ROBERT F. KENNEDY DEATH OF JFK CONTENT VINTAGE ORIGINAL 1966 TYPED LETTER SIGNED

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ROBERT F. KENNEDY DEATH OF JFK CONTENT VINTAGE ORIGINAL 1966 TYPED LETTER SIGNED:
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DESCRIPTION:RARE & UNUSUAL! Democratic senator and civil rights activistROBERT F. KENNEDY signed typewritten letter on his personal United States Senate letterhead stationery written to Mr. Evan Thomas of Harper & Row Publishers. The warmly written one page letter, dated July 28, 1966, contains excellent and poignant commentary on the death of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. It reads: \"Dear Evan: While I have not read William Manchester\'s account of the death of President Kennedy, I know of the President\'s respect for Mr. Manchester as an historian and reporter. I understand others have plans to publish books regarding the events of November 22, 1963. As this is going to be the subject matter of a book and since Mr. Manchester in his research had access to more information and sources than any other writer, members of the Kennedy family will place no obstacle in the way of publication of his work. However, if Mr. Manchester\'s account is published in segments or excerpts, I would expect that incidents would not be taken out of context or summarized in any way which might distort the facts of, or the events relating to President Kennedy\'s death. Sincerely, Robert F. Kennedy.\" Signed in black ink fountain pen.

The signature is dark, and prominent with excellent contrast.

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- SIZE: approx. 8\" X 10 1/2\"

- CONDITION:Very Good, with horizontal folds from mailing, faint creases at the upper left corner, and handling. (Please note that I am extremely condition conscious so I always point out the slightest anomalies)

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ROBERTF. KENNEDY BIO

Robert Francis\"Bobby\" Kennedy(November 20, 1925 — June 6,1968), also referred to by his initialsRFK, was an Americanpolitician, aDemocraticsenatorfromNew York, and a notedcivil-rightsactivist. An icon ofmodern American liberalismand a memberof theKennedyfamily, he was a younger brother of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, and heserved as the president\'s chief adviser during his presidency. From 1961 to 1964 he served as theU.S.Attorney General.

Following hisbrotherJohn\'s assassination, on November 22, 1963, Kennedy continuedto serve as the Attorney General under President Lyndon B. Johnsonfornine months. There had long been bad blood between them, so in September 1964Kennedy resigned to seek a U.S. Senate seat from New York, which he won inNovember. Within a few years he publicly split with Johnson over theVietnam War.

In March1968Kennedy began a campaign for thepresidency and was a front-running candidate of theDemocratic Party, appealing especiallyto black, Hispanic and Catholic voters. In the California presidential primary,on June 4, Kennedy defeatedEugene McCarthy, the heroof the New Left and student elements in the Democratic Party. That nightKennedy wasshotbySirhan Sirhan, aPalestinianArab.[1]Mortallywounded, he survived nearly 26 hours, then died early in the morning of June 6.

Bobby was born onNovember 20, 1925, inBrookline,Massachusetts, the seventh child ofJosephP. Kennedy, Sr.andRose E. Fitzgerald.[2]

In September 1927,theKennedyfamilymoved toRiverdale,New York, a neighborhood in theBronx, then two years later, moved 5 miles(8.0km) northeast toBronxville,New York. Bobby spent summers with his family at their home inHyannisPort, Massachusetts, and Christmas and Easter holidays with hisfamily at their winter home inPalmBeach, Florida, purchased in 1933. He attended public elementaryschool in Riverdale from kindergarten through second grade; thenBronxville School, the public school inBronxville, from third through fifth grade, repeating the third grade;[3]thenRiverdaleCountry School, a private school for boys in Riverdale, for sixthgrade.

In March 1938,when he was 12, Bobby sailed with his mother and his four youngest siblings toEngland, where his father had begun serving as ambassador. He attended theprivate Gibbs School for Boys in London for seventh grade, returning to theU.S. just before the outbreak of war in 1939.

