Presidential campaigns can get abstract, petty, and diverse. But the reality of the presidency hits the moment a president is sworn in.

In 2009, when President Barack Obama gave his first inaugural address, he carried a secret in his jacket pocket. A terrorist threat loomed over the ceremony; if the attack did happen, he was prepared to issue evacuation instructions and read them to the nearly half a million who stood before him on the National Mall.

For voters who haven’t cast their ballots yet, here’s what the president you choose will face:

The next commander in chief will control thousands of nuclear warheads and command troops in more than 150 countries. They will face Russia and China – adversaries working in tandem to dismantle the international order created and nurtured by America.

Russia threatens NATO countries; China threatens Taiwan. America has pledged to protect both and so will the next president.

In the Middle East, there are multi-faceted challenges, as President Joe Biden has learned.

These are known threats. It is almost certain that the next president will be in for a surprise.

In the 2000 campaign, the topic of terrorism was mentioned only once and in passing in the presidential debates. He dominated the next two decades.

In 2016, the son and brother of a president tried to focus the electorate on the key question about the presidency: “The next president will face an unforeseen challenge; that’s almost certain,” said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “It could be a pandemic, a major natural disaster, or an attack on our country… Because that’s it the question. Not the things we’re talking about today. This is the big challenge May happen.”

The pandemic he did reach. The next president may need the temper and focus to manage another, or a truly catastrophic cyber attack, or a financial crisis that tears down the global economy.

At home, we heard a lot about the border, high prices and abortion. In addition to these, the next president will face longstanding problems that have plagued successive administrations:

• Chronic price increases in healthcare, education and housing that block access to the American Dream.
• Artificial intelligence is about to cause major disruptions in the job market.
• The size of the debt and deficit could overwhelm the economy if not addressed.
• The damage caused by climate change is becoming irreversible.

You can’t order the troops to solve these problems. It will take vision, patience and a commitment to actions that you may not get credit for.

Americans elect more than one person. They choose values, temperament and character that the next president will inject into the executive branch, which has a million civilian employees (4,000 of whom will be hired by Tuesday’s winner).

The point of the American Experiment is that voters will understand all of this and use common reasons to choose the best man or woman to meet these challenges.

For most of America’s history, that was a given. But the system is now under attack from misinformation, from outside and inside, including Donald Trump, who built his campaign on the lie that he won the last election.

So the first test of the next presidency will come before the swearing-in… in how a candidate manages to win, or how he doesn’t.

Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Chad Cardin.

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John Dickerson

John Dickerson is host of “The Daily Report with John Dickerson,” CBS News’ chief political analyst, senior national correspondent and contributor to “CBS Sunday Morning.” He also serves as anchor of CBS News election coverage and political special reports.