View source for Robert F. Kennedy

{{Short description|American politician and lawyer (1925–1968)}}
{{Redirect-multi|3|RFK|Robert Kennedy|Bobby Kennedy|other uses|RFK (disambiguation)|and|Robert Kennedy (disambiguation)}}
{{Pp|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Robert F. Kennedy
| image               = Robert F Kennedy cropped.jpg <!--DO NOT CHANGE IMAGE OF KENNEDY UNLESS THERE IS CONSENSUS ON TALK PAGE.-->
| caption             = Kennedy in 1965
| jr/sr               = United States Senator
| state               = [[New York (state)|New York]]
| term_start          = January 3, 1965
| term_end            = June 6, 1968
| predecessor         = [[Kenneth Keating]]
| successor           = [[Charles Goodell]]
| order1              = 64th
| office1             = United States Attorney General
| president1          = {{plainlist|
* [[John F. Kennedy]]
* [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
}}
| term_start1         = January 21, 1961
| term_end1           = September 3, 1964
| predecessor1        = [[William P. Rogers]]
| successor1          = [[Nicholas Katzenbach]]
| deputy1             = {{plainlist|
* [[Byron White]]
* Nicholas Katzenbach
}}
| birth_name          = Robert Francis Kennedy
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1925|11|20}}
| birth_place         = [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1968|6|6|1925|11|20}}
| death_place         = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], U.S.
| death_cause         = [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|Assassination]]
| restingplace        = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Ethel Kennedy|Ethel Skakel]]|1950}}
| relatives           = [[Kennedy family]]
| children            = 11, including {{flatlist|
* [[Kathleen Kennedy Townsend|Kathleen]]
* [[Joseph P. Kennedy II|Joseph II]]
* [[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.|Robert Jr.]]
* [[Michael LeMoyne Kennedy|Michael]]
* [[Kerry Kennedy|Kerry]]
* [[Christopher G. Kennedy|Chris]]
* [[Max Kennedy|Max]]
* [[Douglas Harriman Kennedy|Douglas]]
* [[Rory Kennedy|Rory]]
}}
| parents             = {{plainlist|
* [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]]
* [[Rose Kennedy|Rose Fitzgerald]]
}}
| education           = {{plainlist|
* [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]])
* [[University of Virginia School of Law|University of Virginia]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
}}
| signature           = Robert Kennedy Signature.svg
| allegiance          = United States
| branch              = [[United States Naval Reserve]]
| serviceyears        = 1944–1946
| rank                = [[Seaman apprentice]]
| unit                = {{USS|Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.}}
| battles             = [[World War II]]
| module              = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=1968-04-04 RFK on MLK.ogg|title=Robert F. Kennedy's voice|type=speech|description=Kennedy on the [[assassination of Martin Luther King&nbsp;Jr.]]<br />Recorded April 4, 1968}}
}}

'''Robert Francis Kennedy''' (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known by his initials '''RFK''', 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 [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|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 (United States)|Democratic Party]] and is considered an icon of [[modern American liberalism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tye |first=Larry |year=2017 |title=Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon |location=New York |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-8129-8350-0 |oclc=935987185}}</ref>

Born into the prominent [[Kennedy family]] in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], Kennedy attended [[Harvard University]], and later received his law degree from the [[University of Virginia School of Law|University of Virginia]]. He began his career as a correspondent for ''[[The Boston Post]]'' and as a lawyer at the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]], but later resigned to manage his brother John's successful campaign for the U.S. Senate [[1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|in 1952]]. The following year, Kennedy 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 United States presidential election|1960 presidential election]]. He was appointed United States attorney general at the age of 35, one of the youngest cabinet members in American history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/permanent-exhibits/robert-kennedys-attorney-general-office |title=Robert Kennedy's Attorney General Office  |publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]] |access-date=February 17, 2021}}</ref> Kennedy served as John's closest advisor until the latter's [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination in 1963]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/05/bobby-kennedy-is-he-the-assistant-president|archive-url=https://archive.today/20161221100028/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/05/bobby-kennedy-is-he-the-assistant-president|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 21, 2016|title=Bobby Kennedy: Is He The Assistant President?|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]}}</ref>

Kennedy's tenure is known for advocating for the [[civil rights movement]], the fight against [[organized crime]], and involvement in U.S. foreign policy related to [[Cuba]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2012/10/11/robert-kennedy-papers|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190322231743/https://www.wbur.org/news/2012/10/11/robert-kennedy-papers|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 22, 2019|title=Declassified Papers Provide New Window into RFK's Role As JFK's Closest Adviser}}</ref> He authored his account of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in a book titled ''[[Thirteen Days (book)|Thirteen Days]]''. As attorney general, Kennedy authorized the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) to [[wiretap]] [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] on a limited basis.<ref name="Herst"/> 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 U.S. Senate from [[1964 United States Senate election in New York|New York in 1964]] and defeated [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] incumbent [[Kenneth Keating]], overcoming criticism that he was a "[[Parachute candidate|carpetbagger]]" from [[Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Michael |title=The Presidency A to Z |date=1998 |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |page=284}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bobby-claims-victory-keating-article-1.1991856|title=From the archives: Bobby claims victory over Keating|newspaper=New York Daily News|access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref> In office, Kennedy opposed U.S. involvement in the [[Vietnam War]] and raised awareness of poverty by sponsoring legislation designed to lure private business to blighted communities (i.e., [[Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation|Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration project]]). He was an advocate for issues related to human rights and [[social justice]] by traveling abroad to eastern Europe, Latin America, and [[Day of Affirmation Address|South Africa]], and formed working relationships with Martin Luther King Jr., [[Cesar Chavez]], and [[Walter Reuther]].

In [[Robert F. Kennedy 1968 presidential campaign|1968]], Kennedy became a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency by appealing to poor, African American, [[Hispanic Americans|Hispanic]], [[Catholic Americans|Catholic]], and [[Youth vote in the United States|young voters]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tcf.org/content/report/inclusive-populism-robert-f-kennedy/?session=1|title=The Inclusive Populism of Robert F. Kennedy|last=Kahlenberg|first=Richard|date=March 16, 2018|publisher=The Century Foundation|access-date=September 19, 2018}}</ref> His main challenger in the race was Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]]. Shortly after winning the [[1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries|California primary]] around midnight on June 5, 1968, Kennedy was shot by [[Sirhan Sirhan]], a 24-year-old Palestinian, allegedly in retaliation for his support of Israel following the 1967 [[Six-Day War]]. Kennedy died 25 hours later. Sirhan was arrested, tried, and convicted, though Kennedy's assassination, [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|like his brother's]], continues to be the subject of widespread analysis and [[Robert F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|numerous conspiracy theories]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/us/robert-kennedy-california.html|title=A Campaign, a Murder, a Legacy: Robert F. Kennedy's California Story|last=Arango|first=Tim|work=The New York Times|date=June 5, 2018 |access-date=September 19, 2018}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:RFK BrooklineMass.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Kennedy's birthplace in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]]]]
[[File:Kennedys1939Boston.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Ambassador Joseph Kennedy Sr. visits his sons (Robert, second from right) in [[Boston]] {{Circa|1939}}]]