In September 1939,for eighth grade, Bobby attendedSt. Paul\'s School, an elite privatepreparatoryschool for boys inConcord,New Hampshire.[4]However, hetransferred after two months at St. Paul\'s toPortsmouthPriory School, aBenedictineboardingschool for boys inPortsmouth,Rhode Island, for eighth through tenth grades.[5]In September1942, Kennedy transferred toMilton Academy, a thirdboarding school inMilton,Massachusetts, for eleventh and twelfth grades.[6]

Six weeks beforehis eighteenth birthday, Bobby enlisted in theU.S. Naval Reserveas anapprentice seaman,[7]releasedfrom active duty until March 1944 when he left Milton Academy early to reportto theV-12 Navy College Training ProgramatHarvard Collegein Cambridge,Massachusetts. His V-12 training was at Harvard Maine(November1944 – June 1945); and Harvard (June 1945 – January 1946). On December 15,1945, theU.S.Navycommissioned thedestroyerUSS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., and shortlythereafter granted Kennedy\'s request to be released from naval-officer trainingto serve starting on February 1, 1946, as an apprentice seaman on the ship\'sshakedown cruiseintheCaribbean.[8][9]On May 30,1946, he received his honorabledischargefrom the Navy.[10]

In September 1946,Kennedy entered Harvard as a junior, having received credit for his time in theV-12 program.[11]Kennedyworked hard to make the Harvardvarsityfootballteam as anend,was astarterandscored atouchdownin the firstgame of his senior year before breaking his leg in practice,[11]earning hisvarsity letterwhenhis coach sent him in for the last minutes of a game againstYale, wearing a cast.[12]Kennedygraduated from Harvard with a bachelor\'s degree ingovernmentin March1948[13]andimmediately sailed off onRMSQueen Marywitha college friend for a six-month tour of Europe and the Middle East, accreditedas a correspondent of the Boston Post,for which he filed six stories.[14]Four ofthese stories, filed fromPalestineshortlybefore the end of theBritish Mandate, provided a first-hand view of the tensions.[14]He wascritical of the British policy in Palestine. Further, he praised the Jewishpeople he met there \"as hardy and tough\". Kennedy held out some hopeafter seeing Arabs and Jews working side by side but, in the end felt the\"hate\" in Palestine was too strong and would lead to a war.[15]

In September 1948,Kennedy enrolled at theUniversity of Virginia School of LawinCharlottesville.[16]On June 17,1950, Kennedy marriedEthelSkakelat St. Mary\'s Catholic Church inGreenwich,Connecticut. Kennedy graduated from law school in June 1951 and flewwith Ethel to Greenwich to stay in his father-in-law\'s guest house. Kennedy\'sfirst child,Kathleen,was born on July 4, 1951,[17]and Kennedyspent the summer studying for the Massachusettsbar exam.[18]

In September 1951,Kennedy went to San Francisco as a correspondent of theBoston Posttocover the convention concluding theTreatyof Peace with Japan.[19]In October1951, Kennedy embarked on a seven-week Asian trip with his brother John (then Massachusetts 11th districtcongressman) and his sisterPatriciatoIsrael, India, Vietnam, and Japan.[20]Because oftheir age gap, the two brothers had previously seen little of each other. This25,000-mile (40,000km) trip was the first extended time they had spenttogether and served to deepen their relationship.

In November 1951,Kennedy moved with his wife and daughter to a townhouse inGeorgetownin Washington, D.C., and started work as alawyer in the Internal Security Section (which investigated suspected Sovietagents) of theCriminal DivisionoftheU.S. Department of Justice.[21]In February1952, he was transferred to theEastern District of New YorkinBrooklynto prosecutefraud cases. On June 6, 1952, Kennedy resigned to manage his brother John\'ssuccessful1952 U.S. Senate campaigninMassachusetts.[22]

In December 1952,at the behest of his father, he was appointed byRepublicanSenatorJoe McCarthyasassistant counsel of theU.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee onInvestigations.[23]He resignedin July 1953, but \"retaineda fondness for McCarthy.\"[24]After aperiod as an assistant to his father on theHoover Commission, Kennedyrejoined the Senate committee staff as chief counsel for the Democraticminority in February 1954.[25]When theDemocrats gained the majority in January 1955, he became chief counsel. Kennedywas a background figure in the televisedMcCarthyHearingsof 1954 into the conduct of McCarthy.[26]

Kennedy worked asan aide toAdlaiStevenson IIduring the1956 presidential electionto learn for afuture national campaign by John. The candidate did not impress Kennedy,however, and he voted for incumbentDwightD. made a name for himself as the chief counsel of the 1957–59Senate Labor Rackets CommitteeunderchairmanJohnL. McClellan. In a dramatic scene, Kennedy squared off withTeamstersunionPresidentJimmy Hoffaduringthe antagonistic argument that marked Hoffa\'s testimony.[28]Kennedy left theRackets Committee in late 1959 in order to run his brother John\'s successfulpresidential campaign.

