Hope was a major theme in Barack Obama's campaign. I'll tell you one thing I hope for, as the first post-Boomer President begins his term. I hope he's more emotionally healthy than the two representatives of my generation who held the office.

President Clinton acted out of a self-centered narcissism that so many in my generation possess. That caused caused him to be undisciplined and less effective than he could have been. He actually accomplished much. But what overshadows that? Monica Lewinski, and the impeachment that resulted from that self-centered narcissism.

President Bush was disciplined to the opposite extreme, to the point of inflexibility. But he acted out of an arrogant ideological certitude that so many in my generation possess. He was incapable of listening to opposing points of view. (Yesterday he told a welcoming crowd in Texas that he has no regrets about his eight years in office.)

I'm hoping that our new, post-Boomer president will be healthier than his two predecessors. I hope President Obama will continue to be as disciplined as he has been through his career. I hope that he will continue to approach his work with humility, paying attention to those who argue that he is wrong.