God bless you Mr. President, and Mr. President-Elect

It has been asserted that "For every year an American president serves in office he ages physically by four years."

By January 2017 President Obama will have served as America's president for eight years. His hair is turning white, and if the assertion is true, he was 47 when he started his presidency and will leave the White House the physical equivalent of a man 79 years old.

Only his doctor knows whether or not his service as America's president has aged him in that way, and to that extent.

From the triumph of dealing with Osama bin Laden to the tragedies at Benghazi, his presidency has seen its high points and its lows. Historians will judge his heritage and the impact of his years of service.

That he was elected and served his country for eight tumultuous years while raising two fine daughters in the glare of the public spotlight, is cause enough to render the nation's thanks.

President Obama had to deal with the problems he inherited from his predecessor. He will leave office wishing he might have accomplished more.

His successor also enters the presidency with problems he is inheriting.

President-Elect Trump, age 70, will start his presidency with many of the same advantages President Obama had at the outset, including his party's majorities in both the United States Senate and the U. S. House of Representatives.

After an election campaign in which Trump and his opponents all promised a golden age of opportunity and prosperity, social justice and security, the next four years in the United States will have challenges which will be every bit equal to those President Obama faced in his first four years, unless Trump and his Republican Party can keep their majorities in the midterm elections of 2018 (something President Obama and his Democrats did not succeed in doing in 2010.)

Welcome to the challenges of the presidency, President-Elect Trump. You campaigned successfully for the job, but (as President Obama can tell you) the real work has only just begun.

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Photos Copyright 2016 Demas W. Jasper

As we begin to assess President Obama's legacy, this previous Hub seems appropriate to our weighing the balance: http://hubpages.com/politics/A-Congressmans-Comments . Click and paste to read it.