In 1960, hepublished the bookThe Enemy Within, describing the corruptpractices within the Teamsters and other unions that he had helped investigate;the book sold very well.

John F. Kennedy\'schoice of Robert Kennedy as Attorney General following his election victory in1960 was controversial, withTheNew York TimesandThe New Republiccallinghim inexperienced and unqualified.[29]He had noexperience in any state or federal court,[29]causing thePresident to joke, \"I can\'t see that it\'s wrong to give him a little legalexperience before he goes out to practice law.\"[30]Kennedy did havesignificant experience in studying organized crime. After performing well inthe Senate hearing he easily won confirmation in January 1961. Kennedy chosewhat Schlesinger calls an \"outstanding\" group of deputy and assistantattorneys general, includingByron WhiteandNicholasKatzenbach.[29]

Hilty concludesthat Bobby \"played an unusual combination of roles—campaign director,attorney general, executive overseer, controller of patronage, chief adviser,and brother protector\" and that nobody before him had such power.[31]His tenureas Attorney General was easily the period of greatest power for the office; noprevious United States Attorney General had enjoyed such clear influence on allareas of policy during an administration. To a great extent, President Kennedysought the advice and counsel of his younger brother, resulting in RobertKennedy remaining the President\'s closest political adviser. Kennedy was reliedupon as both the President\'s primary source of administrative information andas a general counsel with whom trust was implicit, given the familial ties ofthe two men. He exercised widespread authority over every cabinet department,leading the Associated Press to dub him, \"Bobby--Washington\'s No. 2man.\"[32]Thepresident once remarked about his brother that, \"If I want something doneand done immediately I rely on the Attorney General. He is very much the doerin this administration, and has an organizational gift I have rarely if everseen surpassed.\"[33]

As one ofPresident Kennedy\'s closest White House advisers, RFK played a crucial role inthe events surrounding theBerlinCrisis of 1961.[34]Operatingmainly through a private backchannel connection to Soviet spyGeorgi Bolshakov, RFKrelayed important diplomatic communications between the US and this connection helped the US set up the Vienna Summit in June1961 and later defuse the tank standoff with the Soviets at Berlin\'sCheckpointCharliein October.[36]

As AttorneyGeneral, Kennedy pursued a relentless crusade againstorganized crimeandthemafia,sometimes disagreeing on strategy withJ. Edgar Hoover, Directorof theFederal Bureau of Investigation(FBI). Convictions againstorganized-crime figures rose by 800 percent during his term.[37]

Kennedy wasrelentless in his pursuit ofTeamstersunionPresidentJimmy Hoffa,resulting from widespread knowledge of Hoffa\'s corruption in financial andelectoral actions, both personally and organizationally.[38]The enmitybetween the two men was intense, with accusations of a personal vendetta beingexchanged between the two; in what Hoffa called a \"blood feud\"between him and Kennedy.[39]In 1964Hoffa was imprisoned for jury tampering.[40]

Kennedy expressedthe administration\'s commitment to civil rights during a 1961 speech at theUniversity of Georgia Law School:

In 1963,FBI DirectorJ. Edgar Hoover, who viewedcivil-rights leaderMartinLuther King, Jr.as an upstart troublemaker[42]calling himan \"enemy of the state\",[43]presentedKennedy with allegations that some of King\'s close confidants and advisers werecommunists.[44]Concernedthat the allegations, if made public, would derail the Administration\'s civilrights initiatives, Kennedy warned King to discontinue the suspectassociations, and later felt compelled to issue a written directive authorizingthe FBI to wiretap King and other leaders of theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference,King\'s civil rights organization.[45]AlthoughKennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King\'s phones\"on a trial basis, for a month or so\",[46]Hooverextended the clearance so his men were \"unshackled\" to look forevidence in any areas of King\'s life they deemed worthy.[47]The wiretapping continued through June 1966 and was revealed in 1968, days beforeKennedy\'s death.[48]

Kennedy remainedcommitted to civil rights enforcement to such a degree that he commented, in1962, that it seemed to envelop almost every area of his public and privatelife—from prosecuting corrupt southern electoral officials to answering latenight calls fromCorettaScott Kingconcerning the imprisonment of her husband fordemonstrations in Alabama. During his tenure as Attorney General, he undertookthe most energetic and persistent desegregation of the administration thatCapitol Hill had ever experienced. He demanded that every area of governmentbegin recruiting realistic levels of black and other ethnic workers, going sofar as to criticize Vice PresidentLyndon B. Johnsonforhis failure to desegregate his own office staff.

