Sorensen: Obama the Next JFK

In an article in the latest edition of The New Republic, Theodore Sorensen, who was an assistant to John F. Kennedy from 1952 to 1963, makes the case that Sen. Barack Obama (D - Illinois) is - among the 2008 presidential candidates - the heir to President Kennedy in both his political handicaps and his leadership qualities.

Sorensen cites parallel concerns about the youth and inexperience of JFK and Obama. He also compares concerns about the fact that Kennedy was a Roman Catholic with those that Obama is African-American. On the positive side, Sorensen points to parallels in education (Harvard University), their rise to national prominence (both at Democratic National Conventions), and the fact that both "stood out as young, handsome, and eloquent new faces who attracted and excited ever larger and younger crowds." Sorensen identifies themes that JFK and Obama have had in common: "hope, a determination to succeed despite the odds, dissatisfaction with the status quo, and confidence in the judgment of the American people."

Sorensen concludes his brief for Obama being the next JFK by writing that

Democrats in 1960, like today, wanted a winner--and Kennedy, despite his supposed handicaps, was a winner. On civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the race to the moon, and other issues, President Kennedy succeeded by demonstrating the same courage, imagination, compassion, judgment, and ability to lead and unite a troubled country that he had shown during his presidential campaign. I believe Obama will do the same.