HOPE

 

1962. The year this photograph was taken. 

1962. The year I was born.

John F. Kennedy, at the age of 43, was the youngest person elected U.S. President. 

Only Teddy Roosevelt was younger (42) when he assumed the presidency following the assassination of President McKinley. Bill Clinton and Ulysses S. Grant were 46; Barrack Obama was 47.

The photograph above transports me back in time to when the adult women -- my mother's friends -- spoke well of the First Lady, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. She was iconic. Girls my age were encouraged to be like her, to be inspired by her intelligence and graciousness. Years later, my mother shared with me "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The world I knew only in black and white, came alive in full color.

In a conversation with my daughter this past weekend, I bemoaned the lack of youthfulness in the candidates. I am old (58) and consider these guys -- wealthy white males President Trump, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders -- age-appropriate to date my mother, were she to be in the market, so to speak.

My daughter -- a woman now old enough to be president -- reminded me that family folklore reveals my own passion for politics: a political psychology class at University of Wisconsin-Madison unleashed within me a desire to be a political campaign manager.

Inspired by the candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton, my Honda Accord once sported an H08 sticker.

All this to say, that I am perplexed by the choices allotted me and my fellow citizens in this coming election. This morning it is clear to me that I've sat on the sidelines of politics far too long and I need to get back in the game.

I am returning to the idealism of my youth and looking to support candidates who inspire me. 

HOPE 2024.

R

Movie worth watching: Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy

Gotta love Wiki U.S. Presidents listed by age

Photo credit