by Ed Forester

Created on: November 23, 2007

Politically, there is no comparison when looking at Hillary Clinton and JFK. Kennedy was no ideologue and was very pragmatic in his approach to governance. Kennedy was an anti-communist and resisted statist trends in government. Hillary Clinton believes in government expansion and follows the socialist trends of corporatism in addressing policy issues. On foreign policy and matters of state, JFK was an internationalist but always reserved the right for the US to act unilaterally in its own interests. Hillary Clinton is a pure internationalist preferring to resolve international difficulties through transnational bodies such as NATO and the United Nations.

If one is to examine the two candidates purely from a charisma point of view, JFK wins that contest easily. A young, dynamic figure calling America to public service and civic participation compared to Hillary Clinton's statist cradle-to-grave rhetoric? Hillary is very short on charm and leadership, but very long on secretiveness, arrogance and outmoded political theories. The people closest to Hillary have remarked upon these characteristics and how they may hold her back in her race for the White House. Can anyone compare her to JFK? It isn't blasphemy or fair to make the comparison. These two politicians are very different animals.

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