Robert Francis Kennedy was born outside [[Boston]] in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], on November 20, 1925, to [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]], a politician and businessman, and [[Rose Kennedy|Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy]], a philanthropist and socialite. He was the seventh of their nine children.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] p. 3.</ref> Robert described his position in the family hierarchy by saying, "When you come from that far down, you have to struggle to survive."<ref name=Smith33>{{cite book|title=Bad Blood: Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, and the Tumultuous 1960s|first=Jeffery K.|last=Smith|page=33|year=2010|isbn=978-1452084435|publisher=AuthorHouse}}</ref> His parents were members of two prominent [[History of Irish Americans in Boston|Irish-American]] families that were active in the [[Massachusetts Democratic Party]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Donovan |first1=Robert J. |title=PT-109, John F. Kennedy in World War II |date=1961 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |page=26|quote="His forebears had immigrated from Ireland and acquired political power in the Democratic Party in Massachusetts."}}</ref> All four of Kennedy's grandparents were children of Irish immigrants.<ref name="JFKlibrary.org misc">{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/John+F.+Kennedy+Miscellaneous+Information.htm |title=John F. Kennedy Miscellaneous Information |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=February 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831043852/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Reference%2BDesk/John%2BF.%2BKennedy%2BMiscellaneous%2BInformation.htm |archive-date=August 31, 2009 }}</ref> His eight siblings were [[Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.|Joseph Jr.]], [[John F. Kennedy|John]], [[Rosemary Kennedy|Rosemary]], [[Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington|Kathleen]], [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice]], [[Patricia Kennedy Lawford|Patricia]], [[Jean Kennedy Smith|Jean]], and [[Ted Kennedy|Ted]].<ref>Thomas, p. 30.</ref>

Starting from a solidly middle-class family in Boston, his father amassed a fortune and established [[trust funds]] for his nine children that guaranteed lifelong financial security.<ref name=amex>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/kennedy-wealth/ ''The Kennedy Wealth'']. ''[[American Experience]]''. Boston, Massachusetts: [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]]. 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=John F. Kennedy |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy |website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=July 4, 2023 }}</ref> Turning to politics, Joe Sr. became a leading figure in the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and had the money and connections to play a central role in the family's political ambitions.<ref>Nasaw, David (2012). ''The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy'', Penguin Press, pp. 584, 602–3, 671.</ref> During Robert's childhood, his father dubbed him the "runt" of the family and wrote him off; focusing greater attention on his two eldest sons, Joseph Jr., and John.<ref>Thomas, p. 30.</ref> His parents involved their children in discussions of history and current affairs at the family dinner table. "I can hardly remember a mealtime," Kennedy reflected, "when the conversation was not dominated by what [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] was doing or what was happening in the world...Since public affairs had dominated so much of our actions and discussions, public life seemed really an extension of family life."<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert F. Kennedy |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}{{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Schlesinger Jr. |first1=Arthur M. |title=A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House |date=1965 |page=79}}</ref>  

Kennedy was raised at the [[Kennedy Compound]] in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]]; [[La Querida (mansion)|La Querida]] in [[Palm Beach, Florida]]; and [[Bronxville, New York]]; as well as [[London]], where his father served as the [[U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St James's|U.S. ambassador to the Court of St James's]] from 1938 to 1940.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Kennedy |url=https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/robert-f-kennedy |website=History.com|date=August 28, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shesol |first1=Jeff |title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade |date=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=4}}</ref> When the Kennedy family returned to the United States just before the outbreak of World War II in Europe,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Palermo |first1=Joseph A. |title=Robert F. Kennedy and the Death of American Idealism |date=2008 |page=12}}"In late September 1939, Ambassador Kennedy remained in England, but he sent Robert and the rest his family back to the United States"</ref> Robert was shipped off to an assortment of boarding schools in [[New England]]: [[St. Paul's School (New Hampshire)|St. Paul's]], a Protestant school in [[Concord, New Hampshire]];<ref name="RFK: A Memoir | Jack Newfield | August 27, 2003">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m9m6b9i8SQQC&q=robert+kennedy+st.+paul's+school+episcopalian&pg=PA44 |title=RFK |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821124759/https://books.google.com/books?id=m9m6b9i8SQQC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=robert%2Bkennedy%2Bst.%2Bpaul%27s%2Bschool%2Bepiscopalian&source=bl&ots=ZqIPrW-plq&sig=cmankTNYKL_fffdnxClm-uYSssU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KTVqUbr8CY21ywGEhICADQ&ved=0CCwQ6AEwADgU |archive-date=August 21, 2016 |url-status=dead |isbn=9780786749171 |last1=Newfield |first1=Jack |date=June 17, 2009 |publisher=PublicAffairs }}</ref> [[Portsmouth Abbey School|Portsmouth Priory]], a [[Benedictine]] Catholic school in [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island]];<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] pp. 30, 41.</ref><ref>Thomas, pp. 29–30.</ref> then, in September 1942, to [[Milton Academy]], a preparatory school near Boston in [[Milton, Massachusetts]], for 11th and 12th grades.<ref>Thomas, p. 37.</ref> Kennedy graduated from Milton in May 1944.<ref>Tye, p. xix.</ref> Kennedy later said that, during childhood, he was "going to different schools, always having to make new friends, and that I was very awkward ... [a]nd I was pretty quiet most of the time. And I didn't mind being alone."<ref name=Schlesinger21-23>Schlesinger, pp. 21–23.</ref>

At Milton Academy, Kennedy met and became friends with [[David Hackett]]. Hackett admired Kennedy's determination to bypass his shortcomings, and remembered him redoubling his efforts whenever something did not come easy to him, which included athletics, studies, success with girls, and popularity.<ref name=Mills34>Mills, pp. 34–35.</ref> Hackett remembered the two of them as "misfits", a commonality that drew him to Kennedy, along with an unwillingness to conform to how others acted even if doing so meant not being accepted. He had an early sense of virtue; he disliked dirty jokes and bullying, once stepping in when an upperclassman tried bothering a younger student.<ref name=Thomas37-40>Thomas, pp. 37–40.</ref> The headmaster at Milton would later summarize that he was a "very intelligent boy, quiet and shy, but not outstanding, and he left no special mark on Milton".<ref name=Smith33 />

As a teenager, Kennedy secured a [[clerk|clerking]] job at the same [[East Boston]] bank where his father had once worked.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oppenheimer |first1=Jerry |title=The Other Mrs. Kennedy: An Intimate and Reevaling Look at the Hidden Life of Ethel Skakel Kennedy |date=1995 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=137}}</ref><ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] p. 42.</ref> Kennedy was bored by the drudgery, though he enjoyed taking the [[MBTA subway|Boston subway]] and encountering, for the first time, "[[Average Joe|common folk]]". He began to notice inequity in the wider world. On a trip to the family's home in Hyannis Port, Kennedy began questioning his father about the poverty he glimpsed from the train window. "Couldn't something be done about the poor people living in those bleak tenements?" he asked.<ref>Thomas, p. 39, 55.</ref><ref>Joseph P. Kennedy Papers (August 1943). ''John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum''.</ref>

