Sir, William Rees-Mogg’s comparison of Barack Obama with John F. Kennedy (Opinion, June 9) is accurate in terms of their respective election campaigns but does not go far enough in analysing the impact this will have on an Obama presidency (if achieved).

Like Rees-Mogg, I recall the election campaign of 1960 when we were attracted by the idealism and charisma of Kennedy. As a young American naval officer on patrol in the Taiwan Strait, I voted by absentee ballot for him.

The outcome in the short presidency of John Kennedy was a disappointment. Within one year of his election, America was involved in the Vietnam War, which cost the lives of more than 50,000 American servicemen and women. Within two years, Kennedy proceeded with the invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. By contrast, the very experienced Dwight Eisenhower, in his eight-year presidency preceding Kennedy, resisted the French invitation in 1954 to enter Vietnam, and the British and French invitation in 1956 to invade Suez.

Experience and consistency are essential attributes for an American president. Eisenhower and Reagan both demonstrated these attributes and were arguably the best American presidents since the Second World War.

Sound judgment based upon age and experience should be what we can expect from a John McCain presidency.

Clancy Schueppert
Sevenoaks, Kent

Explore Letters

• Feedback