Obama and Other Presidents

                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.