Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's now a century since the birth of John F. Kennedy's birth, and when I heard that on the radio, I couldn't help contrasting, with a pang, JFK and Trump.
Like Trump, JKF came from wealth, and even similarly had some corruption in his family. But his presidency was a model of grace and classiness in comparison.
First, of course, there was Kennedy's physical grace, his jauntiness, in comparison with Trump's lumbering stance. Then there was the grace of Kennedy's speech. Not only was he articulate, unlike Trump, but he had a kind of confidence - the kind that comes from knowledge and experience, not bluster. Unlike Trump, there was no vulgarity to his public speech. He would never have uttered the crude and insulting remarks that Trump has done - in fact, Kennedy even spoke decently of people like Nixon. And Kennedy had a sense of humor. Kennedy's witty remarks, often off-the-cuff, are often quoted. Trump's rare attempts at humor seem to only be insults.
Trump has never had any version of what most of us would consider a job, where you are answerable to someone else above you, which has given him the outlook of a dictator. Kennedy, despite his wealth, had been in the military and service in Congress and the Senate, where he was answerable to higher-ups. So he never showed quite the insufferable arrogance of Trump. Although both Trump and Kennedy came from money, there was nothing greedy about Kennedy. He had no fixation on money. And he certainly didn't brag about it. If anything, sometimes he poked fun at the family money, like his famous quip about his father being unwilling to pay for a landslide.
Unlike Trump, Kennedy had endearing family relationships. Of course, he was also a philanderer, but he had the decency to keep that private. Publicly, he was not only happy to express pride at his wife's culture and eruption (both lacking in Melania), but at a time when men often didn't have close relations with their children, he set aside time even in the White House for his, and they clearly delighted in each other. In contrast, you can see even with Barron, that there's not much of a relationship there.
What else? Well, Kennedy was a voracious reader, and was well-versed about many things, including history. Being human, he must have sometimes said dumb things, but I've never heard of any, nor have I ever heard of Kennedy blatantly lying for the purposes of self-inflation.
And, maybe above all, even in some very scary times, he managed to mostly convey a kind of cheer, of optimism - and maybe that's what drew so many people to him.
What a difference from the cruel and vicious Trumpcare policy that would massively cut health care for kids, the disabled and the poor in order to fund tax breaks for the billionaire class.
Kennedy took us to the brink of Nuclear war, got us entirely into Vietnam, and launched the bay of pigs. No President is all love.
The Cuba problem was inherited from Eisenhower--Kennedy didn't start it. He was trying to get us OUT of Viet Nam and the military hated that because they make money on wars. One of the reasons he had to be taken out.
He certainly had his faults but he had the best interests of the people at heart.
When I think of Kennedy, or the Roosevelts, Bushes or even the Romneys, I think of the phrase "noblesse oblige." For Trump, the phrase that seems more apropos is "nouveau riche". When I think of a President sitting on a gold toilet seat, that smacks more of Saddam Hussein than it does of noblesse oblige.
It's now a century since the birth of John F. Kennedy's birth, and when I heard that on the radio, I couldn't help contrasting, with a pang, JFK and Trump.
Like Trump, JKF came from wealth, and even similarly had some corruption in his family. But his presidency was a model of grace and classiness in comparison.
First, of course, there was Kennedy's physical grace, his jauntiness, in comparison with Trump's lumbering stance. Then there was the grace of Kennedy's speech. Not only was he articulate, unlike Trump, but he had a kind of confidence - the kind that comes from knowledge and experience, not bluster. Unlike Trump, there was no vulgarity to his public speech. He would never have uttered the crude and insulting remarks that Trump has done - in fact, Kennedy even spoke decently of people like Nixon. And Kennedy had a sense of humor. Kennedy's witty remarks, often off-the-cuff, are often quoted. Trump's rare attempts at humor seem to only be insults.
