John F. Kennedy

Fascinating “Presidential Freshness” Test: The 14 Year “Window”

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National Journal writer Jonathan Rauch has brought up an interesting point about American history and the Presidency.

What he calls the “Presidential Freshness” Test demonstrates that for someone to be elected President, that person must NOT have been in high public office more than 14 years when he or she runs for the White House.

High public office means the office of Governor or Senator, and under the Presidential Freshness concept, only three announced candidates fit within it–Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, and Mitt Romney, although Sarah Palin and Rick Perry, both unannounced and unlikely to run, also fit within the limits.

Being a member of the House is no help, as none have ever been elected President, with the exception of James Garfield in 1880, and he was assassinated after only six months in office in 1881.

So therefore, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul are not considered to have any chance under this test, and Newt Gingrich has a double whammy, being a House member and Speaker in the past, and also having much more than 14 years since his first election.

So every President of the past century has met the maximum of 14 years experience, with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson who succeeded upon the death of John F. Kennedy, and then was elected for a full four year term.

What it comes down to is that a Presidential candidate can wear out his welcome and be seen as “stale” if he has been on the scene more than 14 years when running for President, so too much experience in years is NOT a plus!

It will be interesting to see if the Presidential Freshness test works in this upcoming election contest!

Death Of Alexander Hamilton On This Day In 1804: What Would He Think Of The Debt Ceiling Crisis?

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On this day, 207 years ago, in 1804, former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was killed in a gun duel with Vice President Aaron Burr!

The tragedy of this bright, intelligent, brilliant man, who made such a dramatic difference in our history, dying at the young age of 47, still reverberates through our nation, as we desperately need a financial genius such as Hamilton to resolve our financial difficulties, where we are on the brink of default of our debt payments by August 2, unless cooler heads prevail and a compromise is reached!

Would Hamilton be proud of the Republican Party refusal to consider any tax adjustments, reforms, or increases, when the tax rate is the lowest it has been since the 1940s, and our greatest prosperity came during the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations, when the tax rates were as high as 91 percent under Eisenhower, and were dropped to 70 percent under JFK?

Hamilton, who believed in the power of the federal government, would be appalled at the states rights emphasis reviving today, as if there was no Civil War to resolve that matter!

He would be shocked at the ignorance of Republican leaders and supporters who feel no loyalty to the country, but only to their own selfish, greedy personal desires!

Hamilton revived the American economy 220 years ago when it was in desperate circumstances, making certain that all debts were paid!

It would be ironic if now we saw our nation declare bankruptcy, which will damage the nation and its citizens for generations to come, all over refusal to promote what the definition of politics is, that it is “the art of compromise”!

Barack Obama’s Puerto Rico Visit: The Politics Of 2012

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President Barack Obama paid a visit to the island of Puerto Rico this week, the first such visit since John F. Kennedy fifty years ago.

Puerto Rico has a 20 percent unemployment rate, far greater than the mainland, but Puerto Rico cannot vote for President, although it can participate in the nomination contests in the primaries and at the conventions of the major political parties.

But Puerto Ricans are the second largest Hispanic group in America behind Mexicans, and their voting bloc can make a dramatic difference in the Presidential Election of 2012.

IF they vote in large numbers for Obama, they can swing the vote in many states in his favor.

So the emphasis of the President is to insure that the Hispanic vote, of both Mexican Americans and Puerto Rican Americans and other Hispanic and Latino groups, is mobilized to help the Democratic Party win back the House of Representatives, keep the Senate Democratic, and reelect the President.

Certainly, the Hispanic vote would be wise to realize that the Republican Party does not have its interests at heart, and that, therefore, the need to support the Democrats, rather than sit on the sidelines, is urgent!

Three Key Events Of June 5 And 6, Which Transformed America , Commemorated

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While the author was away for a week’s vacation in Montreal and Quebec City, three key events, which transformed America, were commemorated.

Historically, the first event was D Day, the invasion of Normandy, France by the United States, Great Britain and the Free French, on June 6, 1944. This was the beginning of the final push against Nazi Germany, opening up a second front in the war against Adolf Hitler. Thouands of Americans and other allied troops died on that day and in the days that followed on a great mission, and this is what makes the World War II generation called by many the “greatest generation”!

So on the 67th anniversary of that pathbreaking event, one needed to stop and think how rapidly we are losing that generation, with the minimum age of those engaged in that great battle now being 85! We can never do enough to salute the bravery and courage of those who perished, as well as those who survived that crucial moment in World War II, allowing us to be the society we are today!

Secondly, on June 5, 1967, 44 years ago, the Six Day War of Israel versus Egypt, Jordan and Syria, began after information came to the Israelis of an imminent attack, and their decision to commence a war of pre-emption. The war lasted just six days, and led to Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the Sinai Desert, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

Out of this war came the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the rise of Yasser Arafat, and two generations of terrorism, which have affected the security and safety of Israel, the United States, and all western nations. And attempts to negotiate peace on the occupied territories has led to return of some land to Egypt and the Palestinians, recognition by Egypt and Jordan, but failure to recognize Israel by other Arab nations, and attempts by the US to promote a comprehensive peace, meeting with utter failure and constant tensions in the area.

