57 Years Ago Today a Man Died and the Trajectory of America Changed
Bobby Kennedy was assassinated on June 5th, 1968.
Much of this column was published last year around this time. I think I will publish some version of this column every year because of the significance of that day and this event. I wrote in my D-Day column that it was one of the two columns posted here that made me tear up. This one is the other. If you are an American, I challenge you to watch the videos of the funeral train and not feel deeply moved. Please find the time to watch them.
Here is what was published June 2022
55 years ago this past week, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. The hope and vision he had for America died with him. Looking back, I have long felt that the trajectory of America would have been entirely different if he had lived, won the presidency, and lived a long and natural life.
Think about it. Kennedy had just won the California primary. He had the delegates and the momentum to win the Democratic nomination two months later in Chicago. His assassination resulted in the Chicago Democratic Convention with the police riots, Nixon winning the presidency, the Viet Nam War continuing for another six years, Watergate, the Ford presidency, the economically sideway 1970s and who knows what else.
We all know how embittered and poorly treated the returning Viet Nam veterans were received in the 1970s. The country had already started to turn against the war in 1968 [that was the year that Walter Cronkite told the country that the war could not be won]. If Kennedy had won, he would have most likely ended the war by 1970 and the veterans might have returned to a more positive reception.
If you don’t agree with me, please watch the videos about Senator Kennedy’s funeral train below and tell me who today would have made people of all classes and races stand for hours to pay their last respects for the man whose vision they honored and embraced that day.
It had been personal for me. In early 1968, I was a student at Syracuse University. I cut my hair and was part of the “come clean for Gene” [if that doesn’t mean anything to you, look it up] a massive group of young people who canvassed door to door for the only peace candidate at the time, Gene McCarthy. Then Bobby got into the race. As Senator from New York, he traveled the state at the beginning of his campaign. He came to SU and spoke on campus. I got to shake his hand and decided he had a better chance than McCarthy to win the presidency. I volunteered for his campaign.
In April of 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis. Riots ensued. When Bobby heard the news, he happened to be campaigning in a black neighborhood in Indianapolis and promptly gave an off-the-cuff speech on the hood of a car. That speech is now regarded as one of the great speeches by a politician in the 20th century[ see below].
I revered and respected Dr. King. Along with two friends from Syracuse, we drove 18 hours nonstop to get to Atlanta the morning of Dr. King's funeral. We stood outside the Ebenezer Baptist Church listening to the loudspeakers transmitting the funeral service inside, [no jumbotrons back then] attended by leaders and politicians worldwide.
After the funeral, the casket was going to be taken to Morehouse College for a second service. It was a hot and humid day with temperatures in the 90s, as Atlanta can be in April. This meant that many people ended up being driven to the college. Those that wanted to honor Dr. King, as I did, decided to walk the miles in the heat.
The walking route went through some middle-class black neighborhoods. Many of the residents has set up card tables in front of their houses to give out cups and bottles of cold water to the marchers who were honoring Dr. King. I stopped a couple of times to get some water as it was so hot. At one table of water bottles, there was the then mayor of New York City John Lindsey, walking by himself looking every bit the movie star in person.
A bit further on I was walking when I felt someone bump my arm with an elbow and a woman’s voice said “I have an extra bottle of water, would you like one?” I turned to see Ethel Kennedy offering me a bottle of water. Ethel Kennedy! Walking next to me! I was dumbfounded. I took the water and thanked her. I then of course saw that her husband was holding her other hand. I leaned forward and said something to Senator Kennedy like “ I am a volunteer for your campaign in Syracuse, good luck!” . He then said “Thank you, but today we don’t talk politics, we are honoring Dr. King”
I then realized the presence of Roosevelt Grier [ if that name means nothing to you, watch the video below] a massive, tall man staring at me as I was speaking to the Senator. That was the ONLY security that Kennedy had in a very public place for the entire march. This was 1968, one of the most disruptive years in history and the leading candidate for president had an NFL lineman as his only security. Compare that to the now common vision of a president being transported in a line of black SUV’s that are armored. That in itself points to how much America has changed, I am sure in part to the assassination.
So, when I watched in horror that Bobby was shot, it was deeply upsetting and deeply depressing. The good ones get taken.
Every few years I watch videos of the funeral train and weep. Weep at what could have been. What could have been a totally different trajectory for our country than the one we have travelled since then. Look at the people standing in respect. Look at the poor, the blacks, the whites the affluent, the young and the old standing as one to honor the death of what might have been. See if you can even think of a politician today who might trigger such a response. I can’t, which is the point of this column.
Listen to Bobby’s speech and tell me the name of any politician alive today who could courageously, spontaneously and eloquently stand on top of a car and tell people that their hero has been slain.
The videos below document a moment in time when what could have been was taken away, forever.
For those that weren’t alive or too young to remember 1968, here is some background
Thank you. It was also heart-felt. Thank you for enjoying what I write!!
Thank you for grounding us in importance. Your reflections are vital as we confront these 'interesting' times.