Trump has never had any version of what most of us would consider a job, where you are answerable to someone else above you, which has given him the outlook of a dictator. Kennedy, despite his wealth, had been in the military and service in Congress and the Senate, where he was answerable to higher-ups. So he never showed quite the insufferable arrogance of Trump. Although both Trump and Kennedy came from money, there was nothing greedy about Kennedy. He had no fixation on money. And he certainly didn't brag about it. If anything, sometimes he poked fun at the family money, like his famous quip about his father being unwilling to pay for a landslide.
Unlike Trump, Kennedy had endearing family relationships. Of course, he was also a philanderer, but he had the decency to keep that private. Publicly, he was not only happy to express pride at his wife's culture and eruption (both lacking in Melania), but at a time when men often didn't have close relations with their children, he set aside time even in the White House for his, and they clearly delighted in each other. In contrast, you can see even with Barron, that there's not much of a relationship there.
What else? Well, Kennedy was a voracious reader, and was well-versed about many things, including history. Being human, he must have sometimes said dumb things, but I've never heard of any, nor have I ever heard of Kennedy blatantly lying for the purposes of self-inflation.
And, maybe above all, even in some very scary times, he managed to mostly convey a kind of cheer, of optimism - and maybe that's what drew so many people to him.
Hell, I miss Dubya at this point, he was genius compared to what we have now.
It's now a century since the birth of John F. Kennedy's birth, and when I heard that on the radio, I couldn't help contrasting, with a pang, JFK and Trump.
Like Trump, JKF came from wealth, and even similarly had some corruption in his family. But his presidency was a model of grace and classiness in comparison.
First, of course, there was Kennedy's physical grace, his jauntiness, in comparison with Trump's lumbering stance. Then there was the grace of Kennedy's speech. Not only was he articulate, unlike Trump, but he had a kind of confidence - the kind that comes from knowledge and experience, not bluster. Unlike Trump, there was no vulgarity to his public speech. He would never have uttered the crude and insulting remarks that Trump has done - in fact, Kennedy even spoke decently of people like Nixon. And Kennedy had a sense of humor. Kennedy's witty remarks, often off-the-cuff, are often quoted. Trump's rare attempts at humor seem to only be insults.
Trump has never had any version of what most of us would consider a job, where you are answerable to someone else above you, which has given him the outlook of a dictator. Kennedy, despite his wealth, had been in the military and service in Congress and the Senate, where he was answerable to higher-ups. So he never showed quite the insufferable arrogance of Trump. Although both Trump and Kennedy came from money, there was nothing greedy about Kennedy. He had no fixation on money. And he certainly didn't brag about it. If anything, sometimes he poked fun at the family money, like his famous quip about his father being unwilling to pay for a landslide.
Unlike Trump, Kennedy had endearing family relationships. Of course, he was also a philanderer, but he had the decency to keep that private. Publicly, he was not only happy to express pride at his wife's culture and eruption (both lacking in Melania), but at a time when men often didn't have close relations with their children, he set aside time even in the White House for his, and they clearly delighted in each other. In contrast, you can see even with Barron, that there's not much of a relationship there.
What else? Well, Kennedy was a voracious reader, and was well-versed about many things, including history. Being human, he must have sometimes said dumb things, but I've never heard of any, nor have I ever heard of Kennedy blatantly lying for the purposes of self-inflation.
And, maybe above all, even in some very scary times, he managed to mostly convey a kind of cheer, of optimism - and maybe that's what drew so many people to him.
Aside from the point another poster made with you using him as a foil to bash Trump, here is a big thing you are missing.
If JFK were to run today, he would sound like a Republican compared with how leftist/socialist the Democratic party has become. The left would like everyone to think the Republicans have gone hard right. In reality it is the Democrats who have gone hard left.
Don't believe it, fine.
Don't take my word for it.
Just go back to when Bill Clinton was president and look at his policies and the platform of the DNC.
You will see a large difference between now and just a couple of decades ago.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
