John F. Kennedy and the Lost Art of Democratic Bipartisanship

 Dreams of a President that Actually Crosses Over the Aisle 

By Lee Edward Enochs

 

I am not going to lie to you. Although I have been a Republican all my life, I have spent most of my life a bit fascinated with John F. Kennedy, who died exactly 51 years ago today in Dallas, Texas.

I am not sure exactly why I like reading about John F. Kennedy. Perhaps it is because he was so very young and full of potential when he died and embodied the boundless potential of American Democracy.

Perhaps I loved the “mystique of Camelot” that depicted President Kennedy as eternally youthful and dynamic, I am just not certain. What I am certain about it that Kennedy was a much better President and agent of bipartisanship and conciliatory action than President Barrack Obama.

I spent close to seven years living in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and had the opportunity to visit the "Grassy Knoll" area near downtown Dallas where President Kennedy was assassinated on several occasions and have tried to go over the evidence of the Warren Commission, and I just don’t believe in the “lone gunman” theory.

I am not a conspiracy theory type person, but there still remain questions in my mind over just exactly what happened exactly 51 years ago today in regards to JFK’s death.

I do not believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting President Kennedy. I simply do not believe the “lone gunman” hypothesis and believe it has major holes.

In any event, JFK was a better and different kind of Democrat than President Obama, who often acts unilaterally without seeking any support for his controversial “executive orders” such as did in the Affordable Care Act debacle and in his recent controversial actions involving Immigration reform.

John F. Kennedy was a much better President than Barack Obama and often attempted to gain bipartisan support for his legislative accomplishments, while Obama often goes it alone without the slightest support from Republicans. It seems that Obama is impervious to the Republicans concerns and will do whatever he feels is necessary to further his agenda without seeking any semblance of bipartisanship.

President Kennedy reached out to Republicans in a way that Obama could only dream of. This is evidenced by the fact that he appointed Republicans to his cabinet and placed Republicans in other important administrative posts. JFK’s secretary of defense, national security advisor and treasury secretary were all Republicans.

The strangest thing about President Kennedy’s efforts to gain bipartisan support for his agenda was that his legislative accomplishments, ultimately carried out by Lyndon Johnson, due to his assignation, were liberal and progressive social policies such as Medicare, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the war on poverty and federal aid to education.

None of JFK’s major legislative accomplishments could have occurred without him reaching over the aisle and soliciting support from Republicans, something Obama has simply no ability or desire to do.

Exactly 51 years ago today President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas, may a new generation of Democrats who seek bipartisanship arise in his stead.