Kennedy was no Obama

Re: Obama is no Kennedy, Nov. 19.

I grew up during the Kennedy era, and believed in the hope JFK brought to an iconoclastic new generation. We seemed like innocents compared to today’s cynical vortex of politics and overload of media made for ratings and entertainment. I agree with columnist Andrew Cohen that President Barack Obama is no John F. Kennedy (yet), but I would turn it around to say that Kennedy was no Obama.

One’s personal life has to be taken into consideration when evaluating the greatness of a leader. Although much of Kennedy’s trysts were kept from the public, his celebrity status was enhanced by his dalliance with Marilyn Monroe. Obama’s is beyond reproach, as Twitter and Fox would have captured otherwise by now. Imagine his image being boosted by cavorting with Beyoncé. In this respect, Obama leads by example, and that is inspirational to many. We can’t ignore the backslapping vice-president Lyndon Johnson, who was chosen by Kennedy to appeal to the southern racist democrats and to persuade the opposition in Congress in a way Joe Biden cannot.

Cohen questions anything memorable Obama has said, so, beyond the slogan of Yes We Can: “A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.” To counter that Obama lacks humour: “Our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but, obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me.”

JFK was president for less than three years, escalated the war in Vietnam and led an ill-fated, ill-advised attack on Cuba which had nearly led to nuclear war. Obama was re-elected, has a predilection to refrain from war, deftly removed bin Laden and believes that America cannot police the world alone. JFK and later Johnson tried unsuccessfully to pass medicare, where Obama and Biden succeeded.

Legacies are realized decades after, and I believe Cohen, my favourite Citizen writer, is premature on this one.

PETER HALEY, Ottawa