Happy Birthday, RFK
Robert F. Kennedy would have turned 82-years-old today. Had he lived these many years since 1968 he would have seen vast changes in our nation's politics and history. One can only imagine what he might think about our current state of affairs. The following is the conclusion of my new short biography of RFK entitled: Robert F. Kennedy and the Death of American Idealism, (Pearson Longman, 2008):
Conclusion
Robert Kennedy's abrupt removal from the nation's political life left in disarray the new Democratic coalition he was working to build. In August 1968, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the consequences of Kennedy's absence played out. The nationally televised street battles in downtown Chicago between peace demonstrators and police, which spilled onto the convention floor in shoving matches between delegates, had a devastating effect on the party. In 1968, Kennedy was one of the few politicians who could speak the language of the "Old Politics" with machine stalwarts like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, while still engaging in a constructive dialogue with the anti-war protesters whom Daley's police had beaten outside the convention hall.
The award-winning reporter, Theodore White, whose books on the Making of the President transformed campaign journalism, privately shared his impressions of the convention with Ethel Kennedy: "I write this from Chicago and the Democratic convention -- macabre, unbelievable, grotesque parody on the process of American politics. Most macabre is the spectacle of all our old friends split and divided and squabbling and spitting on each other. It is so goddamned sad. There is no comfort for me in the thought, which I always held, that Bob, had he lived, would have marched through this convention as its master -- and then on to the Presidency."
At the close of the convention, the delegates nominated Hubert Humphrey and flatly rejected a "peace plank" the anti-war wing tried to insert into the party's platform. Kennedy's goal at the convention had been to block any candidate from winning the nomination on the first ballot, and then aggressively create a stampede effect among delegates toward his camp. His experiences as John Kennedy's standard-bearer at the 1956 and 1960 Democratic conventions gave him an intimate knowledge of the nominating procedures. But it can never be determined whether or not Kennedy would have succeeded. What is known, however, is that Humphrey, who defended the Vietnam War until it proved politically fatal, led a dispirited Democratic Party into the November elections. The grassroots citizen energy that Kennedy and McCarthy had unleashed in the primaries had all but evaporated; there even emerged an anti-Humphrey "Dump the Hump" movement among the youth wing of the party.
The Republican Party's candidate, former Vice President Richard M. Nixon, who John Kennedy had narrowly defeated in 1960, ran television ads featuring the violence at the Democratic convention. Nixon won the presidency in a close race. And with the exception of President Jimmy Carter's single term, Nixon's 1968 victory ushered in a quarter century of Republican domination of the White House, and along with it a prolonged identity crisis for the Democrats. Robert Kennedy had said repeatedly that a Nixon presidency would be "unacceptable to the country."
Kennedy, like Martin Luther King, Jr., will be forever identified with the explosion of citizen activism that characterized the 1960s. He had leapt into the rough and tumble street politics of 1968, joining with community organizers in small venues and face-to-face meetings. Whether fielding questions in union halls or on college campuses, getting his hands bloodied in parades and motorcades, or enduring the berating of militants from a "black caucus" in Oakland, California, Kennedy made an effort to communicate with political activists at the local level, many of whom were far to his left on the political spectrum. The energy of the primary campaigns thrust Kennedy into the center of a volatile grass-roots fervor. Cesar Chavez likened the California campaign to "those heated elections they have south of the border." Kennedy took on the task not only because he needed "people power" to succeed, but by 1968 he largely agreed with the activists' viewpoint.
Kennedy began to look at American society with a far more critical eye. He believed the nation must stand for something other than consumerism and the pursuit of material wealth. "Our Gross National Product now soars above $800 billion a year," he said, "but that counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our streets of carnage. It counts the special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of natural wonder to chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and television programs, which glorify violence to sell toys to our children."
