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| Obama echoes JFK's Camelot romance | Obama echoes JFK's Camelot romance |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| By Nick Bryant BBC News | By Nick Bryant BBC News |
| A debonair 40-something Senator, with a toothy smile and a lofty turn of phrase. | A debonair 40-something Senator, with a toothy smile and a lofty turn of phrase. |
| A made-for-television First Family. A fashion-forward First Lady. Generational change at a time of national self-doubt. No wonder the chatter in Washington is of a Black Camelot, with Barack Obama cast as Jack Kennedy, and his wife, Michelle, playing Jackie. | A made-for-television First Family. A fashion-forward First Lady. Generational change at a time of national self-doubt. No wonder the chatter in Washington is of a Black Camelot, with Barack Obama cast as Jack Kennedy, and his wife, Michelle, playing Jackie. |
| Stepping before the press for the first time as President-elect, with his heavily pregnant wife looking on, JFK joked that he looked forward to a new administration and a new baby. | Stepping before the press for the first time as President-elect, with his heavily pregnant wife looking on, JFK joked that he looked forward to a new administration and a new baby. |
| Barack Obama, of course, produced a similarly memorable flourish by promising his girls a new puppy. | Barack Obama, of course, produced a similarly memorable flourish by promising his girls a new puppy. |
| By strange coincidence, these two young presidents - JFK was 43 when he took the oath of office, while Mr Obama will be four years older - have also inherited a comparable set of challenges. | By strange coincidence, these two young presidents - JFK was 43 when he took the oath of office, while Mr Obama will be four years older - have also inherited a comparable set of challenges. |
| In 1960, after eight years of Republican rule, the US economy had flat-lined (though admittedly it was not in its present, doom-laden state), American diplomacy was in urgent need of renewal, and the nation's self-certainty had been rocked by the launch in 1957 of Sputnik 1, a showy piece of galactic one-upmanship which fuelled fears that the Kremlin was winning the Cold War. | In 1960, after eight years of Republican rule, the US economy had flat-lined (though admittedly it was not in its present, doom-laden state), American diplomacy was in urgent need of renewal, and the nation's self-certainty had been rocked by the launch in 1957 of Sputnik 1, a showy piece of galactic one-upmanship which fuelled fears that the Kremlin was winning the Cold War. |
| Hard-working | Hard-working |
| Mr Kennedy won that year's close-fought presidential election by promising to "get the country moving again," a phrase that re-appeared in some of Mr Obama's own stump speeches. | Mr Kennedy won that year's close-fought presidential election by promising to "get the country moving again," a phrase that re-appeared in some of Mr Obama's own stump speeches. |
| The scale of President-elect Obama's victory was much bigger, but so, too, are the dimensions of the problems: an economy in its most febrile state since the Great Depression and troops engaged in two difficult wars. | The scale of President-elect Obama's victory was much bigger, but so, too, are the dimensions of the problems: an economy in its most febrile state since the Great Depression and troops engaged in two difficult wars. |
| The Kennedys presented a picture-perfect family So can he emulate the political and reputational success of Kennedy, who was cruising towards a second term when his life came to such an abrupt and violent end, and who continues to be revered by so many Americans? | The Kennedys presented a picture-perfect family So can he emulate the political and reputational success of Kennedy, who was cruising towards a second term when his life came to such an abrupt and violent end, and who continues to be revered by so many Americans? |
| In comparing their pre-presidential lives, it is clear that Mr Obama is less travelled than his globe-trotting predecessor, and cannot boast the same brave story of wartime derring-do. | In comparing their pre-presidential lives, it is clear that Mr Obama is less travelled than his globe-trotting predecessor, and cannot boast the same brave story of wartime derring-do. |
| He also lacks the legislative experience of JFK, who served 14 years on Capitol Hill compared to his own, rather meagre, four. | He also lacks the legislative experience of JFK, who served 14 years on Capitol Hill compared to his own, rather meagre, four. |
| Talent pool | Talent pool |
| For all that, Mr Obama appears temperamentally well-suited to the demands of the modern presidency and is much more serious-minded and hard-working. | For all that, Mr Obama appears temperamentally well-suited to the demands of the modern presidency and is much more serious-minded and hard-working. |
| Whereas Jack Kennedy was a "playboy president" - his time in office has been labelled the "thousand days," but is almost as noteworthy for its "thousand nights" - Mr Obama exhibits an almost monastic self-discipline. | Whereas Jack Kennedy was a "playboy president" - his time in office has been labelled the "thousand days," but is almost as noteworthy for its "thousand nights" - Mr Obama exhibits an almost monastic self-discipline. |
| The new President-elect can also draw on a vast intellectual blood-bank of advisers and aides. | The new President-elect can also draw on a vast intellectual blood-bank of advisers and aides. |
| Kennedy, by contrast, tended to rely on a small coterie of overworked New Frontiersman. | Kennedy, by contrast, tended to rely on a small coterie of overworked New Frontiersman. |
| The Kennedy presidency... looked staggeringly beautiful [but] it achieved little of great substance during the first twenty months | The Kennedy presidency... looked staggeringly beautiful [but] it achieved little of great substance during the first twenty months |