Although it hasbecome commonplace to assert the phrase \"The Kennedy Administration\" or even \"PresidentKennedy\" when discussing the legislative and executive support of thecivil rights movement, between 1960 and 1963, a great many of the initiativesthat occurred during President Kennedy\'s tenure were as a result of the passionand determination of an emboldened Robert Kennedy, who through his rapideducation in the realities of Southern racism, underwent a thorough conversionof purpose as Attorney General. Asked in an interview in May 1962, \"Whatdo you see as the big problem ahead for you, is it Crime or InternalSecurity?\" Robert Kennedy replied, \"Civil Rights.\"[49]ThePresident came to share his brother\'s sense of urgency on the matters at handto such an extent that it was at the Attorney General\'s insistence that he madehis famous address to the nation.[29]

Bobby played alarge role in the Freedom Riders protests. Kennedy acted after the Anniston busbombings to protect the Riders in continuing their journey. Kennedy sent JohnSeigenthaler, his administrative assistant, to Alabama to attempt to secure theriders\' safety there. Despite a work rule which allowed a driver to decline anassignment which he regarded as a potentially unsafe one, Kennedy alsopersuaded a manager ofTheGreyhound Corporationto obtain a coach operator who waswilling to drive a special bus for the continuance of the Freedom Ride fromBirmingham, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, on the circuitous journey toJackson, Mississippi.[50]Later,during the attack and burning by a white mob of the First Baptist Church inMontgomery, at which Martin Luther King Jr. and some 1,500 sympathizers were inattendance, the Attorney General telephoned King to ask his assurance that theywould not leave the building until the force ofU.S. MarshalsandNational Guardhe sent had secured thearea. King proceeded to berate Kennedy for \"allowing the situation tocontinue\". King later publicly thanked Robert Kennedy for his commandingof the force dispatched to break up an attack that might otherwise have endedKing\'s life.[29][51]

Kennedy thennegotiated the safe passage of the Freedom Riders from the First Baptist Churchto Jackson Mississippi, where they were arrested.[52]He offeredto bail the Freedom Riders out of jail, but they refused. This upset Kennedy,who went as far to call any bandwagoners of the original freedom rides\"honkers\".

Kennedy\'s attemptsto end the Freedom Rides early were in many ways tied to an upcoming summitwith Khrushchev and De Gaulle, believing the continued international publicityof race riots would tarnish the President heading into to protect and advance the Freedom Rides alienated many of the CivilRights leaders at the time who perceived him as intolerant and narrow minded.[54]

In September 1962,he sent U.S. Marshals toOxford,Mississippi, to enforce a federal court order allowing theadmittance of the first African American student,James Meredith, to theUniversityof Mississippi. Kennedy had hoped that legal means, along with theescort of U.S. Marshals, would be enough to force GovernorRoss Barnettto allowthe school admission. He also was very concerned there might be a\"mini-civil war\" between the U.S. Army troops and armed protesters.[55]PresidentJohn F. Kennedy reluctantly sent federal troops after the situation on campusturned violent.[56]Ensuingriotsduringthe period of Meredith\'s admittance resulted in hundreds of injuries and twodeaths. Yet Kennedy remained adamant concerning the rights of black students toenjoy the benefits of all levels of the educational system. The Office of CivilRights also hired its first African-American lawyer and began to workcautiously with leaders of thecivil rights movement. Robert Kennedy sawvoting as the key to racial justice, and collaborated with Presidents Kennedyand Johnson to create the landmarkCivilRights Act of 1964, which helped bring an end toJim Crow laws.

