American President

WASHINGTON -- Since 9/11, a new wave of security consciousness has understandably gripped the country. Air travel particularly has been affected by fears of lethal skyjackings and, in this city, blocked streets around the Capitol and the White House plague commuters and tourists alike. The government's color-coded alerts to higher levels of terrorist threat may have increased public awareness of the dangerous times. But they also have bred confusion and, in many quarters, irritation and even ridicule.

THE inauguration of an American president is supposed to be a solemn affair, a glorious affair. It is also supposed to be an affirming moment for the nation, a defining time for our perception of ourselves as a people.Then why, in the joyousness of this coming week, do I feel confused? Why do I feel that, far from knowing more than I usually do, I seem to be knowing even less?There is this curious business of everyone being instructed to ring bells to mark the moment of President-elect Bill Clinton's assumption of power -- as if this were not the inauguration of a democratic American president but the resurrection of the Christ child!

Pertaining To Your Sept. 21 editorial, "What the general has wrought," I find it ridiculous to find a reason to ''thank'' Colin Powell for being a black American and allowing voters to ''size'' him up as a potential president.Mr. Powell would be a qualified presidential candidate regardless of his race.The Sun has missed the point. Mr. Powell does not want people to ''forget'' his color. But he also does not want to be commended for his color. Mr. Powell wants people to see an ''American who happens to be black.

WASHINGTON -- If it's true that much success in politics as in life depends on timing, the decision of President Clinton to kick off the new year Saturday with a 10-day, five-country sprint around Europe offers him a choice opportunity to start out strongly in the arena of public opinion.History has shown that nothing boosts an American president's stock more than a high-profile trip abroad, and especially to Europe. This has been particularly true for young presidents, those with modest foreign-policy experience, and even those in deep trouble at home.

WASHINGTON - The surprise two-day head start on the scheduled transfer of Iraqi sovereignty, timed and conducted without fanfare to stymie feared insurgent disruption, was also a commentary on how eager the Bush administration was to shed its image as an occupying power. The sudden and dramatic move, bypassing any showy ceremony, enabled President Bush to tell the NATO summit in Istanbul "we have kept our word" and "the Iraqi people have their country back." But much depends on whether the new interim Iraqi regime is up to the task of governing.

WASHINGTON -- In the end, about all the leader of the free world could do was politely nudge the leader of a tiny Middle East nation to shake the hand of a leader who has no nation at all.It wasn't much of a part for President Clinton, whose role yesterday was to serve as a kind of midwife for a political deal developed in secret, without the help of the United States, and in Norway, of all places.The rest of the world -- including American voters -- has grown accustomed to much more personal involvement by the president of the United States.

WHEN THE shining $80 million Lincoln Museum opened in Springfield, Ill., on a sunny day a few weeks ago, President Bush flew in and hailed Abraham Lincoln as the greatest American president and the embodiment of Republican Party values. But on closer examination, Lincoln's politics were far distant from the inside-the-Beltway game played by both parties these days. Lincoln was actually an outsider from the West. His thoughtful remove from mainstream political thinking was what got him elected and made him the best captain, to borrow poet Walt Whitman's word, we've ever had. In fact, it's as plain as the nose on his craggy face - it took the first American president from the Midwest to settle the blood bath between North and South over slavery.

ABUJA, Nigeria - Among those standing outside the gates of the hotel where the world's most powerful man had just checked in, anger simmered beneath the hope his visit inspired. President Clinton, soon after his plane had touched down here in the capital of Africa's most populous nation, had been brought to the Nicon Hilton and would soon visit President Olusegun Obasanjo. Despite the Nigerian authorities' efforts to clear people from the street outside the hotel's main entrance, a crowd of perhaps 100 had gathered - out-of-state visitors, displaced street hawkers, the jobless, all of them ordinary Nigerians struggling to be heard.

Jane Wyman, the Academy Award-winning actress whose long and distinguished film and television career was nearly overshadowed by her real-life role as the first wife of actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan, died yesterday morning. She was at least 90. Ms. Wyman died at her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., said Virginia Zamboni, a longtime friend. After arriving in Hollywood from St. Louis in the mid-1930s, Ms. Wyman learned her craft as a contract player before getting a crack at the major roles that would secure her reputation as a star.

Too bad President Bush has downgraded security concerns in the Western Pacific to put the emphasis on his 12-day swing through Asia on trade-generated jobs for recession-plagued Americans. This may be good politics, and he may even open Japanese and Korean markets to more U.S. products. But the breakup of the Soviet Union has unraveled military assumptions in Asia as profoundly as in Europe, and they are deserving of top-level presidential priority.As recently as two years ago, the United States was willing to overlook Japanese protectionism in order to secure Japan as the "unsinkable aircraft carrier" needed to confront the Soviet menace.