All,
President Obama had often been compared to JFK and, most notably by Time Magazine, to FDR.
You be the judge:
FDR
Age 23 Graduates “Cum Laude” from Harvard, President of the “Harvard Crimson newspaper”
Age 26 Leaves Columbia Law School early having already passed the NY Bar
Age 27 Lawyer with “top drawer” Wall Street Investment Bank
Age 28 Elected to NY State Senate in 1910
Age 31 Appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913. Oversees the largest expansion of the US Navy in history up to that time during WWI. Sails on destroyers in U-boat infested Atlantic waters to assess first hand US Naval forces performance in wartime.
Age 38 Nominated as the democratic Vice Presidential Candidate in the 1920 election. The ticket loses badly.
Age 39 Contracts polio beginning a multi-year battle with a crippling illness. Continues to practice law.
Age 47 Elected Governor of NY in 1929. NY at that time was the most important, populous, and wealthiest state in the union.
Age 50 Elected President of the United States. Leads America through the Great Depression and World II. Forever remember for his unstinting courage, positivism, and unifying optimism symbolized by the quote, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
JFK
Age 23 Graduates from Harvard in 1940, lettered as member of the varsity swim team, spent time at Princeton and London School of Economics. Had already traveled across Europe as well as the USSR. Graduating thesis on European appeasement of Nazi Germany. Writes bestseller “Why England Slept”
Age 24 Leaves graduate business school at Stanford. Joins US Navy prior to Pearl Harbor attack. Initially served in naval intelligence
Age 26 Served in South Pacific as a PT boat commander. On 7 December 1942, Kennedy commands PT 109, one of 8 PT boats that defeat a superior Japanese force off Guadalcanal. Kennedy is later personally decorated for heroism for his performance in the Pacific
Age 29 Elected to his first of three terms to the US House of Representatives. During his time in the House, the Marshall Plan is passed along with several key laws that lead to the post-war economic boom
Age 35 Elected for the first of two times to the US Senate
Age 38 Along with Ted Sorenson writes “Profiles in Courage” which wins the Pulitzer Prize in 1955
Age 43 Elected President of the United States
Barack Obama
Age 21 Graduates from Columbia University in 1983
Age 22 Works for the Business International Corporation in NYC that supports US interests abroad
Age 23 Worked for NYC-centered university public interest group aligned with Ralph Nader
Age 24 Becomes a community organizer in Chicago
Age 27 Enters Harvard Law School. Serves as editor of the “Harvard Law Review”
Age 30 Graduates “Cum Laude” from Harvard Law School in 1991
Age 32 Finishes two years as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School in 1993
Age 34 Publishes “My Father’s Dreams”
Age 36 Ends a four period of practicing law and serving in management at a Chicago law firm. Also active in key leadership roles in several Chicago foundations
Age 36 Elected to the first of two terms in Illinois State Senate in 1996
Age 43 Elected to the US Senate in 2004
Age 47 Elected President of the United States
Semper Fi,
Mike
