Our cover story this week heralds the new political season, the time when the list of candidates for the presidency begins to get pared down to the eventual nominees. At this juncture the most interesting prospect is a man who is not running -- not yet, at least: Colin Powell. To assess the enigmatic general, we turned to one of our wisest and most experienced journalists, John Stacks.

A former chief of correspondents and deputy managing editor, Stacks has a new title: editor, politics and investigations. "John will be advising us on the shape of the magazine's political coverage," says managing editor James R. Gaines. "And he will be contributing to it directly as well."

Stacks has been deeply involved in the news from Washington for most of his 28 years on staff. His initiation took place a lot earlier. The son of the editor of a small-town newspaper (the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Intelligencer Journal), he managed as a Yale student to get into a John F. Kennedy press conference. He was hooked. "J.F.K. was so glamorous and deft, with such marvelous, understated humor," he recalls. "I was so naive. I thought, 'Here I am with J.F.K.!'"

A decade later, after a stint at the Washington Star, Stacks was news editor of our Washington bureau during the Watergate investigation. His colleagues of those days remember his savvy and energy with awe. "He had the ability to track every twist of the story without losing the thread,'' says contributor Bonnie Angelo. "He knew what was major right away."

In 1978 Stacks assisted Watergate judge John J. Sirica in writing his memoir, To Set the Record Straight, a national best seller. Then, after managing our next round of campaign coverage, he wrote Watershed: The Campaign for the Presidency, 1980.

When he is not analyzing political developments, Stacks can often be found on a golf course. Asked to characterize his game, he says "average"; a friend on the magazine came up with "dogged." Just like his pursuit of putative Presidents.

These days Stacks is looking forward to hands-on coverage after several years of desk-bound labor. Those of us back at headquarters hope the road won't be too captivating. Stacks is a pleasure to have around, the man who, in a tedious meeting, makes the bull's-eye remark that sets the whole room laughing-and thinking.