The year 2008 will be a title for books and movies and a serious subject for historians decades from now. Yet 2009 may be more important, shaping the conclusions those scholars reach and the role the US plays in the years ahead.

The New Year begins with unusual promise and unusual peril. Less than a week in, here are some of the big considerations and challenges.

The new president's first 100 days. In that short span 76 years ago, Franklin Delano Roosevelt engineered the reform of the banking system, created the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority, abandoned the gold standard and laid the framework for America's 20th century welfare system. No president since has come close to that. It's usually an unreasonable benchmark.