i will never forget bobby kennedy came to attend the services for dr. king. he was one of the few white politicians in america that lilt rally walked more than a mile following dr. king s body. no booing, people cheered him. kennedy then returns to the campaign trail where he continues to face a formidable challenge from mccarthy. on may 28, mccarthy defeats the new york senator in oregon making robert the first kennedy to lose an election. those results represent a setback to my prospects of receiving the presidential nomination of my party. robert kennedy said, i have to win the california primary. if i lose california, i m probably out.
when he runs for president in 1960. i am today announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the united states. he needed a campaign manager that he could trust. obviously, bobby. he managed my 52 campaign. i think he will play a very, i think, helpful role this time. it was the same setup. jack floated above the fray, was the golden prince, talking about great affairs of state. bobby was the guy doing all the tough stuff. disciplining people on the campaign, being angry at reporters. they were well matched. if someone did something malicious to john kennedy in politics, he didn t take it that personally. you would not say that about robert kennedy. if someone crossed him, it was something he would remember. by the time john wins the democratic nomination, robert compiled a number of grudges against lyndon johnson.
there was this forlorn bobby standing up there as the symbol of the nation s loss. that ovation ran about 12 minutes. it was the last word. you may have just nominated president johnson, but we all miss and long for john f. kennedy. we must look to the future. what has been started four years ago, it has to be sustained, if that s to be continued. robert kennedy felt if he wasn t vice-president, he would like to be senator. with his younger brother ted representing massachusetts, robert decides to run in new york. he was the most unlikely political leader in a sense that he didn t have that kind of gift for oratory and the great style that his brother, president kennedy, had. combine that with the fact that he was in this profound
we re here to enforce it. it s as simple as that. the long march toward equality has begun. they test a decision desegregating inter-state bus travel. freedom riders ride south to goad local officials to enforce the ruling. they are assaulted by angry mobs. i question their wisdom. i thought they showed courage. the kennedys do have a conscience. the civil rights movement affects them. more bobby than jack. bobby starts to feel the moral imperative to do something about civil rights. how can you say you believe in the constitution of the united states or the declaration of independence if you show by your actions that you feel that one element of your population is inferior to another? when robert sends his friend to alabama to monitor the freedom riots, he is caught up in the violence. i in trying to help two young
i still remember how i felt that grim day, watching robert kennedy s funeral train, as i write in my book the faces of those along the tracks are his legacy, black and white, many of them poor, they believed in him. his bravery elevated national opty mimgs and his death left america with a feeling of shared devastation. where his brother s majestic funeral had a terrible beauty, robert s farewell held no pageantry, only loss. i think my mother was really good about, it happened, live your life and go on. at arlington national cemetery, robert kennedy s grave site reflects none of the splendor of his dreams, instead visitors are placed with a simple plaque and plain white cross of sacrifice and hope.