In His Own Right

by Palermo, Joseph A.

• ISBN13: 9780231120692
• ISBN10: 0231120699
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Robert Kennedy's role in American politics during the 1960s was pivotal yet has defied attempts to define it. He was a junior senator from New York, but he was also much more. The public perceived him as possessing the intangible qualities of his brother, the slain president. From 1965 to 1968 Kennedy struggled to find his own voice in national affairs.In His Own Rightexamines this crucial period of Robert Kennedy's political career, combining the best of political biography with a gripping social history of the social movements of the 1960s. How did Kennedy make the transformation from cold warrior to grassroots activist, from being a political operator known for ruthlessness toward his opponents to becoming, by 1968, a "tribune of the underclass"? Based on never before seen documents, this intimate portrait of one of the most respected politicians never elected president describes Robert Kennedy's relationship with such well-known activists and political players as Benjamin Spock, Eugene McCarthy, Allard Lowenstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Cesar Chavez, as well as the ordinary men and women who influenced Kennedy's views as he came to stand in the public arena and in the national consciousness as a man and a leader in his own right.

Author Biography

Joseph A. Palermo has written for Peace and Change and other journals. He teaches at Cornell University and Colgate College

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Prologue: The Odyssey Begins	1	(7)
On His Own: Kennedy's Evolving Critique of the War, May 1965-February 1966	8	(24)
A Slow Path to Peace: Kennedy Calls for a Negotiated Settlement, March 1966-March 1967	32	(25)
At the Center of the Storm: Kennedy and the Shifting Political Winds of 1967	57	(20)
``The Hottest Place in Hell'': Kennedy, the Democrats, and the McCarthy Candidacy	77	(23)
The Collapse of the Myths: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Tet Offensive, January-February 1968	100	(17)
The Breaking Point: Kennedy Responds to Tet, February 8, 1968	117	(13)
Fifteen Days in March: Kennedy Challenges Johnson, March 1968	130	(31)
Civil Rights and the Urban Rebellions: Kennedy, King, and the Politics of Race, 1965-1968	161	(27)
Building a Coalition: Kennedy and the Primaries, March 16-May 28, 1968	188	(32)
California: Kennedy's Last Campaign, May 1-June 6, 1968	220	(30)
Conclusion: A Potential Unrealized	250	(9)
Notes	259	(64)
Bibliography	323	(14)
Index	337