the Soviets. And Eisenhower made it all look boring-by projecting calm and playing golf, eschewing dramatic gestures and grandiose reforms, and governing resolutely from the center. He understood that a president can more easily do harm than good, that a strong leader nurtures rather than fractures consensus, and that power has its own natural hydraulics, which not even a president can defy.

As Gil Troy shows in Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents, moderation is not about splitting the difference between extremes; it is a coherent strategy all its own and one that has succeeded better than the flashier alternatives. For all its exhausting eventfulness, the current administration has solved few if any of the major problems it inherited. Our next president needs to do the reverse, destabilizing less while solving more. Like Ike. Read more advice.

"Fight Extreme Poverty"
Helene D. Gayle, MD, is president and CEO of CARE USA.

Rising food prices brought down a prime minister in Haiti. Lack of hope and education has made desperate people susceptible to violence. Natural resource scarcity and environmental degradation, exacerbated by climate change, have fueled war and genocide. To find peaceful solutions to our global challenges, we must ensure that everyone has basic necessities and the freedom to pursue a better life without violence or repression.

To tackle poverty at its roots, our most vital investments should be in women. The backbone of many communities, they represent an untapped resource. Their efforts as farmers, wage earners, and caregivers can assure the well-being of families and the success of future generations. Given tools, education, and opportunities, they will transform many lives.

People in the developing world cannot afford extreme poverty, and neither can we. Together, we can change this condition. Strong leadership will help us do it faster. Read more advice.

"Remake the Bully Pulpit"
Michael D. McCurry was White House press secretary from 1995 to 1998.

Nothing will help you or threaten your success more than how well you communicate with the American people. The "bully pulpit" of the presidency, as Theodore Roosevelt called it, needs a remake because we are still using some of the same communication techniques that date back to his presidency.

First, abolish the practice of holding a single televised daily press briefing at the White House. No matter how witty and attractive the press secretary might be, he or she cannot become a daytime-television star. The press secretary needs to orchestrate a great symphony of public information. We need more data and facts to get out the door, less spin and message control, more experts in government across all agencies talking about what they know best.

Second, look at what is popular on TV: reality shows. Make the White House one. I attended very few meetings and briefings that could not have been carried live on television. They would have reassured the American public that the president gets good information from smart people. (Or maybe they would have shown citizens how confined the bubble of the Oval Office can be.) More transparency will restore trust in government. So let's let Americans watch more of it.

Third, make sure Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court, and government agencies get equal time. That means upgrading the competence of all those communicating the work of government. Let's have hundreds of great press secretaries in Washington, not just one at the White House. Read more advice.

"Be Brutally Honest"
Larry J. Sabato is director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and the author of A More Perfect Constitution.

You thought the campaign was hard, but that was the easy part. Our country is virtually bankrupt, with a national debt exceeding $10 trillion, and another $53 trillion promised in entitlements by 2050. You need to be brutally honest with citizens from the inauguration onward. Tell them what they can't have, and what they must give up, in order to save their children's and grandchildren's future. Ask for sacrifice and service.

If you steel yourself to tell Americans what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear, history will remember you as a great president. Read more advice. 

"Reunite the Country"
Kathleen Parker is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the author of Save the Males: Why Men Matter, Why Women Should Care.

Many would say that your most compelling challenge will be ending war and saving the economy. I believe your greatest task is to reunite the country, if for no other reason than that solving those two enormous problems-and all the others you are certain to face-will be more easily accomplished by a country facing them together.

For the past 16 years, the partisan gulf in our land has widened to the extent that this nation seems not only divided but nearly crippled. You can start to bridge the divide by realizing that "consultation" with congressional leaders doesn't mean telling them what you're going to announce in the next hour. Second, remember that taking bold action—waging war, writing major changes to the tax code, launching broad new domestic policies—requires the support of both major parties, not just your own.

Leadership doesn't mean only that you display confidence; it means that you inspire confidence. Civility is important, but so is compromise. The Electoral College is winner-take-all, but judicial appointments don't have to work that way, and legislation never should.

Your greatest challenge, then, is to articulate a vision of shared purpose-something larger than ourselves and more compelling than party loyalty—to save us from self-destruction. We need to stop targeting each other and aim our considerable talents and resources at the many problems facing this world. United, we are simply much stronger and more effective. Read more advice. 

"Advocate for Adoption"
Grover G. Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Use the bully pulpit to make it a national policy that every American child without parents be adopted in your first year in office. Give a nationally televised speech and challenge every church, synagogue, and mosque in this nation to have its members choose one child to get adopted in 2009. Also, set as a priority of your foreign policy that our trading partners and allies open up their adoption processes. We have millions of couples wanting to adopt and too many orphans in the world. Read more advice.

"Commit to the Environment"
Mark Tercek is president and CEO of the Nature Conservancy.

As a nation, we must recognize that the health of the environment is inextricably linked to our well-being and prosperity. Functioning natural systems and a stable climate support livelihoods, feed our families, sate our thirst, provide clean air, enrich us spiritually, and represent a legacy for future generations.

I urge you to make sustainability—using resources no faster than they can be replenished-a guiding principle. This commitment will spark progress toward developing clean energy sources, fighting climate change, conserving our lands and waters, and rebuilding a battered economy. Your example will inspire leaders around the world to do the same. Read more advice. 

"Improve Schools"
Roy Romer, the former governor of Colorado, is the chair of Strong American Schools.

In your first hundred days in office, I would advise you to convene the governors and state education leaders to discuss what's needed to ensure that our children are prepared to compete in a global economy. I believe that any education plan needs these elements:
1. Rigorous academic standards that are the same for every student and are benchmarked against the highest-performing nations in the world.
2. Effective teachers in every classroom. Teachers are the greatest natural resource in education, yet we don't treat them as such. We need to enable them to improve their skills, measure their performance, and pay them more if they produce superior results or take on hard-to-staff jobs.
3. More time and support for learning. If we're going to demand more from our students and teachers, it's our obligation to give them the time they need to succeed. This will require redesigning the school day or school calendar. Read more advice. 

"Prepare for the Worst"
Peggy Noonan is a former White House speechwriter and adviser to President Reagan.

Chances are good that a terror event worse than 9/11 will happen on American soil on your watch. Is this something you think about every day? If not, why not? If so, what is the biggest thing we need to hold our country together during very difficult circumstances? (Hint: Enhanced civil defense? A strengthened electrical grid? A president who tries not to divide us into slivers but to encourage us to be an America whole and entire?) Read more advice. 

"Reread the Constitution"
Pauline Maier is a professor of American history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence.

May I suggest that before swearing to uphold the Constitution, you take the time to reread it. It's short and won't take long, but it has had a rather bumpy ride lately and needs more careful attention. Your most illustrious predecessors knew the Constitution well and honored the limits imposed on executive power and the prerogatives granted to the legislative and judicial branches of government. Please don't skip the amendments, particularly those that protect the rights of the people, along with the provision on habeas corpus in article 1, section 9.

In fact, if you could encourage the people to read the Constitution, that would help get your administration off to a good start. How can we link arms in defense of what the United States stands for, or should stand for, unless we know very well exactly what that fundamental document of our nationhood says? Read more advice.