Transcripts For CSPAN3 Robert F. Kennedy In Indianapolis 20240713

And that is that Martin Luther king was shot and killed tonight. [crowd screaming] mr. Kennedy Martin Luther king dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. Ray we are actually standing at the intersection of 17th street and broadway in indianapolis, indiana. This is the spot where on april 4, Robert Kennedy gave his impromptu speech, so to speak, informing the crowd of Martin Luther kings assassination. I was in a position on this side. So if you look at the picture of Robert Kennedy at the time he gave the speech, that was the angle from which i was looking at, and i was no more than 25 feet away. I was relatively close being here as early as i was. So i got a good spot. We did get here early. 24 years old at the time. I just got out of the navy the year before. I came home and indianapolis had changed somewhat. I mean, this is still a predominately black neighborhood. I had spent four years in the navy and become a journeyman printer. And i came home and i couldnt get a job. Based on the experience because it was 1968 and i was a young black man. So i was here with a group of some people about my age, maybe a little younger. I wanted to see for myself and hear for myself what he had to say. Ray kennedy was here to enter the democratic primary. The month before on march 16, kennedy had announced that he would be trying to win the nomination for the democratic president ial race. It was a pretty credit field at that time. Crowded fieldetty at the time. The incumbent president Lyndon Johnson was still in the race. And anothers senator, this one from minnesota, eugene mccarthy, had also thrown his hat into the ring for the nomination. The indiana primary was the first opportunity for him to test out his message and his campaign with voters. Although it was a long shot, indiana, which is a more conservative state even among democrats, didnt seem like the right state for kennedy to start his campaign in. And it was a bit of a gamble. But kennedy himself said my whole campaign is a gamble so we are going to give it a try in indiana. Following his speeches in south bend at the university of notre dame on april 4 and his subsequent talk at the university, kennedy was supposed two, according to his schedule, fly to indianapolis, coming in at the airport and from there go to downtown indianapolis to open his new campaign headquarters. After that event, he was supposed to come out here to the Broadway Christian center at 17th and broadway street, which was in the heart of an africanamerican neighborhood, give his Standard Campaign speech, talk about what he was going to do if he won the nomination, and they were also signing up voters, registering people to vote because they would need every vote they could win the primary came around. On the way to indianapolis when coupleat the airport, a reports said kennedy heard the news that dr. King had been shot. Not the news that he had died yet, just the news that he had been shot. When he arrived in indianapolis at the airport, kennedy finally learned that dr. King had died. There was a lot of confusion about what the Kennedy Campaign should do. Should they cancel the speech . Should they go ahead with it . They knew they were going to cancel their appearance of the campaign headquarters. That was a given. But they didnt know what to do. And there were people here at the site who got word back at the airport that youre going to have to come out here and say something. If you dont, there might be some trouble. Already, news was filtering out that a lot of major American Cities had violence occurring kingsople heard about death. Kennedy was a person who could give bad news and be counted on to do the right thing. So it was decided that kennedy would come here to address the crowd that had gathered there. Kennedy had no prepared text from his Campaign Speech writers. He was with his key campaign dutton. D there was kind of, what am i going to say . In the car. And they talked about what is going to say. Kennedy didnt know what to say dutton didnt have advice to give him. Abie the street that we are standing on, 17th street, it did not end the way it is now. It continued all the way through. The sidewalk would be just about where you are standing. A flatbed truck was maybe 10, 20 feet beyond the sidewalk. I dont think i could tell anything. It just seemed like the normal hustle and bustle of getting something together, except for the fact that you could hear him say, do they know . Do they know about Martin Luther king . And of course, the answer was no because the majority of the people here had not heard it. That was the first thing i could hear him saying. Could you lower those signs please . I have some very sad news for all of you, and that is that Martin Luther king was shot and was killed tonight in memphis, tennessee. When i was here and listened to his speech, the pendulum of my emotions, i could see it swinging. And it was in a matter of minutes because i think the speech lasted no more than six or seven minutes. But it went from when he first made the announcement, one of anger and revenge and the sound of that, the collective moans and the sighs. It could not only be heard, but to me, it could be felt. I felt the wave of emotion that came through that crowd. Mr. Kennedy for those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act against all white people, i would only say that i can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the united states. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond or go beyond these rather difficult times. Abie the speech didnt last for six minutes. But i could feel my emotions move from one of anger and revenge to remorse. Feeling sorry for the country in the family and his kids, to one finally when he got to the end of the speech, the words that he spoke brought me to another level of understanding. Ray after his talk here, kennedy went back to the hotel. He was scheduled to meet with a group of africanamerican leaders. After his speech, that meeting went on. It was highly charged atmosphere , as you can imagine, with kings death. But kennedy kind of smoothed things over and made sure they knew they had a friend in him and his campaign aide. They could always call on him if they had any questions or problems while he was going to be in indiana. I think they were mainly upset that they had lost a beloved leader. Here is an establishment figure in Robert Kennedy. I think they took out a lot of their anger on him because he was there at the time. Kennedy took it with good grace. He did point out, he didnt have to be there. He was wealthy, he was an established person. He had his own family to worry about. He could have stayed home at his estate in virginia. Here talkings out to them late in the evening and listening to their concerns. I think that mollified most of their concerns at the time. Robert kennedy wins the indiana primary. He goes around the state. Is very happy with the way he is treated by indiana voters. Felt that they gave him a chance. They listened to what he had to say. And they resonated with his message. From there, kennedy went on to win primaries in nebraska. They go on, mccarthy and kennedy , out to western primaries. Mccarthy actually defeats kennedy in the oregon primary. The first time any kennedy had lost an election. And so it comes down to the california primaries. The big prize with the most elegance. Out a narrow victory in early june, the evening after he wins he is at the Ambassador Hotel in los angeles. He takes a shortcut through the kitchen there, and is shot by Sirhan Sirhan and dies a few hours later. I think kennedy coming to indianapolis shows you the part that chance plays in history sometimes. You had all of these things that had to come together to bring indianapolis on april 4 to make those remarks to the crowd at the Broadway Christian Center Following Martin Luther king jr. s death. Words have power. If words spoken sincerely and with meaning, people get it. I think that he had a way, the informed do speech as it might have been was weaved together so well. Like a needle, it pierced the hearts and minds and the soul to make me think deeper about what this was, so it was easy for me to see the change of my emotions from the first one of anger and revenge, moved to remorse to then finally come to an understanding that dr. King realized that the message he was bringing was one that called for sacrifice. Ultimately, the ultimate sacrifice. He understood that. But he also understood that it had to be done. Mr. Kennedy week dedicate we dedicate ourselves to what the greeks wrote so many years ago. S of manthe savagenes and make gentle the light of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much. [crowd cheering] our cities tour staff recently traveled to indianapolis to learn about its rich history. To watch more video from indianapolis and other stops on our tour, visit cspan. Org citiestour. You are watching American History tv all weekend every weekend on cspan3. In the third of a threepart program, we look to the night teen 981990 nine impeachment of president bill clinton with alexis simendinger. She covered the impeachment with National Journal and now is with the hill newspaper. We then show portions of the senate trial, which took place over five weeks in january and february of 1999. President clinton was tried on two articles of impeachment and acquitted on both. A two thirds vote of guilty was necessary in order to convict. Do you solemnly swear that in all things pertaining to the impeachment of