But to expect Israel to return more territory without guarantees of security, safety, and recognition of their right to exist, is to dream the impossible.

Finally, exactly a year after the beginning of the war in the Middle East, Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, brother of the slain President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles immediately after winning the California Presidential primary. Considered the front runner for the Democratic nomination for President, RFK was murdered by a Palestinian Arab named Sirhan Sirhan, who worked in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel, and was angry over RFK’s open support of the Israelis in the Six Day War a year earlier.

So RFK became the first victim of Palestinian terrorism, something not recognized for a long time. And America lost its possible future President, and one has to wonder how he would have performed as President of the United States.

Many have seen RFK as a transformative figure, who would have changed the course of American history in a major way. We will never know how his impact would have affected us, but we are well aware that we had an opportunity for a major change to the left, and instead descended into Republican conservatism which has put America in a precarious state in the past 40 years, and has caused the Great Recession that we are still reeling from in 2011!

94th Anniversary Of John F. Kennedy’s Birth And 50 Years Since Moon Landing Speech

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President John F. Kennedy was born on this day in 1917, and certainly, when the centennial of his birth occurs in 2017, it will be a time of national celebration that no President of the past 50 years can match except Ronald Reagan, who had his centennial in February!

But it is not just the anniversary of Kennedy’s birth that should be noted, but the fact that the week that he was about to turn 44, he announced in a speech to Congress his goal of landing a man on the moon before 1970!

Such a goal seemed impossible of achievement in just over eight years, but the miracle was that the United States had made a commitment and was going to achieve it with the drive of JFK and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson!

With the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs, Americans landed on and walked on the moon on July 20, 1969, the most significant scientific achievement of the 1960s!

Kennedy and space will always be linked, even though, tragically, Kennedy was assassinated only two and a half years after giving that speech to Congress on May 25, 1961. His legacy in that regard will last for the ages!

Time For Barack Obama To Utilize Executive Order To Stop Deportations Of Young Immigrant Children Victims Of Failure To Pass DREAM Act!

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It is long overdue for President Obama to halt deportations of young immigrant children facing deportation from the only country they know, since the DREAM Act, designed to allow them to become citizens through miltary service or college graduation, has not been passed by Congress due to strong nativist sentiments!

These young people were brought here through no fault of their own, by parents who were trying to better their lives. Many are being forced from the country now, to go back to a nation they have no memory of, and in many cases, have no relatives to return to.

These young people have broken no laws, and just want to work toward citizenship through serving in the military, or attending college, so that they can contribute to the future of America.

The use of the executive order is not something new, and this President has already been bold in many ways, so instead of talking about immigration reform, it is essential that the President now take action to stop this violation of human rights!

Executive orders to promote the end of oppression and denial of human rights is part of the long tradition of American history, as witness the following:

1. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s establishment of the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression in 1935.
3. Harry Truman’s promotion of integration of Washington, DC and of the military in 1948.
4. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s intervention in the Little Rock School Desegregation crisis in 1957.
5. John F. Kennedy’s promoting affirmative action in employment by government contractors in 1961, along with his interventions in Mississippi in 1962 and Alabama in 1963 with the National Guard.
6. Lyndon B. Johnson’s promotion of Equal Employment Opportunity in federal employment in 1965.

So, Mr. President, it is time for immediate action on immigrant children!

A Momentous Early May Fifty Years Ago!

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In early May of 1961, two momentous events worthy of notice occurred, and it is now 50 years since those path breaking events!

On May 5, Alan Shepard was launched into space as the first American, astronaut, going up and down in a rocket in less than an hour, not as dramatic as Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union being launched into orbit 23 days earlier on April 12. Despite the Shepard launch being far less significant, it marked the beginning of the American manned space program, and later that month, on May 25, President John F. Kennedy would announce what seemed impossible at the time, the landing of Americans on the moon before 1970!

On May 9, the first Freedom Ride of black and white civil rights pioneers took place, the attempt to integrate interstate transportation on buses throughout Dixie, a daring and dangerous set of circumstances, which led to bloodshed and violence in Southern bus terminals and on the interstate highways, as Ku Klux Klan activists assaulted civil rights demonstrators and set buses on fire, along with other types of violence. But this reality led the US government to order federal marshals to enforce integration on interstate transportion, and also resulted later in 1961 in the issuance by the Interstate Commerce Commission of an integration order on all transportation within the United States!

The kind of pioneering spirit of Alan Shepard and other astronauts, and of civil rights activists who put their lives at risk to enforce equality, is worthy of notice and recognition and praise 50 years later!

Republican Lies And Deception After Bin Laden Is Killed Under Obama’s Watch

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It is amazing how the Republican leadership feels a need to promote lies and deception in a moment of great triumph for President Obama!

