As Obama becomes president, the keys to his future will be what happened in his past.

Today is a new day in America. At noon we will have a new president of a new race and from a new generation.

Last week I heard David Gergen speak of the transition to this new generation of presidential leadership. Gergen, a veteran of both Republican and Democratic administrations, noted that this is the third generational changing of the guard in his lifetime.

The first generation saw seven presidents, starting with John F. Kennedy and ending with George H.W. Bush, all of whom had served in uniform as part of the World War II generation. Though different in politics, they had cohesive and similar world views.

The next changing of the guard came with two presidents born in the 1940s, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. These presidents grew into adulthood during Vietnam, a conflict that fragmented their generation. Both administrations struggled with aspects of this legacy.

Barack Obama represents a new generation of Americans who have come of age in the '80s, during a period of much prosperity.

The irony is that he becomes president at a time of severe economic adversity and at a time when America is facing unprecedented challenges to restore our standing in the global community, grapple with seemingly intractable conflict in the Middle East, and resolve American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This will not be your routine presidency. Yet, we have hope. For someone with such limited experience on the national and world stage, Barack Obama inspires confidence. There is something in the way he speaks, the way he carries himself, the perseverance he displayed in his unlikely campaign for the presidency that is both special and reassuring.

I was a reluctant convert to the Obama camp. I thought he was too inexperienced and too swayed by the bright lights of Pennsylvania Avenue.

One of my daughters gave me his first book, "Dreams From My Father." As I read it, I was impressed by the openness of this young man. I was particularly taken by his description of his first visit to Kenya, his father's country.

By this time, his father, who had not been a part of Obama's growing up, had died in an automobile crash. Obama talks about the way he was embraced as family by his aunts and cousins.

He describes his father's village and what he learned of his African heritage from his grandmother. It is heartfelt and moving.

The book was the start of my conversion. I began to take a harder look at Obama, the candidate. The more I looked, the better I liked what I saw. He is a person who weathers well. By the middle of last year I was firmly in the Obama camp.

So here we are in the improbable situation of Inauguration Day for this young black man of such enormous promise.

What advice might we give President Obama? At the meeting last week of a large biotech company where Gergen spoke, each attendee was asked: What advice do you have for President Obama?

As a science-based company, these leaders, are well-educated, young, and global. If there was one theme to their advice, it was: "Pick a good team, focus on the big problems, and do what is right." Having said this, let me give you a sampling of specific suggestions:

• Stay true to your message and vision.

• Healthcare for everyone and clean energy by the end of the first term.

• Stabilize the economy, keep the homeland safe, rationalize the budget, limit tax increases, tax holiday for off-shore profits that are repatriated – good luck.

• No turnovers, don't throw the ball away.

• Be decisive, be firm and be fair.

• Always listen to your wife.

• Dig out your notes from Conflict 101, especially now that your mother-in-law is in the White House.

• Do not try to make everyone happy.

• Stop smoking!

• Yikes, any improvement will be a big improvement.

• Portuguese water dogs are great hypo-allergenic pets.

• Be at war with the issues, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new day find you a better way.

• Fix our 401(k), then the FDA.

• You are not young enough to know everything.

• Get rid of the Bowl Championship Series.

• Establish good relations with "Saturday Night Live" and "The Daily Show."

One other thing that David Gergen said about our best presidents – they have a sense of humor.

I hope that President Obama appreciates the humor and the wisdom in this advice.

The world is indeed watching. Watching, like us, with a mixture of hope and good will.