Thursday, October 2, 2008

John Kennedy Ran Spanish Ads in 1960



That's our former first lady making a Spanish ad for her husband. So to all you xenophobes attacking McCain and Obama for running Spanish ads this year, get over it. It's an American tradition. That's gotta hurt to learn there's more to this country than your narrow perspective.

If you're like me and don't speak spanish here's a translation.

“Dear friends, I am the wife of Senator John F. Kennedy candidate for the presidency of the United States. In these times of great danger when world peace is threatened by Communism we need a firm hand in the White House, a leader capable of guiding our destinies. My husband will watch out for the interests of all the sectors of society that need the protection of a humanitarian government. For the future of our children and in order to achieve world peace, please vote for the Democratic Party on November 8th.

“Long Live Kennedy!”


Thanks to the television series Mad Men for bringing this to my attention.

4 comments:

yave said...

It's unfortunate though somewhat relevant in this context that JFK's blinkered fight against communism helped keep Castro in power for the next 45 years, led us into Vietnam, and set the stage for a complete bloodbath in Central America. U.S. foreign policy has been a bipartisan disaster for a very long time.

Texano78704 said...

I would have to say that JFK did commit a serious faux pas by essentially driving Castro into the arms of the Soviets, but his successor, LBJ, had more to do with expanding the "better dead than red" foreign policy than JFK.

Anonymous said...

But, then of course, LBJ, for all his faults did more for Mexican-Americans than any president before him (when I lived in the Big Bend of Texas, you'd find older people still revered LBJ as something close to a saint), and actually was seen as a "good gringo" in Mexico for signing the Chamizal Agreement of 1963.

Don't think you can judge foreign policy... or the eventual results of a foreign policy, based on just what a candidate's wife managed to say in an advertisement.

Anonymous said...

Frankly I don't care who does ads in Spanish - does it really matter? What matters is all the other citizens who can't understand it either way.