They have to put in the concept that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and others working under the last administration were responsible for providing information that helped Obama accomplish a goal that Bush could not achieve in more than seven years.

They try to claim that “enhanced interrogation techniques”, meaning torture including water boarding, were responsible for information that led to the successful mission. But it is clear that is a total fabrication, meant to justify the Bush Administration’s violation of international law and the laws of war!

Also, it is clear that George W. Bush, himself, had dismissed the importance of finding Bin Laden within less than a year after September 11!

It is also clear that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and General Tommy Franks, in charge of the Afghanistan invasion in 2001, chose not to pursue Bin Laden at Tora Bora when we knew he was there in the months after September 11, allowing him to get away and live in hiding for nine and a half years!

So for the Bush loyalists to claim that Bush and his administration deserve credit for what has happened is totally without substance, and it is time for the Republicans to give full credit to the courage and brilliance of Barack Obama, who has accomplished the greatest single victory by his actions since John F. Kennedy accomplished the solution of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962!

The Change In The Democratic Party Image On Foreign Policy: From JFK To Obama

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Ever since the failure of John F. Kennedy to overthrow Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs fiasco in April, 1961, Democratic Presidents have had to carry the burden of being perceived as weak and ineffective in foreign policy.

Of course, this is not totally the truth as John F. Kennedy negotiated very skillfully through the Cuban Missile Crisis a year after the Bay of Pigs, but the concept stuck to the party image.

In so many cases, it proved to be true in many people’s minds.

Lyndon Johnson escalated our involvement in Vietnam, and could not resolve the conflict in a satisfactory manner, and was forced out of the race for the Presidency in 1968 as a result.

Jimmy Carter was unable to accomplish the goal of rescuing the 52 hostages being held in Iran after the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. and the humiliation of those hostages being held for 444 days still rankles many Americans.

Carter’s inability to stop Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, and the problems involved in the Cuban wave of immigrants to Florida, known as the Mariel Boat Lift, also doomed his image.

Bill Clinton’s constant threats to intervene in Bosnia with air power, a total of eleven threats, before actual intervention in a successful way, also doomed him as being perceived as weak and ineffective.

The fact that JFK not only handled the Cuban Missile Crisis expertly, but also brought about the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, is forgotten.

The fact that Carter brought about the Panama Canal Treaty and the Egyptian Israeli Camp David Accords is forgotten.

The fact that Bill Clinton brought about the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the fighting in Bosnia; the successful intervention in Kosovo by NATO; and the peace arrangement in Northern Ireland is also forgotten.

And, of course, the fact that Barack Obama overcame the Somali Pirates seizure of a merchant ship in 2009 is also forgotten, conveniently.

But now, with the death of Osama Bin Laden, and the gathering of much evidence that should help the apprehending of more Al Qaeda terrorist operatives, suddenly the reputation of Democratic Presidents may be undergoing a renaissance!

It will be very difficult for the Republican Party to sully the reputation of Barack Obama, as they have been doing for the past two plus years, as a result of this gutsy, courageous, daring decision by Obama to take a chance, realizing it could have been total failure, but demonstrating resolve and commitment to the principle of fighting terrorism wherever it is!

So from April 17, 1961 to the first day of May 2011, exactly fifty years and two weeks apart, the image of the Democrats has now been transformed for the good of the future of the “party of the people”!

50th Anniversary Of Bay Of Pigs Fiasco: Cuba Remains Under Castro Brothers!

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Fifty years ago today, President John F. Kennedy’s attempt to overthrow President Fidel Castro’s Communist government in Cuba failed miserably, and it is hard to believe that Castro and his brother Raul still rule that island nation after a half century!

Kennedy’s inept and unfortunate attempt at a covert overthrow of Castro through an invasion of Cuban exiles has led to a political effect on America that still exists: the fact that Cuban Americans, as a voting bloc, have voted consistently Republican, and are vehemently conservative in their views on all major issues domestically, due to their anger over Kennedy’s failure. Cuban Americans are the only Hispanic group to vote Republican, and particularly in Florida, it has had a dramatic effect on state politics!

The embargo against diplomatic relations, trade, and general contact has continued for 50 years, but has had no effect on what goes on in that island nation. President Obama has authorized new rules promoting academic and “People to People” educational and cultural travel to Cuba as a first step toward establishment of what is seen as likely diplomatic recognition in a second Obama term, if that occurs.

Since the embargo and diplomatic isolationism has not worked, with the rest of Latin America and Canada dealing normally with Cuba, it is time for action on this matter, maybe with the President courageously dealing with it before the 2012 Presidential election, although it would add an extra burden to Obama’s battle for re-election, so maybe it will have to wait till 2013.

But certainly, if we can deal with other dictatorships that we find to be anathema, we can deal with Castro and not see it as a victory for him and his brother, but rather facing reality and trying to influence what happens on the island, and taking away the image of Uncle Sam as a nation that is out to destroy the lives of average Cubans!