JFK: The President We Got...
...instead of Jeb Bartlett in The West Wing.
Our fascination with JFK continues. Even now, there are still aspects of his life and career which remain hidden from public view.
He came from a brutal and psychotically competitive family, an aloof and cold mother of too many children who accomodates her husband's self-centeredness by a peculiarly Catholic form of emotional abandonment. This remove, however, strikes her own children as collateral damage from her intended assault on her husband.
So, a family of highly competitive people, with singular ambition. The theory is not hard to establish: the ambition is to attain mom's love (which is unattainable) and to impress dad. The story is archetypal of America in the mid-20th century. We achieved so much because of qualities of competition, ruthlessness and self-interest. We also learned to worship glamour and celebrity.
Wasn't Kennedy the best-looking president by far?
I never understood him better than after reading "JFK: Reckless Youth" by Nigel Hamilton, not to mention Seymour Hersh's "Dark Side of Camelot." How could this man, whom we loved so well when he was in office, have been so deeply compromised?
We've been led by men for the whole of our history. These men have been flawed and have made terrible mistakes. We followed them, though, because we elected them and have a need to trust and respect them. I never respected a president more than JFK. After reading Hersh's treatment of him, in a weird way my respect increased. He managed to make the decisions he made under the burdens of drug usage, painkillers, and possibly advanced VD. Helluva guy!!
I believe that he was addicted to sex and prescription drugs, and that we knew way too little about how to treat addictions back then.
They accused George Bush of cocaine use once, although it was never proven. For sure, George Bush used to drink too much. If he reverted to those behaviors in the White House now, we would know the signs and know how to deal with it, promptly and effectively.
Right?
Our fascination with JFK continues. Even now, there are still aspects of his life and career which remain hidden from public view.
He came from a brutal and psychotically competitive family, an aloof and cold mother of too many children who accomodates her husband's self-centeredness by a peculiarly Catholic form of emotional abandonment. This remove, however, strikes her own children as collateral damage from her intended assault on her husband.
So, a family of highly competitive people, with singular ambition. The theory is not hard to establish: the ambition is to attain mom's love (which is unattainable) and to impress dad. The story is archetypal of America in the mid-20th century. We achieved so much because of qualities of competition, ruthlessness and self-interest. We also learned to worship glamour and celebrity.
Wasn't Kennedy the best-looking president by far?
I never understood him better than after reading "JFK: Reckless Youth" by Nigel Hamilton, not to mention Seymour Hersh's "Dark Side of Camelot." How could this man, whom we loved so well when he was in office, have been so deeply compromised?
We've been led by men for the whole of our history. These men have been flawed and have made terrible mistakes. We followed them, though, because we elected them and have a need to trust and respect them. I never respected a president more than JFK. After reading Hersh's treatment of him, in a weird way my respect increased. He managed to make the decisions he made under the burdens of drug usage, painkillers, and possibly advanced VD. Helluva guy!!
I believe that he was addicted to sex and prescription drugs, and that we knew way too little about how to treat addictions back then.
They accused George Bush of cocaine use once, although it was never proven. For sure, George Bush used to drink too much. If he reverted to those behaviors in the White House now, we would know the signs and know how to deal with it, promptly and effectively.
Right?
posted by John Bernat @ 6:18 PM
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