John McBeth – TB Silalahi was an instructor at the Indonesian army's General Staff College when he first encountered a young Javanese army major called Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "I saw him even then as a potential president," says the former two-star general.

That was in 1986. Eighteen years later, Yudhoyono, 55, becomes the third Southeast Asian general after Chatchai Choonhavan of Thailand and Fidel Ramos of the Philippines to come to power through democratic means.

Following in the footsteps of his father, a retired army captain, Yudhoyono graduated at the top of his 1973 class at the Indonesian Military Academy. Fluent in English, he was trained partly in the United States and earned amaster's degree in management from Webster University. He may have served his time in active combat units, but his real strength has always been in staff positions. Yudhoyono rose from colonel to three-star general in just five years, between 1993 and 1998, largely under the patronage of military commander Gen. Feisel Tanjung.

Plucked from his job as chief of staff of territorial affairs in 1999, he was appointed mines and energy minister and then security minister under President Abdurrahman Wahid, later making the transition to Megawati Sukarnoputri's cabinet when she took over in 2000.

Although he was chief of staff of the Jakarta regional command when government-hired thugs attacked Megawati's party headquarters in July 1996, and was chief of territorial affairs when Indonesian troops laid waste to newly independent East Timor in 1999, he has never been directly implicated in any wrongdoing. But for many students and democracy activists, the simple fact that Yudhoyono served for 26 years in the military, much of it under President Suharto's New Order regime, has been enough to make him unacceptable. Throwing in Silalahi and other retired generals who helped out in his campaign only reinforces deep-seated fears that Yudhoyono represents a return to Indonesia's past when the military played a dominant role in political life.

Yet most Indonesians who voted for Yudhoyono clearly regarded his army background as a plus. That's not because they hanker for a return to authoritarianism, but because they feel his army experience equips him to provide the sort of leadership perceived to have been missing from Megawati's three-year rule. In almost every poll, voters judged personality and leadership qualities to be more important than policy prescriptions.

So what sort of president will Yudhoyono be? Admirers see him as competent and sincere, someone with a vision of Indonesia's future and a firm grasp of Indonesia's place in the world. But former cabinet and military colleagues worry that he is what one calls "too cautious, too careful and too compromising." They say he has to show more drive and deliver more on the ground than he did in the early years of the sectarian strife that racked Indonesia.

Indeed, Yudhoyono's main perceived weakness is the time he takes to painstakingly excavate all sides of an issue. "He is so meticulous," says the ex-minister, who is being tipped for a senior position in Yudhoyono's cabinet. "He wants to encompass every detail of any issue and I think sometimes he gets himself entangled in a web of so many facts. He tends to rehash all the input brought to him and is always striving for the perfect decision."

But with the power of the presidency in his hands, some around him feel that Yudhoyono could turn out to be much more decisive than critics give him credit for. Indeed, while he likes to give everyone a chance to air their opinions, he is described by the former minister as "his own chief of staff." In other words, he finds it difficult to put his trust in those around him. Aides already worry that such micro-management could hinder the workings of his administration, which will have little time for a honeymoon.

For all the emphasis on his military career, Yudhoyono's record shows his first instinct is to be conciliatory. Those qualities were initially reflected in his appointment as chief of the United Nations observer force in Bosnia in 1995-96 and later as head of the Indonesian military delegation to the UN Security Council meeting on East Timor at the end of 1999. He also played the leading role in trying to find a peaceful solution to the secessionist conflict in Aceh province. Although he was finally forced to send in troops when peace talks broke down last year, insiders say he worked tirelessly to achieve a breakthrough despite opposition from military hardliners in the cabinet.

"He's a man of peace," says Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, the respected former career diplomat who acted as the chief government negotiator in the talks. "He will always think like an army man, but that doesn't make him militaristic."

Political analysts marvel at the deft way Yudhoyono glided through the presidencies of Suharto, B.J. Habibie, Wahid and Megawati, seemingly without missing a step. "The most remarkable thing is that he's made no real enemies," says a retired Western military officer, who has followed his career. "He's been a politician ever since I've known him. He never takes a stand he can't work around. Some see that as a weakness, some see it as a strength."

Those who know him say Yudhoyono generally keeps people at arm's length. It is only in the past few months that he has gathered around him the beginnings of an inner circle, including long-time friend and associate Sudi Silalahirudi, a retired general tipped to take over as state secretary, his campaign manager, Rachmat Witoelar, a politically savvy former Golkar secretary-general who wants to be foreign minister, and economist Joyo Winoto, who guided Yudhoyono's candidacy for a doctorate in agro-economics. Winoto heads a private think-tank, the Brighten Institute, which is developing policies for Yudhoyono, who sees the growth of agri-business as important to Indonesia's economic future now that manufacturing industries have fallen into decline. But with aides hinting at the formation of a 10-man group of advisers to address key issues, it is still difficult to ascertain who Yudhoyono will really depend on. "The decision-making will rest with me," he told Tempo magazine in a recent interview. "I can't be dictated to, nor can I be influenced by anyone."