| His most trusted adviser, Theodore Sorensen, not only drafted the inaugural address, along with all the set-piece speeches, but drafted many of his legislative proposals. | His most trusted adviser, Theodore Sorensen, not only drafted the inaugural address, along with all the set-piece speeches, but drafted many of his legislative proposals. |
| JFK's brother, Bobby, served both as attorney general, de facto national security advisor and round-the-clock presidential counsellor. | JFK's brother, Bobby, served both as attorney general, de facto national security advisor and round-the-clock presidential counsellor. |
| Mr Obama can draw from a deeper pool of talent, as he has shown with his high-level appointments. | Mr Obama can draw from a deeper pool of talent, as he has shown with his high-level appointments. |
| In considering the Kennedy presidency, there has also been a mistaken tendency to focus solely on its beginning and end - the majesty of the inaugural address and the mayhem of Dallas. | In considering the Kennedy presidency, there has also been a mistaken tendency to focus solely on its beginning and end - the majesty of the inaugural address and the mayhem of Dallas. |
| Style over substance | Style over substance |
| Often forgotten is that prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the Kennedy presidency had failed to meet expectations. | Often forgotten is that prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the Kennedy presidency had failed to meet expectations. |
| After generating so much hope, expectations are already stretched While at the symbolic level, it looked staggeringly beautiful, it achieved little of great substance during the first 20 months. | After generating so much hope, expectations are already stretched While at the symbolic level, it looked staggeringly beautiful, it achieved little of great substance during the first 20 months. |
| Kennedy's early months as president were blighted by the disaster of the Bay of Pigs, the CIA-backed invasion of Cuba, and his lacklustre performance at the first summit meeting with Nikita Khrushchev in June. | Kennedy's early months as president were blighted by the disaster of the Bay of Pigs, the CIA-backed invasion of Cuba, and his lacklustre performance at the first summit meeting with Nikita Khrushchev in June. |
| It persuaded the Soviet leader to go ahead with the erection of the Berlin Wall. | It persuaded the Soviet leader to go ahead with the erection of the Berlin Wall. |
| On the domestic front, Kennedy was bullied on Capitol Hill by crotchety Democratic lawmakers, most of them diehard segregationists from the south, who gutted his legislative programme. | On the domestic front, Kennedy was bullied on Capitol Hill by crotchety Democratic lawmakers, most of them diehard segregationists from the south, who gutted his legislative programme. |
| On civil rights, he delayed a swathe of much-needed reforms, out of fear of splitting his party. | On civil rights, he delayed a swathe of much-needed reforms, out of fear of splitting his party. |
| In matters of domestic and foreign policy, the first half of the truncated Kennedy presidency offers a playbook of how not to perform the job. | In matters of domestic and foreign policy, the first half of the truncated Kennedy presidency offers a playbook of how not to perform the job. |
| Great expectations | Great expectations |
| The paradox is that so much romance is attached to the memory of Camelot - a myth-laden term that was coined by Jackie Kennedy in her first interview following her husband's death - that it creates an irksome burden of expectation. | |
| A keen student both of his own mistakes and those of others, Obama will seek to avoid the errors of all his Democratic forebears. | A keen student both of his own mistakes and those of others, Obama will seek to avoid the errors of all his Democratic forebears. |
| The liberal overreach and over-confidence of Lyndon Baines Johnson. | The liberal overreach and over-confidence of Lyndon Baines Johnson. |
| The timidity of Jimmy Carter, whose presidency was hobbled by stagflation and the Iranian hostage crisis. | The timidity of Jimmy Carter, whose presidency was hobbled by stagflation and the Iranian hostage crisis. |
| The chaos of the Clinton White House, especially in its early days when it erred over injudicious appointments and the desire to allow gays to serve openly in the military. | The chaos of the Clinton White House, especially in its early days when it erred over injudicious appointments and the desire to allow gays to serve openly in the military. |
| After Barack Obama's performances during the campaign - and perhaps most memorably on the night of his victory - few will be surprised if he matches the eloquence of Kennedy's inaugural address. | After Barack Obama's performances during the campaign - and perhaps most memorably on the night of his victory - few will be surprised if he matches the eloquence of Kennedy's inaugural address. |
| But while Kennedy addressed the nation from the east steps of the Capitol, while Mr Obama will appear on the west. | But while Kennedy addressed the nation from the east steps of the Capitol, while Mr Obama will appear on the west. |
| Aptly, it affords him a marvellous view of the Lincoln Memorial at the other end of the Washington Mall, where the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr also spoke of the urgent need for change. | Aptly, it affords him a marvellous view of the Lincoln Memorial at the other end of the Washington Mall, where the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr also spoke of the urgent need for change. |
| Nick Bryant is the author of The Bystander: John F Kennedy and the Struggle for Black Equality | Nick Bryant is the author of The Bystander: John F Kennedy and the Struggle for Black Equality |