2009-02-24 JFK, FDR and Seven Days in May

Specs

Date:	2009-02-24
Link:	http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/022409a.html
Author:	Lisa Pease (writingscat)
Source:	Consortiumnews.com (articlescat)
Topics:	Kennedy administration John F. Kennedy Seven Days in May Curtis LeMay Cuban Missile Crisis Bay of Pigs Central Intelligence Agency The Pentagon Obama administration US military
Categories:	Kennedy administration John F. Kennedy Seven Days in May Curtis LeMay Cuban Missile Crisis Bay of Pigs Central Intelligence Agency The Pentagon Obama administration US military

JFK, FDR and 'Seven Days in May'

longer text

Robert Parry recently wrote of how President Obama's early actions might bring him a "Seven Days in May moment," referring to a fictitious coup attempt from a film of the same name, in which a popular military figure nearly took over the government.

I was also reminded of the coup that almost came about during President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term.

The film Seven Days in May began as a novel by Fletcher Knebel, inspired to a great degree by Knebel's conversations with Gen. Curtis LeMay, President Kennedy's contentious Air Force Chief of Staff who was furious at Kennedy for not sending in full military support during the Bay of Pigs incident.

Additionally, LeMay infamously argued during the Cuban Missile Crisis for a preemptive nuclear first-strike against the Soviet Union, a move Kennedy abhorred.

shorter text

“In the wake of the tragically flawed Bay of Pigs operation, Kennedy learned a valuable lesson that Obama has yet to learn: the limits of presidential authority.”