He was to maintainhis commitment to racial equality into his own presidential campaign, extendinghis firm sense of social justice to all areas of national life and into mattersof foreign and economic policy. During a speech atBallState UniversityinMuncie, IndianaonApril 4, 1968, Kennedy questioned the student body on what kind of life Americawished for herself; whether privileged Americans had earned the great luxurythey enjoyed and whether such Americans had an obligation to those, in U.S.society and across the world, who had so little by comparison. It has beenargued that although this speech has been largely overlooked and ignored,because of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., it was one of mostpowerful and heartfelt speeches Kennedy delivered.[57]

After theassassination of his brother Jack, Robert Kennedy undertook a 1966 tour ofSouth Africa in which he championed the cause of the anti-apartheidmovement.The tour was greeted with international praise at a time when few politiciansdared to entangle themselves in the politics of South Africa. Kennedy spoke outagainst the oppression of the native population and was welcomed by the blackpopulation as though a visiting head of state. In an interview withLookMagazinehe had this to say:

In South Africa, agroup of foreign press representatives chartered an aircraft, after theNational Union of South African Studentsfailedto make sufficient travel arrangements. Kennedy not only accommodated asuspectedSpecialBranchpoliceman on board, but took with good grace thediscovery that the aircraft had once belonged toFidel Castro.[59]

Kennedy also usedthe power of federal agencies to influenceU.S. Steelnot toinstitute a price increase.[60]TheWall Street Journalwrote that the administration had setprices of steel \"by naked power, by threats, by agents of the statesecurity police.\"[61]Yale lawprofessorCharlesReichwrote inThe New Republicthat theJustice Department had violated civil libertiesbycalling a federal grand jury to indict U.S. Steel so quickly, then disbandingit after the price increase did not occur.[61]

During the John F.Kennedy administration, thefederal governmentcarried out its lastpre-Furmanfederalexecution (VictorFeguerinIowa,1963)[62]and RobertKennedy, as Attorney General, represented the Government in this case.[63]

In 1968, Kennedyexpressed his strong willingness to support a bill then under consideration forthe abolition of the death penalty.[64]

As his brother\'sconfidant, Kennedy oversaw the CIA\'s anti-Castroactivitiesafter the failedBayof Pigs invasion. He also helped develop the strategy to blockadeCuba during theCubanMissile Crisisinstead of initiating a military strike thatmight have led to nuclear war. Kennedy had initially been among the morehawkish elements of the administration on matters concerning Cuban insurrectionaryaid. His initial strong support for covert actions in Cuba soon changed to aposition of removal from further involvement once he became aware of the CIA\'stendency to draw out initiatives and provide itself with almost uncheckedauthority in matters of foreign covert operations.

Allegations thatthe Kennedys knew of plans by the CIA to killFidel Castro, or approvedof such plans, have been debated by historians over the years. John F.Kennedy\'s friend and associate, historianArthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., for example, expressed theopinion that operatives linked to the CIA were among the most recklessindividuals to have operated during the period—providing themselves withunscrutinized freedoms to threaten the lives of Castro and other members of theCuban revolutionary government regardless of the legislative apparatus inWashington—freedoms that, unbeknownst to those at the White House attempting toprevent a nuclear war, placed the entire U.S.–Soviet relationship in perilousdanger.

The \"Family Jewels\" documents, declassified bythe CIA in 2007, suggest that before the Bay of Pigs invasion Robert Kennedypersonally authorized one such assassination attempt.[65][66]However,ample evidence exists disputing that fact, specifically that Robert Kennedy wasonly informed of an earlier plot involving CIA\'s use ofMafiabossesSantoTrafficante, Jr.andJohn Roselliduring abriefing on May 7, 1962, and in fact directed the CIA to halt any existingefforts directed at Castro\'s assassination.[67]Concurrently,Kennedy served as his brother\'s personal representative inOperationMongoose, the post-Bay of Pigs covert operations program establishedin November 1961 by President Kennedy. Mongoose was meant to incite arevolution within Cuba that would result in the downfall of Castro, notCastro\'s assassination.

During the CubanMissile Crisis Kennedy proved himself to be a gifted politician, with anability to obtain compromises tempering aggressive positions of key figures inthe hawk camp. The trust the President placed in him on matters of negotiationwas such that Robert Kennedy\'s role in the crisis is today seen as having beenof vital importance in securing a blockade, which averted a full militaryengagement between the United States and Soviet Russia. His clandestinemeetings with members of the Soviet government continued to provide a key linktoNikitaKhrushchevduring even the darkest moments of the Crisis, inwhich the threat of nuclear strikes was considered a very present reality.[68]

On the last nightof the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy was so grateful for hisbrother\'s work in averting nuclear war that he summed it up by saying,\"Thank God for Bobby\".[69]

Theassassination of President Kennedyon November 22, 1963,was a brutal shock to the world, the nation and, of course, Robert and the restof the Kennedy family. Robert was absolutely devastated, and was described bymany as being a completely different man after his brother\'s death.

