The True Kennedy Curse — Trying to be like JFK
By Will Barber Taylor
Camelot and the 1,000-day Presidency of John Fitzgerald Kennedy has inspired many politicians. Recently, the desire to emulate the Kennedys has returned to the forefront under the present American administration. President Trump has compared his wife Melanie to being like a second “Jackie O” and First Daughter, Ivanka has let it be known that she greatly admires the Kennedy family.
Aside from the obvious discrepancies between the current administration and the Kennedy White House — one inhabited by a man who cannot even pass his legislation to a President who, because of his Irish Catholic background, had to fight to achieve the Presidency and then used it to reshape America. The desire to embrace a time that only partly existed is a common theme that runs through American politics and is something that does not only afflict Kennedy; Kennedy liked to draw comparisons between himself and Abraham Lincoln and Bill Clinton spent a great deal of 1992 pointing out that his middle name was Jefferson.
Every president since Kennedy has been cast in his shadow and the desire to invoke the Kennedy family name has never been more felt than now. Democrats and Republicans have always wanted to claim to be Kennedy’s heir — Ronald Reagan’s economic policy was derived from elements of Kennedy’s and Barack Obama drew on Kennedy’s campaigns to inspire the American people. In fact, the phenomenon has become so pronounced that a book has been written specifically about this subject — The Kennedy Half Century by Larry J Sabato.
Sabato’s excellent work goes through, in forensic detail, how each President was influenced by Kennedy. Not simply in direct ways — such as Nixon with envy and fear of the Kennedy family and Johnson’s desire to claim the Kennedy legacy for himself but also how Presidents wanted to take on elements of Kennedy’s style — most particularly Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Yet, it is that desire to live up to Kennedy, to somehow take advantage of his status that is the true curse that is attached to Kennedy, not the tragedies that befell him and his family.
For a figure as almost mythological as JFK it is likely to make anyone who attempts to be like him, regardless of accomplishments, seem like a disappointment. In the years during and immediately after they left office both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were cast as figures that showed great promise but were somehow disappointing.
This, of course, is done not simply by their critics but also by those that support them. For it isn’t enough that these figures have gotten elected and implemented many of the policies that they said they would — they haven’t ensured the creation of a mythical Camelot like Kennedy did, therefore they are somehow unable to live up to his standard.
Reality cannot compete with grand mythology. The fact that Camelot was, at least partly, a retroactive myth that shone a light brighter than it was on the Kennedy years in the wake of his untimely murder is part of the problem.
Certainly, he brought something special to the White House and redefined American politics, but they were by no means perfect years. The Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs and the fight for Civil Rights in the South of America are a testament to that. Yet, because there was a greatness that surrounded Kennedy during his Presidency that was only heightened by his murder, many of these facts are overlooked. It means that when Presidents — whether intentionally or not — attempt to compare themselves with John F Kennedy or even Robert F Kennedy they cannot help but fall short. Obama and Clinton both achieved a great deal with their time in office and whilst both could have done more, that could be said of any political leader.
As I wrote recently in my piece about Historical Allusions, the desire to contextualise our political figures no matter whether or not the comparisons stand up to scrutiny means that we ultimately fail to understand our own political times because we are too rapt up in either trying to recapture the past or to demonise the present when it is unnecessary. That is why the real Kennedy curse is diminishing our current crop of politicians even though they often accomplish a great deal and make our lives better.
