Edwards comment on Reagan and Kennedy in actual context

[grantcart]

Excellent article on Edwards Foriegn Policy

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070901faessay86502/john-edwards/reengaging-with-the-world.html


quote
We need a new path, one that will lead to re engagement with the world and restoration of the United States' moral authority in the community of nations. President Harry Truman once said, "No one nation alone can bring peace. Together, nations can build a strong defense against aggression and combine the energy of free men everywhere in building a better future for all." For 50 years, presidents from Truman and Dwight Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton built strong alliances and deepened the world's respect for us.

unquote

The clear point of the sentence is that up until Bush there has been basically bipartisan approach to multi lateral-ism that ended with George Bush and his messianic unilateralism. That list included both republican and democrat Presidents and was a common attribute that all presidents used in foriegn policy.

At no point in the article does he single Reagan out has having provided any particular Reagan leadership qualities that should be admired except those that were exactly the same as all of the other presidents.

John Edwards goes on at length in citing the one President who should be emulated for his particular leadership

quote
We need to return to President Kennedy's vision. He said in 1961 that the American system was fragmented, awkward, and slow and that improvement was necessary because "the nation's interest and the cause of political freedom require it." Kennedy reformed the American foreign-aid system, and we need a similar fundamental restructuring today. As president, I will create a new cabinet-level position to coordinate global development policies across the government. I will also replace Kennedy's Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 with a Global Development Act to modernize and consolidate development assistance, and I will ask Congress to improve its oversight and revamp its committee structure so that it can be a more effective partner in this effort. With measures like these, we can reclaim our historic role as a moral leader of the world while at the same time making the world safer and more secure for the United States

unquote

[Kermitt Gribble]

1. K&R for all the Obama supporters

who like to play "gotcha".

[Yuugal]

2. k&r nt