He lamented the loss of a higher purpose for America: "The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play," he said. "It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
Kennedy's legacy has become contested ground in the decades since his death. Conservatives have embraced his dedication to "law and order" as Attorney General, and his toughness as a prosecutor. It was Robert Kennedy who put organized crime on notice, and he showed his determination by snatching the mobster Carlos Marcellos off a New Orleans street and deporting him. He also brought forth Joseph Valachi to blow the whistle on the Mafia. Conservatives have also praised Kennedy for his criticisms of Lyndon Johnson's social programs. He believed that the government should not breed dependency, but provide a safety net while emphasizing self-reliance. His public-private partnership in Bedford-Stuyvesant stands as a model for his goal of creating jobs to help the poor become working taxpayers. Some of Kennedy's working-class supporters were deeply conservative on social issues, and in the years after his death slowly drifted toward becoming "Reagan Democrats." On November 20, 2001, a Republican administration named the Department of Justice building in honor of Robert F. Kennedy.
In the summer of 1999, President William Jefferson Clinton evoked Robert Kennedy's memory while touring several impoverished communities. He traveled to some of the same places Kennedy had visited in the late 1960s, including the Mississippi Delta and the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. The president spoke out against the poverty that existed in America, and praised Kennedy's daughter, Kerry Kennedy, for her charitable works. At the same time, Kennedy's former legislative aide, Peter Edelman, who served in the Clinton administration, resigned his post in protest after Clinton signed what Edelman believed to be a draconian welfare reform bill. In an op-ed piece in The New York Times, Edelman criticized Clinton's expedition, calling it a "cosmetic poverty tour." The episode shows that even among those who claim to be Robert Kennedy's ideological heirs the meaning of his legacy is still contested.
Yet there seems to be agreement on all sides that Kennedy was an extremely capable Attorney General. He played a pivotal role in dismantling the Jim Crow system of racial segregation in the South, and therefore he should be recognized as one of the most important figures ever to head the Justice Department.
Kennedy's work with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers created a deep and ongoing bond between his family and the struggling Latino agricultural workers. His support for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Poor People's Campaign, and his work in behalf of African-American civil rights, has resonated with a younger generation of black political leaders. Currently, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation sponsors community projects and has granted cash prizes as part of its yearly human rights award to unsung activists from all over the world who work for social justice.
On November 20, 2005, when the RFK Memorial Foundation sponsored an 80th birthday celebration of Kennedy's life in the nation's capital, noted activists, authors, and politicians spoke about Kennedy's influence on their work. Those who spoke included Senators Edward Kennedy, Barack Obama, Paul Sarbanes, John Kerry, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as Congressional Representatives Edward Markey, John Lewis, Dennis Kucinich, and many others. Despite having his life cut short, Kennedy's legacy has clearly had a profound and lasting impact on a generation of Democratic leaders.
In his last speech, Kennedy said: "I do not believe I can be successful without your help and support. I ask this, not for myself, but for the cause and the ideas, which moved you to begin this great popular movement. . . . With you I know we can keep faith with the American need and the American desire for peace and for justice, and for a government dedicated to giving the people mastery over their own affairs and future."
Robert Kennedy worked in solidarity with the social movements of the 1960s. He allied himself with farm workers, progressive labor unionists, peace, civil rights, and anti-poverty activists, youth and students. These mobilized citizens, loosely associated with his 1968 campaign, represented a potential for the long-term organized resistance to racism, economic injustice, and jingoistic nationalism. He showed that democracy works best when it is energized from below. On March 16, 1968, when Kennedy entered the presidential primary races, his 85-day campaign demonstrated a kind of selfless patriotism worthy of emulation. Employing the broad themes of racial solidarity and peace in Vietnam, his campaign became a rallying point for Americans who wished to move the nation in a more egalitarian and compassionate direction. Robert Kennedy's legacy will continue to be contested, but it will be more often than not strongly identified with the spirit of grassroots activism.
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Can we please have intelligent civil discourse not name calling and flaming egos?
1968 was a defining year for my generation and despite all of the death: assassinations, war, civil rights riots, etc. we still had hope that we could change the world and bring about peace for all. That dream no longer exists in the world of Bush with lies as truths, greed as good and hate as the weapon of choice. I mourn for what we could have been.
