During his transition period, in fact, Carter had to order a list of all his promises drawn up because he was unable to remember them all. There is no word yet from the Clinton camp whether they will do the same.

In addition, Carter's controversial selections for his Cabinet might contain a lesson for Clinton, who has made "change" into a political buzzword.

Carter had promised throughout the campaign to bring new blood to his Cabinet. Jordan, Carter's campaign manager, even went so far as to tell Playboy magazine that if Cyrus Vance was named Secretary of State and Zbigniew Brzezinski was appointed head of the National Security Council, "then I would say we failed, and I'd quit."

Carter was strongly criticized when Vance and Brzezinski, longtime political players, were eventually appointed to those very posts. And Jordan, who worked briefly for Texas billionaire Ross Perot this year, remained an advisor to the President.

Clinton must also be wary of repeating Carter's mistake of alienating Democratic members of Congress. In 1977, after a fairly successful first 100 days of legislative activity, the Congress turned against Carter when he dropped support of a tax cut that had been one of his campaign promises. After that, many of Carter's initiatives were blocked by legislators.

And needless to say, Clinton would probably be wise to avoid appearing weak in the wake of an international crisis like the taking of the hostages in Iran, which crippled Carter's hopes for re-election.

But, Nye notes, Clinton will be leading a changed country in a world much different than the one Carter faced.

In the end, the issues that will define the Clinton presidency may be completely different than the ones that shaped the Carter administration.

"I think President Carter's problems were partly personal and partly a result of the Cold War and the tensions and debate it caused," Nye says. "It's a different world and Clinton won't have all the same problems."