Caryl Rivers Points to Similarities Between JFK and Hillary Clinton
COM's Caryl Rivers dials up the past for Clinton campaign advice.
Caryl Rivers, a College of Communication journalism professor who as a young reporter covered the Kennedy presidency, commented in Women’s eNews last month on the similarities between the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and John F. Kennedy.
Both presidential hopefuls faced challenges of precedent-setting proportions, writes Rivers. Kennedy had to overcome his Irish Catholic background and his relatively young age, while Clinton is seeking to be the first woman elected president of the United States. Both politicians dealt with large public failures early in their national political careers. Rivers compares Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs fiasco with Clinton’s health-care policy failure during her husband’s administration. Rivers concludes by offering Clinton campaign advice by way of JFK’s missteps and successes: showcase family members on the trail, channel the rebel days, and tackle the female thing head-on.
Rivers is the author of several books, including Slick Spins and Fractured Facts: How Cultural Myths Distort the News and Selling Anxiety: How the News Media Scare Women. Her latest book, Camelot, is a novel set in the Kennedy administration. She contributes to the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Newsday and is a frequent public affairs panelist on Boston television stations. Women’s eNews is a free online women’s issues journal.
Caleb Daniloff can be reached at cdanilof@bu.edu .
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