A good leader that I see emerge is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He reminds me of his father and has some of his qualities and spirit. He has worked for the environment and for preventing Autism. He could move us forward. Check him out on Air America radio, Ring of Fire. Check out www.youtub
He offered promise and he offered a kind of practical nobility-- missing in all the candidates except for Obama----
Why is it that those who support the poor, the little guy, the downtrodden or those who might just be called "Liberal" are the ones who get assasinated, or die in plane crashes? Why, even John Kennedy, Jr., just two weeks after he announced that he would consider (finally) a seat from Connecticut, died in that fateful planecrash with his wife and sister-in-law. Was that really just an accident? Got to wonder.
Happy Birthday, Bobby. You're ideals will live on forever! Thanks for waking us up to the grand possibilities! Send us someone new, please.
Me again, I'm crying, not too manly.
But I've missed you for 40 years and truly felt cheated by losing you.
Love ya Bobby and can only imagine what would have been.
Dear God, Peace to you.
I'm 56 and have never had a chance to vote for RFK, the only person that I have ever really wanted to vote for and support anyone.
Damn, I miss you Bobbie, you were not perfect, but you were truely the best, the BEST!!
I have missed and loved you for years.
Remembering Bobby....a
Instead of Kennedys, we have the Bushes. May God (if he or she even exists, and I doubt it) help us all.
I first met RFK in the summer of 1962 at the Department of Justice. He crackled with energy as he described his campaign against organized crime. When was the last time a major politician talked about organized crime?
See Joseph A. Palermo's Profile
Thank all of you for your thoughtful comments. First, it can never be determined whether RFK would have won the nomination in '68. He controlled or had strong influence over about 700 delegates (not 100 as on person wrote). Needed for the nomination was 1,312. Hence, he had enough to probably block anyone from receiving the nomination on the first ballot (which was his goal) and then he could work the floor (as he had done successfully in 1960 for his brother). The Democratic party was so divided and LBJ announcing on March 31 that he would not seek the nomination (RFK announced his candidacy on March 16, the same day as the My Lai massacre) -- the whole political reality was up for grabs. I cover this stuff in great detail in "In His Own Right" but also hit on the other topics in "Robert F. Kennedy and the Death of American Idealism." RFK was definitely anti-Castro but it can never be determined whether he participated in any discussions or actions relating to an assassination attempt on Castro -- the is no evidence at all. But EVERYONE wanted Castro ousted in the early 1960s -- just look at the Miami Cubans nearly 50 years later, they're still calling for blood. Castro was like Osama Bin Laden in the mainstream political discourse in the early 1960s, the only group defending him was Fairplay for Cuba, a miniscule left group the FBI had thoroughly infiltrated -- RFK's worst act as AG was approving a wiretap on MLK that J. Edgar Hoover demanded -- but even this story is complex because Hoover never sough "authorization" for COINTELPRO or any of his other activities, indicating that he probably pinned RFK down on this issue to use against him later -- RFK had no choice when dealing with Hoover while his brother was president because Hoover had a devastating file on JFK -- like the Monica years, it revolved around sex. Have a Great Thanksgiving All!
I've read here a number of individuals who said that Bobby was a good politician. I'd rather say he was a LEADER who was a polititian. He was inspirational. He spoke UP to us, not down like today's politicians. People recognized his leadership and flocked to it. He got them to recognize the possibilities and the good of each of us and what our society could be. Yes, he threatened the establishment and the coalition he was building before his untimely death was going to be a powerful force in American politics.
Bobby's legacy today doesn't exist on the national political scene, I am sorry to say. No one before, save perhaps FDR, had the leadership qualities of Bobby...ce
The fact that Bobby wasn't as liberal as most believe he was is not news. He brought divergent people together for the greater cause. No one has inspired me the way Bobby did. Looking past the claptrap from today's candidates, I can still take solace in the fact that Bobby had it right back then and that it still resides in each of us now.
