JFK vs. BHO--Somewhat Similar, Mostly Different (Part
Four)
Attempting to compare and contrast JFK and BHO without referencing
their better halves, First Ladies Jacqueline Lee “Jackie” Bouvier Kennedy and
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama, would be a futile exercise since
Jackie and Michelle were significant influences and major
players in the lives and administrations of their husbands.
The chief difference was that Jackie made her influence felt behind her private screen and Michelle has overtly exhibited her involvement in every facet of the Obama administration.
Unique in many ways, no two First Ladies could have been more different.
One was truly a first class lady, the other not so much.
Few other First Ladies in American presidential history better combined classic beauty, charismatic charm, and educated savoir-faire than Mrs. Kennedy.
Of Irish-French ancestry, Jackie was born to wealth and privilege like her husband yet never publicly flaunted her privileged status either before or after her marriage to the president of the United States and never intruded into the seamy world of politics. She had graduated from George Washington University in D.C. with a B.A. in French literature, co-authored the autobiographical, One Special Summer, with her sister, and later worked as an inquiring photographer.
Jackie may have unwittingly become a fashion icon but she always discreetly stayed in the political background and appropriately kept her political opinions to herself.
Fluent in Spanish and French, she could speak in Italian and Polish and on foreign trips comported herself with the same sense of chic dignity she exhibited at home. She devoted her free time to organizing White House social events and directing the beautification of the presidential mansion.
More importantly, Mrs. Kennedy studiously avoided controversy at all times and ultimately became one of the most beloved and most popular presidential wives of the twentieth century.
The chief difference was that Jackie made her influence felt behind her private screen and Michelle has overtly exhibited her involvement in every facet of the Obama administration.
Unique in many ways, no two First Ladies could have been more different.
One was truly a first class lady, the other not so much.
Few other First Ladies in American presidential history better combined classic beauty, charismatic charm, and educated savoir-faire than Mrs. Kennedy.
Of Irish-French ancestry, Jackie was born to wealth and privilege like her husband yet never publicly flaunted her privileged status either before or after her marriage to the president of the United States and never intruded into the seamy world of politics. She had graduated from George Washington University in D.C. with a B.A. in French literature, co-authored the autobiographical, One Special Summer, with her sister, and later worked as an inquiring photographer.
Jackie may have unwittingly become a fashion icon but she always discreetly stayed in the political background and appropriately kept her political opinions to herself.
Fluent in Spanish and French, she could speak in Italian and Polish and on foreign trips comported herself with the same sense of chic dignity she exhibited at home. She devoted her free time to organizing White House social events and directing the beautification of the presidential mansion.
More importantly, Mrs. Kennedy studiously avoided controversy at all times and ultimately became one of the most beloved and most popular presidential wives of the twentieth century.
On the other hand, no other First Lady in American history combined such a seething, racist anger toward America, such an insatiable lust for publicity, and such affection for traveling on taxpayers’ meager dimes than Michelle Obama. . . (Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=34191.)
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