against a sitting president. bobby was insecure. bobby was riddled with doubts. but his wife believed that he was a great man fulfilling his destiny and he ought to be president. ethel hangs a sheet out of hickory hill. she gets the kids to paint on the sheet, run bobby run. on march 16th, 1968 robert kennedy addresses the nation from the very same room on capitol hill where john f. kennedy announced his candidacy eight years earlier. i run for the presidency because i want the democratic party and the united states of america to stand for hope instead of despair. ethel, she believes that this would be the first stepping stone of getting the white house restored rightfully to the kennedy family. and that was hard for jackie to
me know how much we all loved him and that he returned that love in full measure. jackie is being pulled deeper and deeper into her depression, and she s pulling bobby with her in some ways. bobby was attorney general. he had been the closest thing america had ever seen to a co-president. but he became an outsider from the moment his brother died and lyndon johnson, the guy he despi despised, took the oath of office. in the white house bobby sees jack kennedy s rocking chair in the hallway. it s a reminder to him that power has passed. you know, my father would take long walks alone with the dogs. and you know, he was clearly he was shattered. overcome by grief, bobby
kennedy is turning against the war. kennedy said all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the error. the only sin is pride. bobby was being seen increasingly as a figure around whom the left could rally if it s going to challenge lyndon johnson. in 1968 there s a meeting at bobby kennedy s house to discuss the possibility of him running for the presidency. at that time he was having this debate within himself. he didn t want to be seen as just running against lyndon johnson aught of bout of bitter. i caught you, daddy. also, he knew enough about politics that it s hard to run
and his family. jackie lived in georgetown for a period of time after the assassination. but it was difficult for her. there were tour buses coming through. there was no privacy. bobby was there acting as a surrogate dad to john jr. and to caroline. he was there so that jackie could lean on him. bobby and jackie become incredibly close. they spend late afternoons together talking about jfk and wondering about what kind of world would have let him die. with bobby and ted by her side jackie addresses the nation and the world, giving thanks for hundreds of thousands of supportive messages. the warmth of these tributes is something i shall never forget. whenever i can bear to i read them. all his bright light gone from the world. all of you who have written to
envelop envelopes. it was fun. even jackie hit the campaign trail. is this your first visit to the campaign headquarters? yes, it is. i just got to new york yesterday. jackie felt an obligation to campaign for bobby. she sets out with little son john jr. on her hand. but the crowds and the paparazzi are just overwhelming. it was incredibly painful for her to be playing a role and to watch what was going on. jackie is seriously in trouble. psychologically. she hides it well. but she s suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. she couldn t handle it. and so she didn t campaign any more. that was it.