If I were to advise the next president on inauguration eve, I would remind him or her that the oath they will take the following midday will start an implacable four year countdown. But I would also point out that the calendar is only one measure of time for the nation’s political leader.

The different ways in which presidents enter the White House often shape their first-year prospects and agendas.

Every modern president has dwelled in the shadow of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s extraordinary beginning amid the worst economic crisis in the nation’s history.

The Miller Center’s William Antholis examines presidential candidates’ “first day” promises. Will any hold up?