==Naval service (1944–1946)==
Six weeks before his 18th birthday in 1943, Kennedy enlisted in the [[United States Navy Reserve|United States Naval Reserve]] as a [[seaman apprentice]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/~/link.aspx?_id=ED4C953D8ECF46D9966C0AC50D254FEA&_z=z |title=Ready Reference: Information about Robert F. Kennedy |publisher=jfklibrary.org |date=April 14, 2013 |access-date=April 14, 2013 |archive-date=July 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720140407/https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/~/link.aspx?_id=ED4C953D8ECF46D9966C0AC50D254FEA&_z=z |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was released from active duty in March 1944, when he left Milton Academy early to report to the [[V-12 Navy College Training Program]] at [[Harvard College]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] from March to November 1944. He was relocated to [[Bates College]] in [[Lewiston, Maine]] from November 1944 to June 1945,<ref>{{Cite web|title = July 1943: The Navy arrives {{!}} 150 Years {{!}} Bates College|url = http://www.bates.edu/150-years/months/july/navy-arrives/|website = www.bates.edu| date=March 22, 2010 |access-date = December 14, 2015}}</ref> where he received a specialized V-12-degree along with 15 others.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Robert F. Kennedy: His Life|last = Evans|first = Thomas|publisher = Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition|year = 2002|location = Ladd Library, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine|page = 35}}</ref> During the college's [[Bates College traditions|winter carnival]], Robert built a snow replica of a Navy boat.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.bates.edu/news/2017/11/29/whats-in-a-lewiston-name-kennedy/|title=What's in a Lewiston Name: Kennedy|date=November 29, 2017|access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite book|title = The Architecture of Bates College|last = Stuan|first = Thomas|publisher = Bates College|year = 2006|location = Ladd Library, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine|page = 19}}</ref> He returned to Harvard in June 1945, completing his post-training requirements in January 1946.<ref name="Walter Isaacson">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RKzUqXc3BHgC&q=bobby+kennedy+Portsmouth+Priory+School&pg=PA285 |title=Profiles in Leadership: Historians on the Elusive Quality of Greatness |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |author=Walter Isaacson |date=October 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821132649/https://books.google.com/books?id=RKzUqXc3BHgC&pg=PA285&lpg=PA285&dq=bobby%2Bkennedy%2BPortsmouth%2BPriory%2BSchool&source=bl&ots=VK_i4q8FJB&sig=N8tSyjGVZnBB-JGhjc9Aey89Dns&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kUtqUb2xNerQyAGFloHwAw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAjgK |archive-date=August 21, 2016|url-status=dead|isbn=9780393340761|author-link=Walter Isaacson }}</ref>

Kennedy's oldest brother Joseph Jr. died in August 1944,<ref>New York Times, August 15 and 17, 1944 (announcement of Kennedy's death) and October 25, 1945 (detailed account of the mission)</ref> when his bomber exploded during a volunteer mission known as [[Operation Aphrodite]]. Robert was most affected by his father's reaction to his eldest son's passing. He appeared completely heartbroken, and his peer Fred Garfield commented that Kennedy developed depression and questioned his faith for a short time. After his brother's death, Robert gained more attention, moving higher up the family patriarchy.<ref name=Thomas44>Thomas, p. 44.</ref> On December 15, 1945, the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] commissioned the destroyer {{USS|Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.}}, and shortly thereafter granted Kennedy's request to be released from naval-officer training to serve aboard ''Kennedy'' starting on February 1, 1946, as a seaman apprentice on the ship's [[shakedown cruise]] in the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]].<ref name="Walter Isaacson"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/maritime/jpk.htm | title =USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. | author =U.S. National Park Service | publisher =nps.gov| author-link =U.S. National Park Service }}</ref> On May 30, 1946, he received his [[honorable discharge]] from the Navy.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] p. 61.</ref> For his service in the Navy, Kennedy was eligible for the [[American Campaign Medal]] and the [[World War II Victory Medal]].

==Further study and journalism (1946–1951)==
===College and law school===
Throughout 1946, Kennedy became active in his brother John's campaign for the U.S. House seat vacated by [[James Michael Curley]]; he joined the campaign full-time after his naval discharge. Schlesinger wrote that the election served as an entry into politics for both Robert and John.<ref>Schlesinger, pp. 63–64.</ref> In September, Kennedy entered Harvard as a junior after receiving credit for his time in the V-12 program.<ref name="E.W. Smith | 2010">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyBN758OMhMC&q=bobby+kennedy+1946+enrolled+harvard&pg=PA25 |title=Athletes Once: 100 Famous People Who Were Once Notable Athletes |access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821133948/https://books.google.com/books?id=LyBN758OMhMC&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=bobby%2Bkennedy%2B1946%2Benrolled%2Bharvard&source=bl&ots=xPpf0zYLKz&sig=4pudbHwIf2rNPiMgdKEo8rbs1HM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KFZqUdH5I4i2yAHdroGwDw&ved=0CGIQ6AEwBg |archive-date=August 21, 2016 |url-status=dead |isbn=9781611790689 |last1=Smith |first1=E. W. Jr |date=December 6, 2010 |publisher=Fireship Press }}</ref> He worked hard to make the [[Harvard Crimson football|Harvard Crimson]] football team as an [[end (American football)|end]]; he was a starter and scored a [[touchdown]] in the first game of his senior year before breaking his leg in practice.<ref name="E.W. Smith | 2010"/> He earned his [[varsity letter]] when his coach sent him in wearing a cast during the last minutes of a game against [[Yale Bulldogs football|Yale]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3i4KOu7MiEC&q=Robert+Kennedy+yale+game+cast&pg=PA208 |title=Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession |first=Mark F. |last=Bernstein |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |date=August 22, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821134155/https://books.google.com/books?id=n3i4KOu7MiEC&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=Robert%2BKennedy%2Byale%2Bgame%2Bcast&source=bl&ots=jNyNn734Wv&sig=2YBPJvdcOJ4mAqM1dEXp0SnyIKc&hl=en&ei=IpHBTvbNMYr20gGTrbzSBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAg |archive-date=August 21, 2016 |url-status=dead |isbn=0812236270 }}</ref> Kennedy graduated from Harvard in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in [[political science]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.gov/ag/aghistpage.php?id=63 | title =Robert Francis Kennedy Sixty-Fourth Attorney General 1961–1964 | author =U.S. Department of Justice | date =November 24, 2022 | publisher =justice.gov| author-link =U.S. Department of Justice }}</ref>

In September 1948, he enrolled at the [[University of Virginia School of Law]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/kennedys/2/ | title =Timeline: Generations of the Kennedy Family | author =American Experience | publisher =pbs.org | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821135116/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/kennedys/2/ | archive-date=August 21, 2016| author-link =American Experience }}</ref> Kennedy adapted to this new environment, being elected president of the Student Legal Forum, where he successfully produced outside speakers including [[James M. Landis]], [[William O. Douglas]], [[Arthur Krock]], [[Joseph McCarthy]], and his brother John F. Kennedy. Kennedy's paper on [[Yalta]], written during his senior year, is deposited in the Law Library's Treasure Trove.<ref>Schlesinger, pp. 82–84.</ref> He graduated from law school in June 1951, finishing 56th in a class of 125.<ref name="Fast Facts about Robert F. Kennedy">{{cite web |title=Fast Facts about Robert F. Kennedy |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy/fast-facts-robert-f-kennedy |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum}}</ref>

