As we have seen in recent years, a Congress that becomes too powerful, becomes unwieldy and sometimes unruly. As a consequence, it becomes the target of every interest group and lobbyist who wants something done. We have already experienced the agonies of numerous gridlocks and Senate filibusters. This is no way to run an efficient government. As intended by the founders, a good government needs one person to be responsible for its direction.

Fourth, President Clinton must realize that there is more at stake than his own presidency. For all intents and purposes, the whole future of the American presidency rests on the decisions he will or will not make in the next two years. It he can get reelected, he will be the first president to carry the nation into the next millennium. A slack or obtuse performance here is sure to have a long-lasting and rippling effect on the nation's perception of the role that the president plays in our government. Finally, Clinton must be cautious of those who advise him to move to the right (or further to the right), as a means to appease Conservatives. Such a move by a centrist Democrat is sure to prove politically fatal.

For one, the popular political thought inherently enjoys a certain degree of fickleness that feeds on faddism. Moreover, there is no limit to far one can move in either direction along the political scale. Once you begin to move to the right, the Right has a tendency to move itself further away, and you will have no choice but to follow. But a president must be able to lead, not follow.

Now the burning question remains. Is Bill Clinton up to the task? At least 43 percent of the people who voted two years ago thought so. Regardless of how precarious his standing is today, he is still the president of the most powerful country on Earth. He can still wield the powers afforded to him by the framers of the Constitution.

Thus, President Clinton should make an effort to make his adversaries aware of the powers of the executive branch. In the words of General de Gaulle, "The price a leader pays for leadership is unceasing discipline, the constant taking of risks, and perpetual inner struggle."

Does Clinton possess the same stamina and gumption that other great presidents did? Can he see himself and his people through the present quandary, or will his infirmity cost him the presidency? Worse still, will he have to acquiesce to the Right in order to cling to power? The answers will be in the offing.

Ben Tahiri is a student at the Harvard Extension School, Class of'96.