The loss of RFK was rather devastating to me an 18 year old on the way to another war we lost, Our government since has failed to fulfill the dream of either race. Would MLK have been as big if he was not killed? Would RFK have been able to pull the country together? Was the reason he was killed lost in the years since? Would our government be in the mess it is? We all feel as our vote don't matter any more so they don't vote. Was RFK the last great hope for America?
In the 1960s, as now, we are facing the ongoing scourge of racism. The Dixiecrats of the conservative south were content backing the Democrat party until the Kennedy’s started their heavy handed approach to legislating equality. Several generations have seen the gritty B&W films of police and military actions in various southern communities.
After JFK was assassinated, Johnson tried to tone down the integration rhetoric that was targeted at southern leadership; he was constantly at odds with Robert Kennedy over this issue. Martin Luther King Jr. eventually coerced Johnson to back the equal right’s amendment and at it’s signing in 1965, Johnson remarked that the Democrat Party had just lost the South.
Grass roots activism, in the form of citizen marches, was something very new in this country, and the source of this dramatic social change has been the subject of many debates over the years. I remember reading newspaper stories that reported on these rallies and the fact that many of the participants were transported to DC, and other target cities, on 747s and various other forms of air travel. One has to take into consideration that air travel in those days was limited to an elite group of wealthy individuals, business managers, and government higher ups, hardly an affordable means of transportation for a supposed rag tag group of political insurgents.
Before this post becomes a book, I’ll quickly summarize my thoughts. One has to question the right wings roll in the events of that era. They whipped up citizen’s anger over the Viet Nam War to discredit Johnson and the Democrats, then Nixon kept the war going another five years. The Democrats took a political bullet for the black citizens of this country while the conservative south crossed the street to become today's racist Neocons. The federal government, and various black rights organizations, continue to push 60s integration policies today, keeping racist feelings alive by continuing to drive a wedge between white and black. A majority of Black Americans feel that significant social change has occurred and they just want to put that period behind them.
Yes, Bobby was the best of the Kennedys.
He worked for and with the great Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Bobby, as a devout Catholic was against abortion.
and his strongly pro-Israel stance would definitely piss off most of today's lefties.
He fought the corruption of the unions, while today's Dems just kiss their asses.
Yes, I salute that Bobby Kennedy. RIP Bobby.
RFK, for whom I worked in both his NY Senate office and Presidential campaign, set the standard as the best model for the Democratic Party today. His policy themes, vision and moralistic persona connected with segments of the voting population (e.g., blue collar workers, Catholics, the elderly) that the Democratic Party has since been losing. He discussed critical issues, like the war in Vietnam and poverty, in a moral framework that appealed to our better instincts. In so many areas, Robert Kennedy based his political positions on a simple, fundamental and passionate appeal to what was the right thing to do. He also was a unifying bridge between the two principal movements of the 1960's that Bai identifies: civil rights (due to RFK's pivotal role as Attorney General and his unique appeal to minorities) and the counterculture (due to his anti-war stance and his unique appeal to the young).
He did not wear his religion on his sleeve -- he did not have to. To see him in action and to hear him speak was to know that he was a man of deep faith. That came through to all whom he touched. We need more candidates like him.
--Bill Arnone
Bobby Kennedy was definitely more of a centrist Democrat than most believe him to be, especially in foreign affairs. The date of his assasination was the one year anniversary of the 6 day war in Israel. His staunch public support of Israel was what attracted Sirhan Sirhan's attention. Sirhan was a Christian Palestinian, refugeed here at the age of 12. He originally idealized Bobby, as did many, but when he found out that Bobby was on the side of Israel, and not Palestine, his unstable mind completely broke. We know the rest of the story, but I find it amazing how little it is spoken of today. At the time, the U.S. press and congress dismissed him as a nutcase, yet the Israeli press and congress did not. Even the movie "Bobby" made no mention of his killer, who shouted out "I did it for my country" when he was caught. In light of the fact that 40 years later we are still hearing the same battle cry from people who feel they have nothing left to live for and would rather blow themselves up, it is disturbing to see that we have not learned a thing.
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