"Too intelligent and too weak," Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev said of newly minted U.S. President John F. Kennedy after their meeting in Vienna, Austria in June 1961. This observation became a catalyst for Khrushchev's decision a year later to deploy nuclear weapons to Cuba triggering the historic showdown between the world's two superpowers. Kennedy himself later admitted to New York Times reporter James Reston that, "He (Khrushchev) just beat the hell out of me" during that summit in Vienna.
Fortunately JFK licked his diplomatic wounds, learned from his mistakes and came back much stronger for their next go around in October 1962 with nothing less than the future of mankind at stake. Kennedy had learned that the power of his personality was not enough win over communist hardliners and instead the young president evolved into a shrewd Cold Warrior with steely resolve taking not only Khrushchev but many in Kennedy's own administration by surprise.
President Barack Obama can match JFK'S charisma smile for smile, quip for quip but he'll have to dig a little deeper to find his inner Kennedy. Like his predecessor, Obama too is being tested by communist and religious hard-liners on the world stage. His relative silence on the ongoing election crisis in Iran has not gone unnoticed by his fellow leaders and now he's got another big problem on his hands.
According to Japanese intelligence reports, North Korea may fire a ballistic missile toward Hawaii around the Fourth of July. While North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile does not appear to have enough range to reach Hawaii (experts say it would fall about 500 miles short of the mainland), it does pose a threat to The United States and its standing in the world. It's time for President Obama to sit behind the Resolute desk and be resolute in his administration's dealing with despots and rogue governments going forward. Now is not the time for a televised town meeting or manufactured photo-op. Mister Obama, please tell the TV photographers to go away and lock yourself in the Oval Office with your top advisors and come up with a game plan.
"I've got a terrible problem if he thinks I'm inexperienced and have no guts," John F. Kennedy once said about his Russian rival. It's now gut check time for President Obama as well.