Person

Robert F. Kennedy

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Overview

Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968, when he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Like his brothers John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, he was a prominent member of the Democratic Party and is an icon of modern American liberalism. Kennedy was born into a wealthy, political family in Brookline, Massachusetts. After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946, Kennedy returned to his studies at Harvard University, and later received his law degree from the University of Virginia. He began his career as a correspondent for The Boston Post and as a lawyer at the Justice Department, but later resigned to manage his brother John's successful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1952. The following year, he worked as an assistant counsel to the Senate committee chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy. He gained national attention as the chief counsel of the Senate Labor Rackets Committee from 1957 to 1959, where he publicly challenged Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa over the union's corrupt practices. Kennedy resigned from the committee to conduct his brother's successful campaign in the 1960 presidential election. He was appointed United States attorney general at the age of 35, one of the youngest cabinet members in American history. He served as his brother's closest advisor until the latter's assassination in 1963. His tenure is known for advocating for the civil rights movement, the fight against organized crime and the Mafia, and involvement in U.S. foreign policy related to Cuba. He authored his account of the Cuban Missile Crisis in a book titled Thirteen Days. As attorney general, he authorized the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to wiretap Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on a limited basis. After his brother's assassination, he remained in office during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson for several months. He left to run for the United States Senate from New York in 1964 and defeated Republican incumbent Kenneth Keating, overcoming criticism that he was a "carpetbagger" from Massachusetts. In office, Kennedy opposed U.S.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“I thought they'd get one of us, but Jack, after all he'd been through, never worried about it.... I thought it would be me.”
— After hearing that his brother John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, TX, on 22 November 1963, as reported by Ed Guthman in Peter Collier & David Horowitz's The Kennedys: An American Drama (1984), , p. 249
“What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”
— "Extremism, Left and Right," The Pursuit of Justice, pt. 3 (1964)
“Just because we cannot see clearly the end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey. On the contrary, great change dominates the world, and unless we move with change we will become its victims.”
— Farewell statement, Warsaw, Poland, reported in The New York Times (2 July 1964)
“A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.”
— Speech in the United States Senate (9 May 1966)
“Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.”
— "Conflict in Vietnam and at Home" speech at Kansas State University on March 18, 1968 as part of the Alfred M. Landon Lectures on Public Issues.
“Are we like the God of the Old Testament, that we in Washington can decide which cities, towns, and hamlets in Vietnam will be destroyed? Do we have to accept that? I don't think we do. I think we can do something about it.”
— About the Vietnam War, in his last speech at the Senate on the subject

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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Overview

Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968, when he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Like his brothers John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, he was a prominent member of the Democratic Party and is an icon of modern American liberalism. Kennedy was born into a wealthy, political family in Brookline, Massachusetts. After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946, Kennedy returned to his studies at Harvard University, and later received his law degree from the University of Virginia. He began his career as a correspondent for The Boston Post and as a lawyer at the Justice Department, but later resigned to manage his brother John's successful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1952. The following year, he worked as an assistant counsel to the Senate committee chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy. He gained national attention as the chief counsel of the Senate Labor Rackets Committee from 1957 to 1959, where he publicly challenged Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa over the union's corrupt practices. Kennedy resigned from the committee to conduct his brother's successful campaign in the 1960 presidential election. He was appointed United States attorney general at the age of 35, one of the youngest cabinet members in American history. He served as his brother's closest advisor until the latter's assassination in 1963. His tenure is known for advocating for the civil rights movement, the fight against organized crime and the Mafia, and involvement in U.S. foreign policy related to Cuba. He authored his account of the Cuban Missile Crisis in a book titled Thirteen Days. As attorney general, he authorized the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to wiretap Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on a limited basis. After his brother's assassination, he remained in office during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson for several months. He left to run for the United States Senate from New York in 1964 and defeated Republican incumbent Kenneth Keating, overcoming criticism that he was a "carpetbagger" from Massachusetts. In office, Kennedy opposed U.S.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“I thought they'd get one of us, but Jack, after all he'd been through, never worried about it.... I thought it would be me.”
— After hearing that his brother John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, TX, on 22 November 1963, as reported by Ed Guthman in Peter Collier & David Horowitz's The Kennedys: An American Drama (1984), , p. 249
“What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”
— "Extremism, Left and Right," The Pursuit of Justice, pt. 3 (1964)
“Just because we cannot see clearly the end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey. On the contrary, great change dominates the world, and unless we move with change we will become its victims.”
— Farewell statement, Warsaw, Poland, reported in The New York Times (2 July 1964)
“A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.”
— Speech in the United States Senate (9 May 1966)
“Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.”
— "Conflict in Vietnam and at Home" speech at Kansas State University on March 18, 1968 as part of the Alfred M. Landon Lectures on Public Issues.
“Are we like the God of the Old Testament, that we in Washington can decide which cities, towns, and hamlets in Vietnam will be destroyed? Do we have to accept that? I don't think we do. I think we can do something about it.”
— About the Vietnam War, in his last speech at the Senate on the subject

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.