In the daysfollowing the assassination, Kennedy wrote letters to his two eldest children,Kathleen and Joe, saying that as the oldest Kennedy family members of theirgeneration, they had a special responsibility to remember what their uncle hadstarted and to love and serve their country.[70][71]

Kennedy was askedbyDemocratic Partyleaders to introduce a film about hislate brother John F. Kennedy atthe 1964 party convention. When he wasintroduced, the crowd—including party bosses, elected officials anddelegates—applauded thunderously and tearfully for a full 22 minutes beforethey would let him speak.[72]He wasclose to breaking down before he spoke about his brother\'s vision for both theparty and the nation, and recited a quote from Shakespeare\'sRomeo and Juliet(3.2)that Jacqueline Kennedy had given him:

“

[...] and when [he] shall die
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Nine months afterPresident John F. Kennedy\'s assassination, Robert Kennedy left the Cabinet torun for a seat in theU.S.Senate, representing New York.

President Johnsonand Bobby were often at severe odds with each other, both politically andpersonally, yet Johnson gave considerable support to Bobby\'s campaign, as hewas later to recall in his memoir of theWhite Houseyears.

His opponent inthe1964 racewasRepublicanincumbentKenneth Keating, whoattempted to portray Kennedy as an arrogant carpetbagger. Kennedyemerged victorious in the November election, helped in part by Johnson\'s hugevictory margin in New York. During the campaign he visited the LubavitcherRebbe, RabbiMenachem Mendel Schneerson, seeking his blessing andendorsement.[73]

In 1965 Bobbybecame the first person to summitMount Kennedy.[37]At the timeit was the highest mountain in Canada that had not yet been climbed. It wasnamed in honor of his brother Jack after his assassination.

In June 1966,Kennedy visitedapartheid-ruled South Africaaccompaniedby his wife,EthelKennedy, and a small number of aides. At theUniversityof Cape Townhedeliveredthe Annual Day of Affirmation speech. A quote from this addressappears on his memorial atArlington National Cemetery. (\"Each time a man stands upfor an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out againstinjustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope....\")[74]

During his yearsas a senator, Kennedy also helped to start a successful redevelopment projectin poverty-strickenBedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklynin New York City, visitedtheMississippiDeltaas a member of the Senate committee reviewing theeffectiveness of \'War on Poverty\' programs and, reversing his prior stance, calledfor a halt in further escalation of theVietnam War.

As Senator,Kennedy endeared himself to African Americans, and other minorities such asNative Americans and immigrant groups. He spoke forcefully in favor of what hecalled the \"disaffected,\" the impoverished, and \"theexcluded,\" thereby aligning himself with leaders of the civil rightsstruggle and social justice campaigners, leading the Democratic party in apursuit of a more aggressive agenda to eliminate perceived discrimination onall levels. Kennedy supporteddesegregationbusing, integration of all public facilities, theVotingRights Act of 1965and anti-poverty social programs to increaseeducation, offer opportunities for employment, and provide health care forAfrican-Americans.

The administrationof President Kennedy had backed U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia and otherparts of the world in the frame of the Cold War. While Robert Kennedyvigorously supported President Kennedy\'s earlier efforts, like his brother henever publicly advocated commitment of ground troops. Senator Kennedy hadcautioned President Johnson against commitment of U.S. ground troops as earlyas 1965, but Lyndon Johnson chose to commit ground troops on recommendation ofthe rest of President Kennedy\'s still intact staff of advisers. Robert Kennedydid not strongly advocate withdrawal from Vietnam until 1967, within a week ofMartin Luther King taking the same public stand. Consistent with PresidentKennedy\'sAlliancefor Progress, Robert Kennedy placed increasing emphasis on humanrights as a central focus of U.S. foreign policy.

In 1968, PresidentJohnson began to run for reelection. In January 1968, faced with what waswidely considered an unrealistic race against an incumbent President, SenatorKennedy stated he would not seek the presidency.[75]After theTet OffensiveinVietnam, in early February 1968, Kennedy received a letter from writerPete Hamill, that said thatpoor people kept pictures of President Kennedy on their walls and that RobertKennedy had an \"obligation of staying true to whatever it was that putthose pictures on those walls\".[76]Kennedytraveled toDelano,California, to meet with civil rights activistCésar Chávezwho wason a twenty-five day hunger strike showing his commitment tononviolence.[77]It was athis visit in California where Kennedy decided he would challenge Johnson forthe presidency, telling his former DOJ press secretaryEdwin Guthman, that hisfirst step was to get little-known SenatorEugene McCarthyofMinnesota to withdraw fromthe presidential race.[78]The weekendbefore the New Hampshire primary, Kennedy announced to several aides that hewould attempt to persuade McCarthy to concede from the race to avoid splittingthe antiwar vote, but with the advice fromSouth Dakota SenatorGeorge McGovern, he urgedKennedy to wait until after the primary to announce his candidacy.[75]Johnson wona narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary on March 12, 1968, againstMcCarthy, which boosted McCarthy\'s standing in the race.[79]

