By John Bicknell, CQ Staff

In 1963, Adm. Hyman G. Rickover gave President John F. Kennedy a plaque inscribed with what is known as the Breton fisherman’s prayer.

“O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small,” the plaque reads, a prayerful reminder that the sea of troubles awaiting the president is all but endless, but the tools at his disposal are limited indeed.

Presidential candidates, unlike actual presidents, tend to see the presidency as a set of problems to be solved and, of course, they are just the person to solve them.

But once they take up residence in the White House, that view is quickly overwhelmed by reality. What was once a checklist becomes a series of interconnected challenges that resist solution. The challenges are, in most cases, insoluble, certainly within a four- or eight-year term, and probably within the lifetimes of the people trying to solve them.

That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a go at it. Incremental improvements can mean a lot in the life of the nation.

But after spending two years promising to fix this and repair that, they have created expectations among the citizenry by trying to outbid each other in the promise department.

Barack Obama ’s prediction last summer that under his administration, the rise of the oceans would begin to slow is particularly apt as an example for two reasons. One, it appears he is going to win, which means we’ll soon forget John McCain ’s promises and concentrate on Obama’s. Two, it contrasts starkly with the humility inherent in the Breton fisherman.

Every morning, the fisherman went out in his small boat to face the deep, dark and icy Atlantic. Every day, he had no idea whether he was coming back or not. They were a hardy lot. Had they been promised a calmer sea by a politician, it’s probable they would not have swallowed such a canard. But, just in case, they might have voted for him anyway.

So now comes President Obama, with promises of healing the planet, universal health care, jobs for the jobless, energy independence, lower taxes, expanding educational opportunities and a safer world for America.

It will not, it cannot, all happen. Obama knows this, we assume, but in the frenzy of the campaign, it is believed to be necessary to one-up the opponent not just in votes, but in rewards for the voters.

Calmer seas. More fish. Stronger nets. A flounder in every pot and two skiffs in every garage.

Then, reality. There aren’t quite as many fish as we thought there were. The old boat needs some repairs, so we can’t get everybody those new nets just yet. How about some canned tuna rather than fresh flounder?

And there will be a storm, unforeseen, that will threaten to sink the next administration altogether. There always is.