Obama hopes to avoid past pitfalls

Posted: Monday, November 17, 2008 3:33 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From MSNBC.com's Tom Curry
New presidents have often gotten off on the wrong foot, either in botched Cabinet nominations or in policy initiatives that caused a ruckus at the start of their presidency. Obama stands to learn from mistakes made by Kennedy in 1961, Carter in 1977, Bush in 1989 and Clinton in 1993.

The Bay of Pigs fiasco is the classic case of a brand new president blundering his way into calamity. In this situation, the botched invasion had long-term consequences. Following the failure, Kennedy felt compelled to assure anti-Communist President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam that the Cuban disaster didn’t lessen the U.S. commitment to fighting communism in Asia.

Barack Obama is a man nearly as young as Kennedy was when he became president. Like Kennedy, Obama is a best-selling author with a reputation for being cerebral, articulate and charismatic. As he prepares to become president, he could consider Kennedy’s error.

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Comments

Wisdom is learning from your own mistakes or the mistakes of the others from the past. The President-Elect sounds like a wise man.

Diana Owens, Tacoma, Washington (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 3:46 PM)

Obama's team seems to be doing just that
Everything seems planned and ready for prime time

I'm getting a good feeling about this administration

Just don't veer too far to the right
The media and the pundits are trying to point Obama in that direction.

the only thing in the center of the road is yellow stripes and dead armadillos

MSierra, SF (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 3:49 PM)

Why haven't we heard anything about William Ayers and his wife breaking their silence. During the election it was on non-stop. I heard them several times on Good Morning American and progressive radio. A good coment William Ayers made, was if the President-elect, did seek listen to people, so called enemies and friends, that is a good thing, at least he is open to learning, and at the same time maintain his own thoughts. This is how you learn. It is called critical thinking.

Diana Owens, Tacoma, Washington (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 3:55 PM)

Obama has already stepped in it. We have a market that is collapsing by the minute, and yet Obama insists he can raise taxes. The man has no clue.

Soup Line Joe (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 3:57 PM)

If Obama's statement on the Big 3 automakers bailout is any indication, we now have a guy that far exceeds Clinton's ratings on the bs meter. Obama talked for over a minute on the subject yesterday, and said absolutely nothing.

Country Jade (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 4:00 PM)

Obama knows the lessons of history, and the mistakes made by past Presidents in picking their cabinet members. Heck! Obama has had 8 years to watch the Bush-Cheney Government fall into a lot political, moral, legal, social, and economic pits. Obama needs to pick individuals who are, honest, hard working, not politically corrupt, and have a clear vision for moving our nation forward. There is no time for political "hand holding!" He needs to make his selections with "no strings attached" politically. That is fact!!

Rock,Janesville,Wisconsin (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 4:01 PM)

I voted for President Elect Obama because I see good
judgement and intelligence, something sorley missing from the bush league presidency. I think we will see a hard two years economically, and a good 8 years in all. The mistakes you highlight from previous Presidents will all be studied and considered when
tough decisions are required. I really hate for the media to start focusing on the new administration before President Elect Obama has even been sworn into office. Oh Yeah, maybe an open forum on your shows on MSNBC. I for one would like to talk about Joe S. and Pat B. and Mika B. I would like to hear others comments about David Gregory and David Schuster.
Also a big Thank You for coverage of the campaigns
and election, appriciate you all.

marty

marty,columbia,s.c. (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 4:11 PM)

I am just glad that President Elect Barack Obama is able to ignore the media pundits and naysayers.

Because these clowns - really think they know everything.

I just wonder if any of you media folks can tell U.S. if any of our successful (used loosely) Presidents were ever successful journalist(s)?

Thank you and GOD BLESS AMERICA

The - Democrat Soldier (Sent Monday, November 17, 2008 4:13 PM)

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