PrintJanuary 21, 2009
Why the Outlandish Lincoln Comparison?
I lost my father when I was young. I was seventeen years old. His death was the direct result of years of alcohol abuse. His death came at precisely the time when I needed a father most. The knowledge gained from that event has given me the perspective to make the following observations:
Why is it that Democrat Presidents Clinton and Obama compulsively compare themselves to more successful men who have held the Presidency?
The 42nd President, William Jefferson Blythe Clinton compared himself to JFK. The only actual common denominator turned out to be that they were both compulsive philanderers.
The "Man from Hope, Arkansas" may have been born there but he turned out to be from Hot Springs.
The 44th President Barack H. Obama, compares himself at every opportunity to arguably America's greatest President, Abraham Lincoln. Other than settling in Illinois and getting himself elected to the Presidency, what has Obama accomplished to justify this comparison?
What is it about Clinton and Obama, having reached the pinnacle of professional politics, that makes both men feel unworthy of having achieved such a position? Why is number one not good enough? Why doesn't either man seem to have an original identity of his own?
The answers may lie in their common denominator; both men come from extremely dysfunctional (effectively) single mother households.
William Jefferson Blythe, Sr's fourth wife was Virginia Dell Cassidy Blythe Clinton Dwire Kelly. Mr. Blythe's history and subsequent death due to drowning after barrel rolling his speeding car into a drainage ditch suggests an alcohol related death.
William Jr. was left with his maternal grandparents for four years while Virginia completed nursing school.
Virginia subsequently made another poor choice by marrying an alcoholic car dealer by the name of Roger Clinton; as Bill Clinton readily admits in his book My Life.
Barack H. Obama's early family life was starkly similar.
Barack H. Obama II was born August 4th, 1961 to Ann Dunham and Barack Obama, Sr. a Kenyan foreign exchange student. The couple married February 2nd, 1961 and divorced in 1964. Mr. Obama returned to Kenya and saw his son Barack only once before dying in a car accident in 1982.
Ann Dunham Obama subsequently married Indonesian student Lolo Soertoro in 1966. About a year after their marriage, Soetoro was recalled to Indonesia, and six year old Barack accompanied his mother to Jakarta and lived there as a family until 1971.
Ann Dunham Obama Soertoro gave birth to a daughter Maya in 1970. In 1971 Barack H. Obama, jr. moved to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents Madelyn and Stanley Dunham.
While Mr. Soetoro does not appear to have had a problem with alcohol, he is described as a free spirit. The couple ceased living together in 1972 and divorced in 1980.
Ann Dunham moved to Hawaii in 1972 for five years before moving back to Indonesia for most of the rest of her life.
While Barack Obama is more forthright than Bill Clinton in admitting use of drugs and alcohol, this is not so much an indicator of behavior as is the issue of Abandonment brought about by the poor choices made by unstable narcissistic single mothers. That they married multiple times simply amplified the issue to the abandoned children, Bill and Barack.
The abandoned child overcompensates for his shame by making himself popular and indispensable to as large an audience as is possible. This is why abandoned children tend to be popular politicians and lousy leaders; they compulsively need to be all things to all people.
Underneath it all is a deep-seated feeling of inadequacy and the shame of "not being good enough," brought about by the child taking (misplaced) responsibility for the poor choices and or death of the parent.
This is why Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are compelled to identify themselves with perceived and known successes such as JFK and Abraham Lincoln, respectively.
Recommended books: Adult Children of Alcoholics and The Road Less Traveled
