| Sumario: | For two years now the epithet ''historic'' has been affixed to Barack Obama -- first during the primary season, then during the general election, again when he captured the presidency and now once more as he prepares to take office in times as difficult as any in modern memory. Yet ''historic'' is an ambiguous term. It implies something new, a break from all that has gone before, but also presupposes that the figure in question must confront the cumulative weight, or legacy, of the past. This theme connects the reviews and essays in our Inauguration Issue, whether it is Anthony Lewis parsing the ''I Have a Dream'' speech of Martin Luther King Jr., David Greenberg reassessing the New Deal, Gary Hart examining the attributes of effective presidential leadership on foreign policy, or Ross Douthat illuminating the tension between ideas and passions that has long beset American conservatism.
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