LEESA K. DONNER Media & Culture Columnist
Yesterday was the centennial birthday of John F. Kennedy. Without a doubt, Kennedy’s early and abrupt assassination while in office has turned him from man to legend. Some herald him as “the last of the real Democrats.” Others see him as a president who got the U.S. in a lot of hot water in a very short time. But any way you look at it, much of America still has a soft spot for the president who was cut down so violently in the prime of life.
Enter seventy-year-old President Donald Trump. Much of America does not seem to have a fondness for this man – at least not yet. He’s seen as a bombastic, ego-driven, isolationist – and that is only the beginning of myriad derogatory adjectives used concerning Trump.
And yet….and yet…a professor of politics at Washington and Lee University has penned a fascinating look at the two men. Robert Strong puts forth a rather unusual premise in a Newsweek article that postulates both Trump and JFK have much in common:
Both were second sons of successful and domineering fathers. Both grew up in wealth and privilege, though outside the highest levels of social status. Both were rebellious in school, reckless and cavalier in relations with women and eventual inheritors of family dreams for wider acceptance.
As young men, they both took on challenging endeavors, but were hounded by critics who said they were more interested in publicity than in genuine accomplishment. They were unlikely presidential candidates who entered the White House after closely fought campaigns against controversial opponents who had been on the national political scene far longer.
Still unconvinced? Try this on for size:
They each led political parties with congressional majorities that were deeply divided and unlikely to approve new administration initiatives. They both raised establishment eyebrows by appointing family members to senior administration positions.
There is one more striking similarity. John Kennedy and Donald Trump were pioneers in political communication.
Kennedy understood the importance of television sooner and more completely than his political peers. In appearance and demeanor, if not in substance, he outperformed Richard Nixon in their famous televised debates. After he entered the White House, he made press conference broadcasts live events that won a larger audience and gave him the opportunity to speak directly to the American public without newsroom editors selecting from among his remarks.
Trump, for all his faults and foibles, is a master of the newest forms of political communication on cable news programs and in social media. Earlier presidential candidates—mostly Democrats from Howard Dean to Barack Obama to Bernie Sanders—showed how to use computer connections to effectively organize and energize supporters. But no one in recent presidential politics tapped into the raw power of the new instruments of political communication more often, or more effectively, than Donald Trump.
It goes without saying that Kennedy and Trump have many differences. But there can be no denying that the two men have much in common. Time will tell how history regards our current president. Certainly, is plans for the nation are big and bold. As to whether he will be able to accomplish those goals is anyone’s guess. At the very least, as a country, we can hope and pray Trump has a less tragic finish and perhaps succeeds in a few areas — for the country and its citizens.
Oh, and one other similarity that should not go unmentioned. Both men were married to stunningly beautiful women who spoke more than one language and experienced great popularity in other parts of the world.
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