=== ''The Boston Post'' ===
{{see also|Robert F. Kennedy's 1948 visit to Palestine}}
[[File:RFK 1948 football.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Kennedy (with sisters [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice]] and [[Jean Kennedy Smith|Jean]]) holding a football at the [[Kennedy Compound|family's Massachusetts home]], {{Circa|November 1948}}]]

Upon graduating from Harvard, Kennedy sailed on the {{RMS|Queen Mary}} with a college friend for a tour of Europe and the Middle East, accredited as a correspondent for ''[[The Boston Post]]'', filing six stories.<ref name="Ben-David | Robert Kennedy's 1948 Reports from Palestine | 2008">{{cite web|url=http://jcpa.org/article/robert-kennedys-1948-reports-from-palestine/|title=Robert Kennedy's 1948 Reports from Palestine |publisher=Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs |access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref> Four of these stories, submitted from [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] shortly before the end of the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]], provided a first-hand view of the tensions in the land.<ref name="Ben-David | Robert Kennedy's 1948 Reports from Palestine | 2008"/> He was critical of British policy on Palestine and praised the Jewish people he met there, calling them "hardy and tough." Kennedy predicted that "before too long," the United States and Great Britain would be looking for a Jewish state to preserve a "toehold" of democracy in the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Richard Allen |first=Edwin Guthman |title=RFK – His Words for our Times |year=2018 |isbn=9780062834140 |pages=35–36 |publisher=HarperCollins |language=en}}</ref> He held out some hope after seeing Arabs and Jews working side by side but, in the end, feared that the hatred between the groups was too strong and would lead to a war.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] pp. 73–77.</ref> In June 1948, Kennedy reported on the [[Berlin Blockade]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=DEMOCRATS: Little Brother Is Watching |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,871679-6,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=October 10, 1960}}</ref> He wrote home about the experience: "It is a very moving and disturbing sight to see plane after plane take off amidst a torrent of rain particularly when I was aboard one."<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] p. 80.</ref> In September 1951, a few months after Kennedy graduated from law school, ''The Boston Post'' sent him to [[San Francisco]] to cover the convention that concluded the [[Treaty of San Francisco|Treaty of Peace with Japan]].<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] p. 90.</ref>

==Senate committee counsel and political campaigns (1951–1960)==
=== JFK Senate campaign and Joseph McCarthy (1952–1955) ===
In 1951, Kennedy was admitted to the [[Massachusetts Bar Association|Massachusetts Bar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000114|title=KENNEDY, Robert Francis – Biographical Information|website=United States Congress}}</ref><ref name="Fast Facts about Robert F. Kennedy"/> That November, he started work as a lawyer in the Internal Security Division of the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]], which prosecuted espionage and subversive-activity cases. In February 1952, he was transferred to the [[United States Department of Justice Criminal Division|Criminal Division]] to help prepare fraud cases against former officials of the Truman administration before a Brooklyn grand jury.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon|page=22|first=Larry |last=Tye| publisher=Random House|year=2016|isbn=978-0812993349}}</ref><ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] pp. 94.</ref> On June 6, 1952, he resigned to manage his brother John's [[1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|U.S. Senate campaign in Massachusetts]].<ref name="Whitman">{{cite news|title=Robert Francis Kennedy: Attorney General, Senator and Heir of the New Frontier|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1120.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=August 21, 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821221444/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1120.html|archive-date=August 21, 2016}}</ref> JFK's victory was of great importance to the Kennedys, elevating him to national prominence and turning him into a serious potential presidential candidate. John's victory was also equally important to Robert, who felt he had succeeded in eliminating his father's negative perceptions of him.<ref>Thomas, p. 58.</ref>

In December 1952, at his father's behest, Kennedy was appointed by family friend [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] as one of 15 assistant counsel to the [[United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations|U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations]].<ref>Schlesinger (1978) p. 101</ref><ref name="savmappq">{{Cite book|last=Tye|first=Larry|title=Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Legend|publisher=Random House|year=2016|isbn=9780812993349|location=New York|page=68|quote=It is unclear where the rumor began about McCarthy being godfather to Bobby's firstborn, Kathleen. Authors and journalists echoed it enough that they stopped footnoting it, but they continued citing it as the clearest sign of how close Kennedy was to McCarthy. Even Kathleen's mother, Ethel, asked recently whether it was true, said, 'He was. I think he was.' Kathleen, who would enter politics herself and knew firsthand the stigma of being associated with Joe McCarthy, has 'no idea' where the rumor came from but double-checked her christening certificate to confirm that it was false. 'It's bizarro' she says, adding that her actual godfather was Daniel Walsh, a professor at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, Ethel's alma mater, and a counselor to the Catholic poet and mystic Thomas Merton.}}</ref> Kennedy disapproved of McCarthy's aggressive methods of garnering intelligence on suspected communists.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/robert-f-kennedy-climbed-mountain-steepest-article-1.2441643|date=November 20, 2015|newspaper=New York Daily News|title=Robert F. Kennedy climbed the mountain where it was steepest}}</ref> He resigned in July 1953, but "retained a fondness for McCarthy".<ref>Schlesinger (1978) p. 106</ref> The period of July 1953 to January 1954 saw him at "a professional and personal nadir", feeling that he was adrift while trying to prove himself to his family.<ref name=Goduti16>{{cite book|title=Robert F. Kennedy and the Shaping of Civil Rights, 1960–1964|pages=16–17|first=Philip A. Jr.|last=Goduti|year=2012|publisher=McFarland}}</ref> [[Kenneth O'Donnell]] and [[Larry O'Brien]] (who worked on John's congressional campaigns) urged Kennedy to consider running for [[Massachusetts Attorney General]] in 1954, but he declined.<ref>Thomas, p. 69.</ref>

After a period as an assistant to his father on the [[Hoover Commission]], Kennedy rejoined the Senate committee staff as chief counsel for the Democratic minority in February 1954.<ref>Schlesinger (1978) p. 109.</ref> That month, McCarthy's chief counsel [[Roy Cohn]] subpoenaed [[Annie Lee Moss]], accusing her of membership in the Communist Party. Kennedy revealed that Cohn had called the wrong Annie Lee Moss and he requested the file on Moss from the FBI. FBI director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] had been forewarned by Cohn and denied him access, calling Kennedy "an arrogant whippersnapper".<ref name=Hilty86>Hilty, pp. 86–87.</ref> When Democrats gained a Senate majority in January 1955, Kennedy became chief counsel and was a background figure in the televised [[Army–McCarthy hearings]] of 1954 into McCarthy's conduct.<ref>Schlesinger (1978) pp. 113, 115.</ref> The Moss incident turned Cohn into an enemy, which led to Kennedy assisting Democratic senators in ridiculing Cohn during the hearings. The animosity grew to the point where Cohn had to be restrained after asking Kennedy if he wanted to fight him.<ref name=Hilty86 /> For his work on the McCarthy committee, Kennedy was included in a list of Ten Outstanding Young Men of 1954, created by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. His father had arranged the nomination, his first national award.<ref name=Hilty90>Hilty, pp. 90–91.</ref> In 1955, Kennedy was admitted to practice before the [[United States Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite book |date=1968 |title=Official Congressional Directory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78VFAQAAMAAJ&q=%22admitted+to+practice+before+the+United+States+Supreme+Court%2C+1955%22 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=United States Congress, US Government Printing Office |page=107}}</ref>

