I originally wrote this a couple years ago. It seems fitting today, John F. Kennedy's centennial.
President
Kennedy died on my sixth birthday. That's a tender age, and having my
Big Day marred by a national tragedy left its mark. In trying to restore
order to my little universe and understand the pervasive agony all
around me, I began reading obsessively the man. And have never stopped.
John
F. Kennedy taught me much about life. The biggest lesson is that the way
a life looks on the outside isn't necessarily how it feels from the
inside. Though he was insulated by wealth, young Jack was plagued by
severe, painful medical problems that kept him in the hospital or home
convalescing. He missed years of school and had to drop out of Yale
because of his fragile health. (And this was as the second son in a
family that valued achievement above all else.) His parents had a
troubled marriage, and that resulted in a complicated, unsatisfactory
relationship with his mother that may have colored his attitude toward
women throughout his life. (I've read just as much about his wife, so
I'm not unaware of his own failings as a husband.)
So whenever I'm tempted to compare my life to someone else's, whenever I feel envy nipping at my heart, I remember how the world looked at JFK and thought he had it all, while in his heart he always felt rather lonely and isolated.
But look what he accomplished! Cum laude graduate of Harvard, decorated war hero, Pulitzer Prize winner, and the youngest man ever elected to the Presidency. The first Irish Catholic, at a time when people still remembered signs in store windows that said, "Irish need not apply."
Yes, he lucked out being born to one of the country's wealthiest family. But the wit, the intellect, the elegant turn of phrase, the fascinating combination of empathy and detachment he brought to every situation ... those money didn't buy.
He taught me that if you have imagination, you can visualize your own destiny and if you don't cut yourself too much slack, you can achieve your goals.
He
remains the single biggest influence on my politics. He wrote this
before I was born, and it still sums up my view of what my country can
be if we listen to our better selves.
If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties-someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal.”
That's how I'm honoring him, with gratitude, on his birthday.
So whenever I'm tempted to compare my life to someone else's, whenever I feel envy nipping at my heart, I remember how the world looked at JFK and thought he had it all, while in his heart he always felt rather lonely and isolated.
But look what he accomplished! Cum laude graduate of Harvard, decorated war hero, Pulitzer Prize winner, and the youngest man ever elected to the Presidency. The first Irish Catholic, at a time when people still remembered signs in store windows that said, "Irish need not apply."
Yes, he lucked out being born to one of the country's wealthiest family. But the wit, the intellect, the elegant turn of phrase, the fascinating combination of empathy and detachment he brought to every situation ... those money didn't buy.
He taught me that if you have imagination, you can visualize your own destiny and if you don't cut yourself too much slack, you can achieve your goals.
If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties-someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal.”
That's how I'm honoring him, with gratitude, on his birthday.
