Barack Obama and/or
his supporters seem determined to compare him with other men who have served as
President of the United States of America.
He has been compared to Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR),
and John F. Kennedy with the latest comparison being Ronald Reagan. When asked about where he would rank among
all Presidents, he once said that he thought he was about the fourth greatest of
all the President. Some of his
supporters supposedly think that Obama’s likeness should be carved into Mount
Rushmore.
Anyone who is even minimally
informed can see that Obama is no Ronald Reagan! There is simply no comparison between the two
me, at least in the ways that matter.
Reagan loved our nation and stood up for it, and Obama does not and will
not. I believe that Obama is comparing
himself to Ronald Reagan, not because he likes Reagan’s principles, but because
he wants to shift the country left just as Reagan shifted it right.
Nick Ragone wrote an interesting
article about Obama and Reagan entitled “The Big Difference Between These Two Presidents” that I encourage
you to study in full. After listing a
few ways the two President are similar, he wrote: “But that’s where the comparisons should
end. At the heart of the matter, what
defined Ronald Reagan most was the resoluteness of his convictions and fidelity
to those ideas. He came to the office
with a few major goals – to strengthen the economy, restore pride in the military,
meet communism head-on, and roll back the influence of government – from which
he never wavered. He compromised on
occasion, knowing full well that 70 percent of something was better than 100
percent of nothing, but never retreated from the central tenets of his
governing philosophy. That was simply
out of the question.
“Reagan took pride in the fact
that his world view could be squeezed onto an index card. Back then it was called simplistic and naïve;
today it’s seen as disciplined and focused.
He understood – intuitively – that the presidency is essentially a
narrative – an arc with a beginning, middle and end – that was built to hold
but a few story-lines at a time, a notion that seems to be lost on President
Obama. He resisted the temptation – all
too common among office holders – to become everything to everybody. If it meant alienating some constituencies or
ruffling a few feathers, so be it. He
never mistook popularity for posterity.”
Ronald Reagan was a great President in many ways. His love for our nation and his willingness
to stand up for her were some of his strongest qualities. Here is a typical statement from President Reagan: “Harry Truman once said that,
ultimately, our security and the world’s hopes for peace and human progress
`lie not in measures of defense or in the control of weapons, but in the growth
and expansion of freedom and self-government.’
“And
tonight, we declare anew to our fellow citizens of the world: Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a
chosen few; it is the universal right of all God’s children. Look to where peace and prosperity flourish
today. It is in homes that freedom
built. Victories against poverty are
greatest and peace most secure where people live by laws that ensure free
press, free speech, and freedom to worship, vote, and create wealth.
“Our
mission is to nourish and defend freedom and democracy, and to communicate
these ideals everywhere we can. America’s
economic success is freedom’s success; it can be repeated a hundred times in a
hundred different nations.”
I believe that Obama should be
very careful about comparing himself to Lincoln and Kennedy. In the first place, he appears to feel
different about our nation and our Constitution than either of the late
Presidents. Abraham Lincoln said, “We
the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to
overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who would pervert the
Constitution.” I believe that no other President - besides
Obama and maybe FDR - has tried to make so many end runs around the
Constitution. John F. Kennedy is famousfor his statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can
do for your country.” This seems to be the exact opposite from Obama
who uses tax payer money to play Santa Claus to the different groups to “buy”
their votes for the Democrats and runs our nation further and further into
debt. He wants bigger and bigger
government in order to give more “gifts” instead of assisting Americans to
exercise personal responsibility.
A second reason that Obama
should not compare himself to Lincoln and Kennedy is that things did not end
well for them. There are many
interesting similarities and coincidences between these two Presidents. I found the following information here, but I did not
check any dates or other facts.
“Abraham Lincoln was elected to
Congress in 1846; John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in
1860; John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Both were particularly concerned with civil
rights; both lost a child while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday; both
Presidents were shot in the head.
“Lincoln’s secretary was named
Kennedy; Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln.
Both were assassinated by Southerners; both were succeeded by
Southerners named Johnson. Andrew Johnson,
who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808; Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy,
was born in 1908. John Wilkes Booth, who
assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939. Both assassins were known by their three
names. Both names are composed of
fifteen letters.
“Lincoln was shot at the theater
named `Ford;’ Kennedy was shot in a car called `Lincoln’ made by `Ford.’ Booth and Oswald were assassinated before
their trials…. Lincoln was shot in a
theater and the assassin ran to a warehouse; Kennedy was shot from a warehouse
and the assassin ran to a theater.”
Obama and/or his administration
showed their real audacity when information about Obama was inserted into the
biographies of other Presidents. Ben
Shapiro explained, “The
White House website has always featured biographies of past presidents. The biographies are largely designed for
students, so they can research the history of the White House occupants; the
text is taken from The Presidents of the
United States of America, by Michael Beschloss and Hugh Sidey."
Shapiro then listed examples of
various Presidents and the information about Obama that was inserted. I particularly liked what he wrote about
Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), whose policies Obama seems to favor. “`On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt
signed the Social Security Act. Today the
Obama Administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security
will be there for future generations.’
Once again, Obama ignores his actual similarities to FDR – driving a bad
economy into a drainage ditch. FDR’s
Social Security was supposed to provide for widows and orphans; Obama’s will be
bankrupt within a few years.”
Shapiro ends his article
thusly: “There you have it: Obama In History…. An arrogant president who thinks that every
president of the last 80 years was just fate’s foreshadowing of the ultimate
White House occupant. This is a
president trying to buy legitimacy on the backs of others and trying to connect
himself to predecessors who largely would have shunned his policies. Perhaps we should just be grateful that he
decided not to insert himself in President Lincoln’s biography: `President Lincoln maintained the Union and
disestablished slavery. President Obama
once thought about growing a beard!’”
Barack Obama should not be
compared to other Presidents, either good ones or bad ones. There is no comparison because the good ones
had their faults and the bad ones had their good points. I believe that Obama has all the faults and
none of the good points.
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