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Let Me Start: Critical Choices

What will President Obama do?
U.S. President Barack Obama waits to speak at an interfaith vigil for the shooting victims from Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)
U.S. President Barack Obama waits to speak at an interfaith vigil for the shooting victims from Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 at Newtown...

What will President Obama do? The New York Times' Peter Baker looks at the critical choices facing the president in the wake of recent life-altering events like the Newtown massacre and Hurricane Sandy. Should he shift his second term focus to waging battles he believes in but may not be able to win, politically? Let's find out what leadership looks like.

As gun control legislation is introduced across the country in the wake of the Newtown shootings, President Obama has announced that Vice President Biden will lead the administration's efforts to respond to the massacre. Biden will be tasked with leading a multi-agency response that incorporates everything from gun control to mental healthcare.

Nate Silver crunches the numbers on gun ownership -- and finds it's a powerful predictor of party affiliation.

Fiscal Cliff Notes: President Obama may have some trouble on his left flank as progressives don't like changing the inflation calculation, a move they say will shrink Social Security benefits.

Time magazine has named Barack Obama as its Person of the Year for 2012, saying he both the symbol and architect of a new America.

An inquiry into the Benghazi attack blames the State Department for inadequate security. What does this report mean for Hillary Clinton?

Chuck Hagel may well be President Obama's choice to be the next Defense Secretary, but he's facing stiff resistance from some of his former Republican colleagues in the Senate.