After muchspeculation and reports leaking out about his plans,[80]and seeingin McCarthy\'s success that Johnson\'s hold on the job was not as strong asoriginally thought, Kennedy declared his candidacy on March 16, 1968, in theCaucus Room of the old Senate office building—the same room where his brotherdeclared his own candidacy eight years earlier.[81]He stated,\"I do not run for the Presidency merely to oppose any man, but to proposenew policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilouscourse and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and Ifeel that I\'m obliged to do all I can.\"[82]

McCarthysupporters angrily denounced Kennedy as an opportunist, and thus the anti-warmovement was split between McCarthy and Kennedy.[83]On March31, 1968, Johnson stunned the nation by dropping out of the race.[84]VicePresidentHubertHumphrey, long a champion of labor unions and civil rights, enteredthe race with the support of the party \"establishment\", includingmost members of Congress, mayors, governors and labor unions.[85]He enteredthe race too late to enter any primaries, but had the support of the presidentand many Democratic insiders.[86]RobertKennedy, like his brother before him, planned to win the nomination throughpopular support in the primaries.

Kennedy stood on aplatform of racial and economic justice, non-aggression in foreign policy,decentralization of power and social improvement. A crucial element to his campaignwas an engagement with the young, whom he identified as being the future of areinvigorated American society based on partnership and equality. Kennedy\'spolicy objectives did not sit well with the business world, in which he wasviewed as something of a fiscal liability, opposed as they were to the taxincreases necessary to fund such programs of social improvement. At one of hisuniversity speeches (Indiana University Medical School) he was asked,\"Where are we going to get the money to pay for all these new programsyou\'re proposing?\" Kennedy replied to the medical students, about to enterlucrative careers, \"From you.\"[29][87]It was thisintense and frank mode of dialogue with which Kennedy was to continue to engagethose whom he viewed as not being traditional allies of Democratic ideals orinitiatives. He aroused raoffer animosity in some quarters, with J. EdgarHoover\'s DeputyClydeTolsonreported as saying, \"I hope that someone shoots andkills the son of a bitch.\"[88]

It has been widelycommented that Robert Kennedy\'s campaign for the American presidency faroutstripped, in its vision of social improvement, that of President Kennedy;Robert Kennedy\'s offer for the presidency saw not only a continuation of theprograms he and his brother had undertaken during the President\'s term inoffice, but also an extension of these programs through what Robert Kennedyviewed as an honest questioning of the historic progress that had been made byPresident Johnson in the 5 years of his presidency. Kennedy openly challengedyoung people who supported the war while benefiting from draft deferments,visited numerous small towns, and made himself available to the masses byparticipating in long motorcades and street-corner stump speeches (often introubled inner-cities). Kennedy made urban poverty a chief concern of hiscampaign, which in part led to enormous crowds that would attend his events inpoor urban areas or rural parts of Appalachia.

On April 4, 1968,Kennedy learned of the assassination ofMartinLuther King, Jr.and gave a heartfelt impromptu speechinIndianapolis\'sinnercity, in which Kennedy called for a reconciliation between the races.Riotsbroke out in 60cities in the wake of King\'s death, but not in Indianapolis, a fact manyattribute to the effect of this speech.[89]

Kennedy finallywon theIndianaDemocraticprimary on May 7 and theNebraskaprimaryon May 14, but lost theOregonprimaryon May 28.[90]If he coulddefeat McCarthy in the California primary, the leadership of the campaignthought, he would knock McCarthy out of the race and set up a one-on-oneagainstHubertHumphrey(whom he bested in the primary held on the same day asthe California primary in Humphrey\'s birth state,South Dakota) at theChicago national conventionin August.

