Politicians are notoriously bad dressers—that’s a government salary for you—but if you’re enough of an icon, it doesn’t take much effort to become a style icon too.

After all, it’s called Kennedy chic for a reason.

The first contender to embrace the slim generation of suits (while his opponent is giving off slightly different signals), it’s no surprise that Obama’s a favorite for the GQ and Esquire crowd. Unlike the rest of the C-SPAN fodder, Barack manages to make suits look good. (Not so hard, really—but like we said, it’s a low bar.)

The overseas reaction»

There’s grassroots activism, and then there’s…this.

These Obamafied Air Force Ones were whipped up by a street artist known only as “Van,” and they’ve been making the rounds all day. They don’t quite rise to the level of Kennedy-chic; in fact, they throw the senator’s whole sartorial promise into question.

As a result, we’re throwing down the gauntlet and calling for Obama to denounce these irresponsibly ugly shoes. The American people deserve better than marker-soaked dunks marred by what one commenter correctly diagnoses as “wack execution.” Custom footwear may well be the largest challenge our next president will face. Unless we nip this in the bud, a McCain loafer can’t be too far off.

The senator’s office could not be reached for comment.

This month’s Vanity Fair features a windy trot through the remains of Marilyn Monroe’s estate, in the name of unraveling the “mystery of Marilyn’s death.” There are a few Kennedy love letters, one from T.S. Eliot (!?), and a whole lot of morbid fetishism, courtesy of writer Sam Kashner. (The curious can find a full web-only accounting here.) Of course, the media loves a dead blonde, but this is more unseemly than usual.

Monroe’s death is only a mystery the way JFK’s death is a mystery. When a corpse is found surrounded by sleeping pills, you don’t have to reach too far for the truth. Monroe was an orphan, and struggled all her life with what Arthur Miller described (in a far superior VF article) as “the bottomless loneliness that no parented person can really know”, so her suicide not as inexplicable as Kashner would have us believe. The real shock is how blind most writers have been to her real, human problems.

We’re looking at you, Truman»

A Ram Market: Esquire tries its hand at objectifying sheep. Hilarity ensues. [Esquire]

Making Waves: Portugal turns to wave power, making them more vulnerable to the whims of Aquaman. [Inhabitat]

The Northern Lights: Canada isn’t quite as sartorially challenged as you’d think. After all, they’re trendsetters on some fronts… [Complex]

The Don: Every man has a little Nixon and a little Kennedy on his shoulders, tempting him towards good or evil. Apparently Don Draper is no different. [Vulture]

In honor of the new president-elect, we thought we’d take a look at one of the fresh faces from the past, from a time when politicians trafficked in hope instead of fear and horizontally patterned ties had not yet perished from the earth. Ladies and gentlemen: a trip to the past, courtesy of the JFK library.

The next four years may not look exactly like this…but you never know.

A closer look at Mr. Kennedy»

Those Colors Don’t Screen: A quick, patriotic demonstration in screen-printing from the folks at Rogues Gallery. [A Continuous Lean]

We Hardly Knew Ya: Less than a week into unofficial presidency, Obama is already making JFK look bad. [Gawker]

The Pen is Mightier: Luxist counts down the ten most expensive writing instruments on Earth. But you’ll still lose it after a week. [Luxist]

But How Will it Play in Fargo?: Chuck Klosterman sets his sights on James Bond. Usually that works the other way around. [Esquire]

A little history will get you a long way…although you usually have to pay for it.

John F. Kennedy wore this watch for swimming for just under a year, and since then it’s passed from Jackie O to Aristotle Onassis, and eventually to a New York auction house. It’s going on the block in March, and costs a truly staggering amount, but as presidential memorabilia goes, this looks better than anything else we’ve seen.

It’s also worth more than five times as much as a watch on the same block that once belonged to Ghandi—just one more sign of what a little style will get you.