In the past week, I’ve spoken with a gaggle of experts, some of them in finance, some in real estate and some in just plain investments. I’ve interviewed media magnates, both foreign and domestic, an investment banker, a manufacturer, and a former banker. This is what I have to report: Economically, we’re in a recession. Psychologically, we’re in a depression. The reason: None of these experts knows what to do…

The solution is out there . . . somewhere. But it will take time and trial to find it. Obama knows this. It was one of the things he mentioned on “60 Minutes.” But what he might not appreciate is that among his many gifts, the one that might matter most is how close he can come to Rooseveltian enthusiasm — that optimism, that capacity for empathy that made so many ordinary people love this rich man and stick with him. Lincoln, a sometimes melancholy and somber man, belongs, as Edwin M. Stanton said, “to the ages.” Roosevelt belongs to ours.