Kennedy scored amajor victory in winning the California primary. He addressed his supportersshortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in a ballroomatThe Ambassador HotelinLos Angeles,California. Leaving theballroom, he went through the hotel kitchen after being told it was a shortcut,[91]despitebeing advised to avoid the kitchen by his bodyguard, FBI agent Bill Barry. In acrowded kitchen passageway,Sirhan Sirhan, a24-year-old Palestinian, opened fire with a.22-caliberrevolver. Kennedy was hitthree times and five other people also were wounded.[92]George Plimpton, formerdecathleteRafer Johnson, and formerprofessional football playerRosey Grierarecredited with wrestlingSirhan Sirhanto theground after Sirhan shot the Senator.[93]Followingthe shooting, Kennedy was first rushed to Los Angeles\'s Central ReceivingHospital and then to the city\'sGood Samaritan Hospitalwhere he diedearly the next morning.[94]Sirhan saidthat he felt betrayed by Kennedy\'s support for Israel in the June 1967Six-Day War, which hadbegun exactly one year before the assassination.[95]

His body wasreturned to New York City, where itlay in reposeatSaint Patrick\'s Cathedralfrom approximately 10:00 PMuntil 10:00 AM on June 8.[96]Ahigh requiem massattendedby members of the extended Kennedy family, PresidentLyndon B. Johnsonand hiswifeLadyBird Johnson, and members of the JohnsonCabinetwas held at St. Patrick\'s Cathedral at 10:00 AMon June 8.[97]His brotherTedsaid thefollowing:

“

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: \'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.\'[98]

The quote is aparaphrase of a line spoken by thedevil(The Serpent) toEveinGeorgeBernard Shaw\'sBackto Methuselah, \"You see things; and you say \'Why?\' But Idream things that never were; and I say \'Why not?\'\"[99]

The requiem massconcluded with the hymn \"The Battle Hymn of the Republic\", sung byAndy Williams.[100]Immediatelyfollowing the mass, Kennedy\'s body was transported by a special private trainto Washington, D.C. Thousands of mourners lined the tracks and stations alongthe route, paying their respects as the train passed. The train departed NewYork at 12:30 PM.[101]Thefour-hour trip took more than eight hours due to the thick crowds lining the trackson the 225 miles (362km) journey.[102]When thetrain arrived atElizabeth,New Jersey, an eastbound train on a parallel track to the funeraltrain hit and killed several spectators after they were unable to get off thetrack in time even though the eastbound train\'s engineer had slowed to30mph for the normally 55mph curve and had blown his horncontinuously and rang his bell through the curve.[103][104]Scheduledto arrive at about 4:30 PM,[105][106]stickingbrakes on the casket-bearing car also contributed to delays,[103]and thetrain arrived at 9:10 PM on June 8.[102]

Bobby was buriednear his brother, Jack, inArlington National CemeteryinArlington,Virginia (just outside Washington, D.C.).[100]Bobby hadalways maintained that he wished to be buried in Massachusetts, but his familybelieved he should be interred in Arlington next to his brother.[107]TheNavyBandplayedThe Navy Hymn.[104]Theprocession passed theNew Senate Office Building(where Kennedy had hisoffices), and the proceeded to theLincoln Memorialwhereit paused. TheMarineCorps BandplayedThe Battle Hymn of the Republic.[104]Thefuneral motorcade arrived at the cemetery at 10:24 p.m. As it entered thecemetery, people lining the roadway spontaneously lit candles to guide themotorcade to the burial site.[104]The15-minute ceremony began at 10:30 p.m.CardinalPatrick O\'Boyle,Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington,officiated at the graveside service in lieu of CardinalRichard CushingofBoston, who fell ill during the trip.[102]Alsoofficiating wasArchbishop of New YorkTerence Cooke.[104]John Glennpresentedthe folded Flag on behalf of the United States to Senator Ted Kennedy, whopassed it to Bobby\'s eldest son Joe, who passed it to Ethel.[104]

Arlington NationalCemetery officials say that Bobby\'s burial was the only night burial to havetaken place at the cemetery.[108]However,the burial ofPatrickBouvier Kennedy(the infant son ofJack, who died two days afterbirth in August 1963) and Jack\'s stillborn daughter Arabella also occurred atnight. The two children were buried next to their father on December 5, 1963.[104]

On June 9,PresidentLyndonB. Johnsonassigned security staff to allU.S. presidential candidatesand declaredan officialnationalday of mourning. After the assassination, the mandate of theU.S. Secret Servicewas altered by Congress to includeSecret Service protection of U.S. presidential candidates.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

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