=== Stevenson aide and focus on organized labor (1956–1960) ===
[[File:Robert Kennedy, Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate's McClellan Committee, giving a briefing to the press about graft in Operating Engineers Union, Washington, D.C.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Kennedy, chief counsel to the [[McClellan Committee|Senate Rackets Committee]], giving a briefing to the press about graft in the [[International Union of Operating Engineers|Operating Engineers Union]], {{circa|January 1958}}]]

Kennedy went on to work as an aide to [[Adlai Stevenson II]] during the [[1956 United States presidential election|1956 presidential election]] which helped him learn how national campaigns worked, in preparation for a future run by his brother, John.<ref>Hilty, pp. 97–98.</ref> Unimpressed with Stevenson, he reportedly voted for incumbent [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref name="leamer2001">{{cite book| title=The Kennedy Men: 1901–1963 | publisher=HarperCollins | last=Leamer |first=Laurence | year=2001 | page=[https://archive.org/details/kennedymen19011900leam/page/378 378] | isbn=0-688-16315-7 | url=https://archive.org/details/kennedymen19011900leam/page/378 }}</ref> Kennedy was also a Massachusetts [[Delegate (American politics)|delegate]] at the [[1956 Democratic National Convention]],<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] p. 130.</ref> having replaced [[Tip O'Neil]] at the request of his brother John, joining in what was ultimately an unsuccessful effort to help JFK get the [[1956 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection|vice-presidential nomination]].<ref>Thomas, p. 404.</ref>

====Senate Rackets Committee====
From 1957 to 1959, he made a name for himself while serving as the chief counsel to the U.S. Senate's [[United States Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management|Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management]] (also known as the Senate Rackets Committee) under chairman [[John L. McClellan]].<ref>Thomas, p. 76.</ref><ref name="jfklibrary.org">{{cite web |title=Robert Kennedy's Attorney General Office |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/permanent-exhibits/robert-kennedys-attorney-general-office |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref> Kennedy was given authority over testimony scheduling, areas of investigation, and witness questioning by McClellan, a move that was made by the chairman to limit attention to himself and allow outrage by organized labor to be directed toward Kennedy.<ref>Phillips, Cabell. "The McClellan-Kennedy Investigating Team". ''The New York Times''. March 17, 1957.</ref> In a famous scene, Kennedy and his brother John (also a member of the Senate Rackets Committee) squared off with [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters|Teamsters Union]] president [[Jimmy Hoffa]] during the antagonistic argument that marked Hoffa's testimony.<ref>Schlesinger (1978) pp. 137–191</ref> Kennedy's investigations convinced him that Hoffa had worked with mobsters, extorted money from employers, and raided Teamster pension funds.<ref>{{cite web |title=RFK's Enemies |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rfk-enemies/ |website=PBS American Experience}}</ref> During the hearings, Kennedy received criticism from liberal critics and other commentators both for his outburst of impassioned anger and doubts about the innocence of those who invoked the [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment]].<ref>Shesol, Jeff. ''Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud That Defined a Decade''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. {{ISBN|0-393-31855-9}}; Richardson, Darcy G. ''A Nation Divided: The 1968 Presidential Campaign''. Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, 2001. {{ISBN|0-595-23699-5}}</ref> Senators [[Barry Goldwater]] and [[Karl Mundt]] wrote to each other and complained about "the Kennedy boys" having hijacked the McClellan Committee by their focus on Hoffa and the Teamsters. They believed Kennedy covered for [[Walter Reuther]] and the [[United Automobile Workers]] (UAW), a union which typically would back Democratic office seekers. Amidst the allegations, Kennedy wrote in his journal that the two senators had "no guts" as they never addressed him directly, only through the press.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Kennedy: His Life|first=Evan|last=Thomas|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2002|isbn=978-0743203296|url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedy00thom}}</ref> Although the Rackets investigations produced few criminal prosecutions, glossy magazines began running glowing spreads: ''Life'' ("Young Man with Tough Questions"<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ID8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22young+man+with+tough+questions%22&pg=PA81 |title=Close-Up: Young Man With Tough Questions|magazine=LIFE|date=July 1, 1957 |publisher=Time Inc |language=en}}</ref>) and the ''Saturday Evening Post'' ("The Amazing Kennedys") helped raise the Kennedy profile.<ref>Thomas, p. 87.</ref> "Two boyish young men from Boston," wrote a ''Look'' magazine reporter, "have become hot tourist attractions in Washington."<ref>{{cite web |title=RFK |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rfk/#transcript |website=PBS American Experience}}</ref> Kennedy left the committee in September 1959 in order to manage his brother's presidential campaign.<ref>"Kennedy Quits as Inquiry Aide". ''The New York Times''. September 11, 1959.</ref> The following year, Kennedy published ''[[The Enemy Within (Kennedy book)|The Enemy Within]]'', a book which described the corrupt practices within the Teamsters and other unions that he had helped investigate.<ref>Thomas, p. 89.</ref>

=== JFK presidential campaign (1960) ===
Kennedy went to work on the [[John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign|presidential campaign]] of his brother, John.<ref name=Thomas88>Thomas, pp. 88–89.</ref> In contrast to his role in his brother's previous campaign eight years prior, Kennedy gave stump speeches throughout the primary season, gaining confidence as time went on.<ref>Hilty, p. 146.</ref> His strategy "to win at any cost" led him to call on [[Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.]] to attack Senator [[Hubert Humphrey]] as a draft dodger; Roosevelt eventually did make the statement that Humphrey avoided service.<ref>{{cite book|title=John F. Kennedy: A Biography|first=Michael|last=O'Brien|pages=453–454|year=2006|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=978-0312357450}}</ref>

Concerned that John Kennedy was going to receive the Democratic Party's nomination, some supporters of Lyndon Johnson, who was also running for the nomination, revealed to the press that John had [[Addison's disease]], saying that he required life-sustaining [[cortisone]] treatments. Though in fact a diagnosis had been made, Robert tried to protect his brother by denying the allegation, saying that John had never had "an ailment described classically as Addison's disease."<ref>Sabato, p. 53.</ref> After securing the nomination, John Kennedy nonetheless [[Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960|chose Johnson]] as his vice-presidential nominee. Robert, who favored labor leader Walter Reuther,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://time.com/3491219/behind-the-picture-jfk-and-rfk-los-angeles-july-1960/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114201919/http://time.com/3491219/behind-the-picture-jfk-and-rfk-los-angeles-july-1960/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2014|title=Head to Head: JFK and RFK, Los Angeles, July 1960|last=Cosgrave|first=Ben|date=May 24, 2014|website=Time Magazine|access-date=March 19, 2018}}</ref> tried unsuccessfully to convince Johnson to turn down the offer, leading him to view Robert with contempt afterward.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/26/reviews/971026.26oshinkt.html |title=Fear and Loathing in the White House| date=October 26, 1997|first=David M.|last=Oshinsky| work=The New York Times | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822202643/https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/26/reviews/971026.26oshinkt.html | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] pp. 206–211.</ref> Robert had already disliked Johnson prior to the presidential campaign, seeing him as a threat to his brother's ambitions.<ref>Thomas, p. 96.</ref>

