Robert F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy (November 20, 1925 - June 6, 1968) was an American politician. He was the brother of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy was the seventh of nine children, reasoning in his later years that one would have to struggle to survive coming that far down the line. He was the shyest of his siblings, often the subject of ridicule by the group. He was disregarded by his father who paid more attention to his older brothers John and Joe. After Joe's death, Kennedy was not necessarily affected by the passing of his brother but rather the grief that he saw on the part of his father and questioned his faith afterward, though as a result of the passing gained a higher ranking within the family patriarchy.

Kennedy worked on his brother's presidential campaign in 1960. His behind-the-scenes tactics were designed to make his brother more appealing while at the same time diminishing the public approval of the other candidates. Within the Democratic primary, Kennedy was able to summon Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. to attack JFK's competitor Hubert Humphrey as a draft dodger. Supporters of another competitor, Lyndon B. Johnson, claimed that JFK had Addison's disease, a charge that was correct as a diagnosis had indeed been made. Kennedy however claimed his brother had never been found to have the illness.

John F. Kennedy went on to win the presidential election and after a period of reluctance appointed his brother Attorney General. The appointment received criticism from The New York Times, leading JFK to joke that he was giving his brother some experience.

As Attorney General, Robert Kennedy was involved with cracking down on organized crime, continuing his pursuits of Jimmy Hoffa and forming what was called a "Get Hoffa" squad. Kennedy had active involvement in matters relating to civil rights, predicting in 1961 that an African-American could become president as his brother had within the next forty years based on the fast progression of the country. RFK's family backed Barack Obama in 2008 who went on to become the first African-American President of the United States.

Brother's assassination, Johnson presidency
While his brother was away in Dallas, Kennedy ate with aides until receiving a call from J. Edgar Hoover informing him that his brother had been shot, Kennedy later stating that not only did Hoover have no emotion in delivering the news but seemed to be satisfied with informing him. Kennedy arranged for his brother's cabinets to be locked so the Vice President could not mess with them and spoke with Johnson over the phone, agreeing that he should take the oath of office as soon as possible. After his brother's assassination, he comforted his wife Jacqueline. There are rumors of an affair between the two, though it is generally agreed amongst commentators that the pair did become closer as a result of the killing, Jacqueline coming to view RFK as being the least similar to his father of the Kennedy brothers.

Kennedy largely remained out of policy in his months as Attorney General under the Johnson administration, not having the same power that he did before despite Johnson assuring him in recorded phone conversations that he was an important member of the cabinet. Kennedy was touted as a potential vice presidential candidate for President Johnson in the 1964 presidential election, Kennedy's base of support coming amongst a large part of Democratic voters and even rivaling the number of Democrats that even wanted Johnson for president to begin with. Johnson however, was not interested in having Kennedy as his running mate and selected Hubert Humphrey as opposed to him. Johnson would later explain that he was dismayed by RFK taking on the role of a "custodian" to the legacy of President Kennedy and that he would have been more successful if he waited his turn to run for president.

Kennedy announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate after leaving the Johnson administration, receiving support from the incumbent president who disregarded their shared animosity when campaigning alongside him. Kennedy made use of his nephew John Jr. during photo ops harkening back to President Kennedy. RFK was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 1964. After becoming a senator, Kennedy strayed away from voicing his disagreements with President Johnson on the continuing Vietnam War, the conflict having risen to new heights since the end of the Kennedy administration.

Presidential campaign
RFK announced his presidential campaign on March 16, 1968 while in the Caucus Room of the Senate office building, the setting being the same as that of his older brother JFK's announcement for president. Kennedy stated that he was running to propose new ideas and within days of his announcement, President Johnson withdrew from the race. On May 7, Kennedy won the Indiana primary. On May 14, Kennedy scored another victory in Nebraska. Two weeks later, however, Kennedy lost in Oregon.

On the midnight of June 5, Kennedy was confirmed the winner of the California primary. At the time of the confirmation, Kennedy was with supporters in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, addressing them with a thanks for their support and insisting that they would be off to Chicago to win the nomination before departing for an exit through the kitchen. Just as Kennedy shook hands with busboy Juan Romero, Sirhan Sirhan opened fire, Kennedy being struck three times and thus being among the six people shot. His assassination propelled Jacqueline to fear for the lives of her and her children.

Aftermath
Kennedy's death had lingering effects on the Kennedy family, contributing to his brother Ted's belief that he would be killed eventually via assassination (though this would not be the case), that America was out to kill Kennedys for Jacqueline Kennedy who married Aristotle Onassis out of fear, and meant the loss of a father figure for both Caroline and John Jr., the children of President Kennedy.

There has been consistent debate on whether he would have won the nomination after the California victory and gone on the win the general election match up against Richard Nixon, who was said to have benefited from Kennedy's death as supporters of his transitioned to voting for the Republican and thus his killing has been cited as one of the reasons the Democratic Party lost the 1968 presidential election.

Legacy
In 2008, Hillary Clinton invoked Kennedy's assassination when reasoning why she was still in the presidential race against Barack Obama, her comments drawing controversy for possibly suggesting that she was expecting him to be killed or suffer some bad fate. Responding to the comments, Obama insisted that they were taken out of context and were the result of a person being on the campaign trail for an extended period of time.

Attorney General Eric Holder, one of Kennedy's successors, said the latter contributed to his view that the Justice Department could be used for good.