A Tale of Two Presidencies
The early 1960’s was a more innocent age. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the first media president and cultivated their relationships personally. President Trump is also a media President, albeit a polarizing one. Love him or hate him, you can’t ignore him. JFK used a charm offensive. Trump just is offensive—at least to most in mainstream media who tend to report more negatives than positives about our embattled leader.
Joining us to contrast and compare the two presidencies, their style and chemistry with the news media, is Dr. Mark Bruce, author of the book Jackie, a Boy and a Dog.
Q&A:
- Clearly, President Kennedy had quite different dynamics than President Trump. Expand on that.
Answer: JFK was smooth and classy. Trump is loud and brassy. Each was effective in their own ways, but very different ways. No one referred to JFK as bombastic, and no one considers trump a gentile Camelot type leader.
- Tell us about the Camelot era associated with the Kennedy administration that was cut short by tragedy.
Answer: in the early 60’s it wasn’t so much Republican vs. Democrat or even conservative vs. liberal. Back then people viewed Kennedy as the President of the United States of America. He won and both sides coalesced for the good of the country during very trying times, not the least of which was the Cuban Missile Crisis. But with the fierce opposition Trump has had to deal with, you’d think it was the divided states of America, and it’s a wonder he can get anything done with such hostile media..
- But before being elected President, Donald Trump was an amazingly popular and successful media star. What happened?
Answer: Even stars fall. They call them shooting stars, and whether President Trump weathers the impeachment storm or if his star falls, no one can say he didn’t go down without a fight.
- Let’s move from the President to the First Lady. How would you compare the two?
Answer: There is a far closer parallel with the two First Ladies. Both are glamorous and somewhat exotic. Clearly, both were great assets for their husbands. I would hope that my story in the book, “Jackie, a Boy and a Dog,” would recall a time when politics was a team sport and not a death match, and when spiritual sensitivity from a Judeo-Christian worldview was not anesthetized. I want to help people to see that God is still in control, even in the midst of apparent chaos.
- Tell us about your book, “Jackie, a Boy and a Dog.”
- Where may we buy a copy of your book, “Jackie, a Boy and a Dog.”
About your guest, author Mark Bruce, M.D.
Mark Bruce grew up with a love for dogs. This became a focal point of Mark’s childhood when the President and Mrs. Kennedy gave him the “pupnik” named Streaker, the grand-pup of Strelka, the first dog to orbit earth in a Soviet Sputnik spaceship, and return alive. Mark maintained a pen-pal relationship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, with many personal letters, from the 1960’s until the 1980’s.
Today Mark is an emergency medicine physician in Wisconsin, a husband of 42 years to his wife Moira E. O’Brien-Bruce, DO, and a father and grandfather to 5 children, and 7 grandchildren.
Mark has traveled with the international medical ministry in Central America, Asia, Europe, and Africa, and led many teams into the Asian disaster zones for medical relief work.
In addition to clinical duties, Mark is the Ambassador to Belize and Canada for the American College of Emergency Physicians.
About the book…
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AND FIRST LADY JACKIE GIVE BOY A DOG FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL KENNELS
Have you ever lost a pet, or had to put your pet to sleep? Even though we try to tell ourselves that it is just an animal, a cat or a dog, there is still a tremendous sense of grief.
Now imagine that you accidentally killed your pet; the sense of loss is amplified. That is precisely what a boy, Mark D. Bruce, felt at the age of 10, when tragedy struck during a backyard baseball game in the summer of 1963. Thus, begins the story of the new book, “Jackie, a Boy and a Dog: A Warm Cold War Story.”
This tragedy connected Mark to the highest profile couple on earth, when in the midst of his sorrow he writes a letter to them, naively asking the question: “I killed my dog; may I have one of yours?” But then the impossible happened. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy took his request seriously, considering this improbable request, and in the midst of her own sorrow at the loss of their own newborn son, Patrick, granted his wish. Experience the dramatic change of emotion from grief to joy as this tale unfolds.
Equally improbable was the subsequent relationship that Jackie and Mark developed, spanning three decades. The encouragement of the most iconic woman of the 20th century, spurred Mark Bruce to a life of service in the medical profession, touching lives burdened with their own tragedies, around the world. Read what happens when an ordinary boy and then a man, puts his giftedness at God’s disposal. The results are amazing! Our guest is author Dr. Mark Bruce to tell us more about this amazing story and his new book “Jackie, a Boy and a Dog: A Warm Cold War Story.”