In October, just a few weeks before the election, Kennedy was involved in securing the release of civil rights leader [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] from a jail in [[Atlanta]].<ref>Thomas, pp. 102–103.</ref> He spoke with Georgia Governor [[Ernest Vandiver]] and later Judge Oscar Mitchell, after the judge had sentenced King for violating his probation when he protested at a whites-only snack bar.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Papers of Martin Luther King Jr. |volume=V: Threshold of a New Decade, January 1959 – December 1960 |year=2005|isbn=978-0520242395|publisher=University of California Press|pages=38–39|first=Martin Luther Jr.|last=King|author-link=Martin Luther King Jr.}}</ref>

==Attorney General of the United States (1961–1964)==
[[File:Cox, Hoover, RFK.jpg|thumb|left|FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] (left), Robert Kennedy (center) and Solicitor General [[Archibald Cox]] (right) at the White House on May 7, 1963]]

After winning the 1960 presidential election, president-elect John F. Kennedy appointed his younger brother as [[United States Attorney General|U.S. attorney general]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Attorney General: Robert Francis Kennedy |url=https://www.justice.gov/ag/bio/kennedy-robert-francis |website=U.S. Department of Justice| date=October 23, 2014 }}</ref> The choice was controversial, with publications including ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[The New Republic]]'' calling him inexperienced and unqualified.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schlesinger |first=Arthur M. Jr.|date=2012 |title=Robert Kennedy and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5L-EeG9djO4C&pg=PA233 |location=New York City |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |page=233 |isbn=978-0-618-21928-5 |author-link=Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.}}</ref> He had no experience in any state or federal court,<ref>{{cite book |last=Schlesinger |first=Arthur M. Jr.|date=2012 |title=Robert Kennedy and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5L-EeG9djO4C&pg=PA233 |location=New York City |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |page=235 |isbn=978-0-618-21928-5 |author-link=Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.}}</ref> causing the president to joke, "I can't see that it's wrong to give him a little legal experience before he goes out to practice law."<ref name="All He Asked">{{cite magazine |title= New Administration: All He Asked|date=February 3, 1961|magazine=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872026,00.html|url-status= dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204202425/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872026,00.html|archive-date=February 4, 2011}}</ref> Pressed by the [[Senate Judiciary Committee]] about his inexperience, Kennedy responded: "In my estimation I think that I have had invaluable experience&nbsp;... I would not have given up one year of experience that I have had over the period since I graduated from law school for experience practicing law in Boston."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shesol |first1=Jeff |title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade |date=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=68}}</ref>

According to [[Bobby Baker]], the Senate majority secretary and a protégé of Lyndon Johnson, president-elect Kennedy did not want to name his brother attorney general, but their father overruled him. At the behest of vice president-elect Johnson, Baker persuaded the influential Southern senator [[Richard Russell Jr.]] to allow a voice vote to confirm the president's brother in January 1961, as Kennedy "would have been lucky to get 40 votes" on a roll-call vote.<ref name="BobbyBaker">{{cite web |url=http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/836424-baker-text.html#document/p203 |title=Doing Business |last1=Baker |first1=Bobby |last2=Ritchie |first2=Donald |date=March 4, 2010|publisher=Senate Historical Office|access-date=November 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>[https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/johnson-lyndon.htm U.S. Senate: About the Vice President | Lyndon Baines Johnson, 37th Vice President (1961-1963)]</ref> The deputy and assistant attorneys general Kennedy chose included [[Byron White]] and [[Nicholas Katzenbach]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schlesinger |first=Arthur M. Jr.|date=2012 |title=Robert Kennedy and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5L-EeG9djO4C&pg=PA233 |location=New York City |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |page=237 |isbn=978-0-618-21928-5 |author-link=Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.}}</ref>

Author James W. Hilty concludes that Kennedy "played an unusual combination of roles—campaign director, attorney general, executive overseer, controller of [[patronage]], chief adviser, and brother protector" and that nobody before him had had such power.<ref>{{cite book|author=James W. Hilty|title=Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QpECR5E7_0C&pg=PA405|year=2000|publisher=Temple University Press|pages=405–9 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822203438/https://books.google.com/books?id=_QpECR5E7_0C&pg=PA405 | archive-date=August 22, 2016|isbn=9781566397667}}</ref> To a great extent, President Kennedy sought the counsel of his younger brother, with Robert being the president's closest adviser and confidant.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert F. Kennedy |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref> Kennedy exercised widespread authority over every cabinet department, leading the [[Associated Press]] to dub him "Bobby—Washington's No. 2-man."<ref name="James W. Hilty 2000 408">{{cite book|first=James W. |last=Hilty|title=Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QpECR5E7_0C&pg=PA408|year=2000|publisher=Temple University Press|page=408|isbn=9781566397667}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Caro |first1=Robert A. |title=[[The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson]] |date=2012 |page=228}}</ref> The president once remarked about his brother, "If I want something done and done immediately I rely on the Attorney General. He is very much the doer in this administration, and has an organizational gift I have rarely if ever seen surpassed."<ref>{{cite book|author=Duncan Watts|title=Dictionary of American Government and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ul7V4hkVPKQC&pg=PA166|year=2010|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|page=166 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822203751/https://books.google.com/books?id=ul7V4hkVPKQC&pg=PA166 | archive-date=August 22, 2016|isbn=9780748635016}}</ref>

===Organized crime and the Teamsters===
[[File:John F. Kennedy signs bills 1961.JPG|thumb|President John F. Kennedy signing anti-crime bills in September 1961. Attorney General Robert Kennedy is in the background.]]
As attorney general, Kennedy pursued a relentless crusade against [[organized crime]] and the [[American Mafia|Mafia]], sometimes disagreeing on strategy with [[Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI Director]] [[J. Edgar Hoover]]. Through speeches and writing, Kennedy alerted the country to the existence of a "private government of organized crime with an annual income of billions, resting on a base of human suffering and moral corrosion". He established the first coordinated program involving all 26 federal law enforcement agencies to investigate organized crime.<ref name="jfklibrary.org"/> The Justice Department targeted prominent Mafia leaders like [[Carlos Marcello]] and [[Joey Aiuppa]]; Marcello was deported to [[Guatemala]], while Aiuppa was convicted of violating of the [[Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Giglio |first1=James |title=The Presidency of John F. Kennedy |date=2006 |pages=146–148}}</ref> In 1961, Kennedy worked to secure the passage of anti-racketeering legislation (Wire Act, Travel Act, and Interstate Transportation of Paraphernalia Act) to prohibit interstate gambling. The [[Federal Wire Act]] specifically targeted the use of [[Wired communication|wire communications]] and sought to disrupt the Mafia's [[gambling]] operations.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Schwartz | first=David | date=September 2010 | title=Not Undertaking the Almost-Impossible Task: The 1961 Wire Act's Development, Initial Applications, and Ultimate Purpose | journal=Gaming Law Review and Economics | volume=14 | issue=7 | pages=533–540 | doi=10.1089/glre.2010.14708| url=https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1120&context=lib_articles}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rothchild |first1=John A. |title=Research Handbook on Electronic Commerce Law |date=2016 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |page=453 |isbn=9781783479924 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_MCDQAAQBAJ&dq=Robert+Kennedy+Wire+Act,+Travel+Act,+and+Interstate+Transportation+of+Paraphernalia+Act&pg=PA453}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Statement of the Honorable Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General of The United States, Before Subcommittee No. 5 of the House Committee on the Judiciary, In Support of Legislation to Curb Organized Crime and Racketeering, May 17, 1961 |url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ag/legacy/2011/01/20/05-17-1961.pdf |website=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]}}</ref> Convictions against organized crime figures rose by 800 percent during his term.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/dec/10/patricia-scotland-robert-kennedy | title=My legal hero: Robert F. Kennedy | work=The Guardian | date=December 10, 2010 | access-date=August 22, 2016 | last=Scotland |first=Patricia | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822205415/https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/dec/10/patricia-scotland-robert-kennedy | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy worked to shift Hoover's focus away from communism, which Hoover saw as a more serious threat, to organized crime.<ref>Hilty, p. 203.</ref> According to [[James Neff]], Kennedy's success in this endeavor was due to his brother's position, giving the attorney general leverage over Hoover.<ref name=npr2015>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/07/06/420595057/vendetta-recalls-the-ruthless-rivalry-between-bobby-kennedy-jimmy-hoffa|title='Vendetta' Recalls The Ruthless Rivalry Between Bobby Kennedy, Jimmy Hoffa|date=July 6, 2015|work=NPR | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822205623/http://www.npr.org/2015/07/06/420595057/vendetta-recalls-the-ruthless-rivalry-between-bobby-kennedy-jimmy-hoffa | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref> Biographer [[Richard Hack]] concluded that Hoover's dislike for Kennedy came from his being unable to control him.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4638275|title=The secrets of J. Edgar Hoover|date=April 12, 2004|work=NBC News |url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822205753/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4638275/ns/dateline_nbc/t/secrets-j-edgar-hoover/ | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref>

