Icons: Jack and Bobby Kennedy

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events; and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation" - Bobby Kennedy

They stand like models from an Abercrombie & Fitch ad, all-American kids just in from a game of touch football in the garden, immortalised by their tragic early deaths (Jack (left) and Bobby (middle), with brother Ted). Yet these men were not just playboys and rich young WASPs, they were an integral part of America's political elite - Attorney General, Senator, President - and the shots that killed them were heard around the world. On a day when America sees its first black president inaugurated, it is fitting to celebrate the efforts of these two men, the culmination of which can arguably be seen in Barack Obama’s entry to the highest executive office in the United States.

Many column inches have been dedicated to comparing Obama to JFK, the latter being the great cause for hope in America at the time of his inauguration almost 50 years ago. As the dual mantras of the Obama campaign - hope and change - are needed across the world today as much as at any time in modern history, these comparisons are apt.

But it is perhaps his brother Bobby whose work most helped pave the way for Obama to stand on Capitol Hill as 44^th President of the United States. A champion of civil rights and desegregation within JFK’s administration, as Attorney General Bobby required that every part of government recruit staff of black and other ethnic origins. JFK was not far behind, proposing shortly before his death in 1963 what would subsequently become the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Obama’s presidency gives America the chance to bring to a close an unfortunate period in Iraq’s history that JFK unwittingly contributed to starting. It was during his administration that the Ba’athist party, assisted by the CIA, came to power and so led eventually to Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror. Yet JFK was no warmonger: he successfully avoided the greatest threat to American soil since the Second World War by negotiating a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis and he sought to prevent the escalation of military violence in Vietnam. His premature death makes the question of whether war would have occurred in Vietnam had JFK lived one of pure historical speculation.

So as we celebrate Obama’s victory, and with it the dawning of a new era of hopefulness, let us also celebrate the actions of those who toiled and died to lay the road that Obama has walked.