Reporting from Dublin, Ireland—
President Obama lands Monday in Ireland to begin a weeklong visit to Europe, trying to forge a common way forward with allies facing two wars, turmoil in the Middle East, and economies still struggling to recover from the 2008 collapse.
But before he gets down to the hard stuff, Obama will indulge in a dash of the Irish roots politics so beloved by American presidents who trace their ancestry to this island.
The White House and Irish officials planned the one-day stop in Ireland around a drop-in visit to Moneygall, a one-pub village about 48 miles from Dublin on the road to Limerick. In 1850, Fulmouth Kearney, the second son of a Moneygall shoemaker, joined the mass exodus fleeing the Irish famine in hopes of finding a better life in America.
Now, 160 years later, his great-great-great-grandson returns as president of the United States, to be welcomed by a tiny village that sees its own possibilities for prosperity in the connection.
It won't be the first time. Whether greeting Irish American presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan or pouring a pint for Bill Clinton, the Irish have been eager to boast of their ties to the U.S. presidency. And presidents have been happy to go along with propping up an ethnic connection that could appeal to some voters. "There is special symbolism in going to the country of origin for many Americans of European immigrant descent," says Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a political science professor at Northwestern University.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-obama-europe-20110523,0,7833376.story
President Obama lands Monday in Ireland to begin a weeklong visit to Europe, trying to forge a common way forward with allies facing two wars, turmoil in the Middle East, and economies still struggling to recover from the 2008 collapse.
But before he gets down to the hard stuff, Obama will indulge in a dash of the Irish roots politics so beloved by American presidents who trace their ancestry to this island.
The White House and Irish officials planned the one-day stop in Ireland around a drop-in visit to Moneygall, a one-pub village about 48 miles from Dublin on the road to Limerick. In 1850, Fulmouth Kearney, the second son of a Moneygall shoemaker, joined the mass exodus fleeing the Irish famine in hopes of finding a better life in America.
Now, 160 years later, his great-great-great-grandson returns as president of the United States, to be welcomed by a tiny village that sees its own possibilities for prosperity in the connection.
It won't be the first time. Whether greeting Irish American presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan or pouring a pint for Bill Clinton, the Irish have been eager to boast of their ties to the U.S. presidency. And presidents have been happy to go along with propping up an ethnic connection that could appeal to some voters. "There is special symbolism in going to the country of origin for many Americans of European immigrant descent," says Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a political science professor at Northwestern University.
Read More
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-obama-europe-20110523,0,7833376.story
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