He was relentless in his pursuit of Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa, due to Hoffa's known corruption in financial and electoral matters, both personally and organizationally,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall05/slewis/Ch2.html | title =The Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa | author =University of Florida | publisher =jou.ufl.edu | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822210018/http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall05/slewis/Ch2.html | archive-date=August 22, 2016| author-link =University of Florida }}</ref> creating a so-called "Get Hoffa" squad of [[prosecutor]]s and investigators.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-political-blood-feud/2015/07/16/eb3ea120-2030-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html|title=Inside the long-running conflcit between Bobby Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822194431/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-political-blood-feud/2015/07/16/eb3ea120-2030-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html|archive-date=August 22, 2015}}</ref> The enmity between the two men was intense, with accusations of a personal vendetta—what Hoffa called a "blood feud"—exchanged between them.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Hoffa__Jimmy.html | title =Hoffa, James Riddle | first =Jacqueline A. |last=Schmitz | publisher =libraries.psu.edu | url-status=dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130515231606/http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Hoffa__Jimmy.html | archive-date =May 15, 2013 | df =mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kennedy's Role as Attorney General |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/04/archives/kennedys-role-as-attorney-general.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 4, 1964}} "He is charged with conducting a personal vendetta against the [Teamsters'] president, James R. Hoffa."</ref> On July 7, 1961, after Hoffa was reelected to the Teamsters presidency, RFK told reporters the government's case against Hoffa had not been changed by what he called "a small group of teamsters" supporting him.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1961/07/08/page/5/article/robt-kennedy-stands-firm-against-hoffa|title=Robt. Kennedy Stands Firm Against Hoffa|date=July 8, 1961|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Neff |first1=James |title=Vendetta: Bobby Kennedy Versus Jimmy Hoffa |date=2016 |page=229}}</ref> The following year, it was leaked that Hoffa had claimed to a Teamster local that Kennedy had been "bodily" removed from his office, the statement being confirmed by a Teamster press agent and Hoffa saying Kennedy had only been ejected.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1962/09/08/page/4/article/threw-robert-kennedy-from-office-hoffa|title=Threw Robert Kennedy from Office: Hoffa|date=September 8, 1962|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> On March 4, 1964, Hoffa was convicted in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee]], of attempted bribery of a [[Grand jury|grand juror]] during his 1962 conspiracy trial in [[Nashville]] and sentenced to eight years in prison and a $10,000 fine.<ref name=prison>{{Cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-hoffa-15|title=United States v. Hoffa, 367 F.2d 698; Casetext|website=casetext.com}}</ref><ref name="Hoffa">
* Brill, Steven. ''The Teamsters''. Paperback ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. {{ISBN|0-671-82905-X}}.
* Sloane, Arthur A. ''Hoffa''. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1991. {{ISBN|0-262-19309-4}}</ref> After learning of Hoffa's conviction by telephone, Kennedy issued congratulatory messages to the three prosecutors.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1964/03/05/page/1/article/jury-finds-hoffa-guilty|title=3 Teamster Boss Pals Face Term; Dorfman Freed|date=March 5, 1964|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> While on bail during his appeal, Hoffa was convicted in a second trial held in [[Chicago]], on July 26, 1964, on one count of [[Conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]] and three counts of [[mail fraud|mail]] and [[wire fraud]] for improper use of the Teamsters' [[pension fund]], and sentenced to five years in prison.<ref name=prison/><ref>Hoffa was convicted of [[embezzlement|embezzling]] money from a Teamster-run [[pension fund]] and using it to invest in a Florida retirement community. In return, Hoffa had a 45 percent interest in the project, and he and several others received [[bribery|kickbacks]] in the form of "finder's fees" from developers for securing the money. See: Brill, Steven. ''The Teamsters''. Paperback ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979. {{ISBN|0-671-82905-X}}; Sloane, Arthur A. ''Hoffa''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1991. {{ISBN|0-262-19309-4}}</ref> Hoffa spent the next three years unsuccessfully appealing his 1964 convictions, and began serving his aggregate prison sentence of 13 years (eight years for bribery, five years for fraud)<ref name=commuted>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/24/archives/nixon-commutes-hoffa-sentence-curbs-union-role-teamster-served.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 24, 1971|title=Nixon Commutes Hoffa Sentence, Curbs Union Role}}</ref> on March 7, 1967, at the [[United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg|Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary]] in Pennsylvania.<ref name=prison2>{{Cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/hoffa-v-fitzsimmons|title=Hoffa v. Fitzsimmons, 673 F.2d 1345; Casetext|website=casetext.com}}</ref>

===Juvenile delinquency===
In his first press conference as attorney general in 1961, Kennedy spoke of an "alarming increase" in [[juvenile delinquency]]. In May 1961, Kennedy was named chairman of the [[President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime]] (PCJD), with lifelong friend [[David Hackett]] as director. After visits to blighted communities, Kennedy and Hackett concluded that delinquency was the result of racial discrimination and lack of opportunities. The committee held that government must not impose solutions but empower the poor to develop their own. The PCJD provided comprehensive services (education, employment, and job training) that encouraged self-sufficiency.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shesol |first1=Jeff |title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade |date=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=167}}</ref> In September 1961, the Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Offenses Control Act was signed into law.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], pp. 411–412</ref>

===Civil rights===
[[File:Robert Kennedy CORE rally speech2.jpg|thumb|Kennedy speaking to civil rights demonstrators in front of the [[Department of Justice]] on June 14, 1963]]

