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You know I read this today at lunch and thought I would share. I think it's worth reading and I would like to add some thoughts:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opini...nnedy-jfk-history-presidents-column/97093102/
The author makes some very good points and I would like to add some others:
1. Both were described as Oligarchs. I mean, Trump got railed for wanted to give a job to his son-in-law, could you imagine if he wanted his BROTHER as Attorney General?
2. They both had strong inner circles that were outside the beltway and the media didn't trust. In addition to his brother (age 34), JFK had the "Irish Brotherhood" that included his Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger (age 35), aide Kenny O'Donnell (age 36) and his campaign manager Larry O'Brien (age 43).
3. They both picked business leaders for key positions. As mentioned in the article, people forget (or don't mention in the Tillerson debate) that Kennedy picked the CEO of Ford Motor Company to be his Secretary of Defense.
4. They excluded from decision making key cabinet members that traditional had weight. Kennedy struggled with Secretary of State Dean Rusk and their relationship was very icy and often didn't agree with each other. According to history, Rusk had NO OPINION of comments on the Bay of Pigs invasion. Imagine a Secretary of State keeping out of that decision making process....
5. There was huge upheaval in the "messages" of the Political Parties. Kennedy tapped into a growing "Northeast Liberal" wave and began the shift that culminated in much of the South becoming Republican and the Northeast becoming Democrat. I think Trump has tapped into a growing rust-belt Nationalist wave that could be permanent. The era of the rust-belt union worker being democrat seems over permanently to me. And I think you will see Republican ideologies shift into a more Nationalistic, pro-labor, America-first message (and not just this election cycle but permanently as part of their platform).
6. Kennedy struggled to get along with a Democratic Congress and was frustrated with their lack of progress and old school ways.
I just thought it was interesting to see a similar upheaval in our political spectrum that seems very similar to Kennedy and possibly the whole 1960's. Including the possibility of very scary foreign relations issues.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opini...nnedy-jfk-history-presidents-column/97093102/
The author makes some very good points and I would like to add some others:
1. Both were described as Oligarchs. I mean, Trump got railed for wanted to give a job to his son-in-law, could you imagine if he wanted his BROTHER as Attorney General?
2. They both had strong inner circles that were outside the beltway and the media didn't trust. In addition to his brother (age 34), JFK had the "Irish Brotherhood" that included his Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger (age 35), aide Kenny O'Donnell (age 36) and his campaign manager Larry O'Brien (age 43).
3. They both picked business leaders for key positions. As mentioned in the article, people forget (or don't mention in the Tillerson debate) that Kennedy picked the CEO of Ford Motor Company to be his Secretary of Defense.
4. They excluded from decision making key cabinet members that traditional had weight. Kennedy struggled with Secretary of State Dean Rusk and their relationship was very icy and often didn't agree with each other. According to history, Rusk had NO OPINION of comments on the Bay of Pigs invasion. Imagine a Secretary of State keeping out of that decision making process....
5. There was huge upheaval in the "messages" of the Political Parties. Kennedy tapped into a growing "Northeast Liberal" wave and began the shift that culminated in much of the South becoming Republican and the Northeast becoming Democrat. I think Trump has tapped into a growing rust-belt Nationalist wave that could be permanent. The era of the rust-belt union worker being democrat seems over permanently to me. And I think you will see Republican ideologies shift into a more Nationalistic, pro-labor, America-first message (and not just this election cycle but permanently as part of their platform).
6. Kennedy struggled to get along with a Democratic Congress and was frustrated with their lack of progress and old school ways.
I just thought it was interesting to see a similar upheaval in our political spectrum that seems very similar to Kennedy and possibly the whole 1960's. Including the possibility of very scary foreign relations issues.