Kennedy expressed the administration's commitment to civil rights during a May 6, 1961, [[Law Day Address|speech]] at the [[University of Georgia School of Law]]:

{{blockquote|Our position is quite clear. We are upholding the law. The federal government would not be running the schools in Prince Edward County any more than it is running the University of Georgia or the schools in my home state of Massachusetts. In this case, in all cases, I say to you today that if the orders of the court are circumvented, the Department of Justice will act. We will not stand by or be aloof—we will move. I happen to believe that [[Brown v. Board of Education|the 1954 decision]] was right. But my belief does not matter. It is now the law. Some of you may believe the decision was wrong. That does not matter. It is the law.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rfkgeorgialawschool.htm | title=Law Day Address at the University of Georgia Law School | website=American Rhetoric | access-date=23 August 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822211236/http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rfkgeorgialawschool.htm | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref>}}

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover viewed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as an upstart troublemaker,<ref name="american public radio">{{cite news |title= The FBI's War on King|publisher= American Public Radio|url= http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/king/d1.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822211948/http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/king/d1.html | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref> calling him an "enemy of the state".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/2012/02/14/146862081/the-history-of-the-fbis-secret-enemies-list | title =The History of the FBI's Secret 'Enemies' List |work=[[ Morning Edition]] |publisher=[[NPR]] | date =February 14, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822212141/http://www.npr.org/2012/02/14/146862081/the-history-of-the-fbis-secret-enemies-list | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref> In February 1962, Hoover presented Kennedy with allegations that some of King's close confidants and advisers were [[communists]]. Concerned about the allegations, the FBI deployed agents to monitor King in the following months.<ref name=ippppafab >{{cite web | url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/federal-bureau-investigation-fbi| title =Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Struggle for Power – Federal Bureau of Investigation| publisher =Stanford University | access-date =December 3, 2019| date =May 2, 2017}}</ref> Kennedy warned King to discontinue the suspected associations. In response, King agreed to ask suspected communist [[Jack O'Dell]] to resign from the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC), but he refused to heed to the request to ask [[Stanley Levison]], whom he regarded as a trusted advisor, to resign. In October 1963,<ref name=rking /> Kennedy issued a written directive authorizing the FBI to [[wiretap]] King and other leaders of the SCLC, King's civil rights organization. Although Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones "on a trial basis, for a month or so",<ref name="Herst">Herst, Burton (2007). ''Bobby and J. Edgar'', p. 372.</ref> Hoover extended the clearance so that his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.<ref>Herst, Burton, (2007). ''Bobby and J. Edgar'', pp. 372–374.</ref> The wiretapping continued through June 1966 and was revealed in 1968, days before Kennedy's death.<ref name="the atlantic">{{cite news |title= The FBI and Martin Luther King|last= Garrow|first= David J.|author-link= David Garrow|date= July 8, 2002|work= The Atlantic Monthly|url= https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200207/garrow}}</ref> Relations between the Kennedys and civil-rights activists could be tense, partly due to the administration's decision that a number of complaints King filed with the Justice Department between 1961 and 1963 be handled "through negotiation between the city commission and Negro citizens".<ref name=rking>{{cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/kennedy-robert-francis|title=Kennedy, Robert Francis (1925–1968)|publisher=The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University|date=May 31, 2017|access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref>

Kennedy played a large role in the response to the [[Freedom Riders]] protests. He acted after the [[Anniston bus bombing]] to protect the Riders in continuing their journey, sending [[John Seigenthaler]], his administrative assistant, to Alabama to try to calm the situation.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Meacham |first1=Jon |title=John Seigenthaler's Epic Sensibility |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/john-seigenthalers-epic-sensibility |magazine=The New Yorker |date=July 15, 2014}}</ref> Kennedy called the [[The Greyhound Corporation|Greyhound Company]] and demanded that it obtain a coach operator who was willing to drive a special bus for the continuance of the Freedom Ride from Birmingham to Montgomery, on the circuitous journey to Jackson, Mississippi.<ref>Rucker, Walter, Upton James (2007). ''Encyclopedia of American Race Riots''. Greenwood Publishing Press, p. 239.</ref><ref>Thomas, p. 129.</ref> Later, during the attack and burning by a white mob of the [[First Baptist Church (Montgomery, Alabama)|First Baptist Church]] in Montgomery, which King and 1,500 sympathizers attended, the attorney general telephoned King to ask for his assurance that they would not leave the building until the [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]] and [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] he sent had secured the area. King proceeded to berate Kennedy for "allowing the situation to continue". King later publicly thanked him for dispatching the forces to break up the attack that might otherwise have ended his life.<ref>Ayers, Edward. Gould, Lewis. Oshinsky, David. (2008). ''American Passages: A History of the United States: Since 1865'', Vol. 2, Cengage Learning, p. 853.</ref> Kennedy then negotiated the safe passage of the Freedom Riders from the First Baptist Church to Jackson, where they were arrested.<ref>Arsenault, Raymond (2006). ''Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-513674-6}}.</ref> He offered to bail the Freedom Riders out of jail, but they refused, which upset him.<ref>Thomas, p. 130–132.</ref> On May 29, 1961, Kennedy petitioned the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] (ICC) to issue regulations banning segregation, and the ICC subsequently decreed that by November 1, bus carriers and terminals serving interstate travel had to be integrated.<ref>{{cite web |title=History & Culture |url=https://www.nps.gov/frri/learn/historyculture.htm |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

[[File:Photograph of White House Meeting with Civil Rights Leaders. June 22, 1963 - NARA - 194190 (no border).tif|thumb|upright=1.1|Kennedy and Vice President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] meet with civil rights leaders at the White House on June 22, 1963]]

Kennedy's attempts to end the Freedom Rides early were tied to an upcoming summit with [[Nikita Khrushchev]] in Vienna and [[Charles de Gaulle]] in Paris. He believed the continued international publicity of race riots would tarnish the president heading into international negotiations.<ref>Thomas, p. 131.</ref> This attempt to curtail the Freedom Rides alienated many civil rights leaders who, at the time, perceived him as intolerant and narrow-minded.<ref>Thomas, p. 132.</ref> Historian [[David Halberstam]] wrote that the race question was for a long time a minor ethnic political issue in Massachusetts where the Kennedy brothers came from, and had they been from another part of the country, "they might have been more immediately sensitive to the complexities and depth of black feelings".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Halberstam |first1=David |title=The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy |date=1968 |publisher=Random House |page=142}}</ref> In an attempt to better understand and improve race relations, Kennedy held [[Baldwin–Kennedy meeting|a private meeting]] on May 24, 1963, in New York City with a black delegation coordinated by prominent author [[James Baldwin]]. The meeting became antagonistic, and the group reached no consensus. The black delegation generally felt that Kennedy did not understand the full extent of racism in the United States, and only alienated the group more when he tried to compare his family's experience with [[Anti-Irish sentiment|discrimination as Irish Catholics]] to the racial injustice faced by African Americans.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], pp. 332–333.</ref>

In September 1962, Kennedy sent a force of U.S. Marshals, [[U.S. Border Patrol]] agents, and deputized [[Federal Bureau of Prisons|federal prison guards]] to the [[University of Mississippi]], to enforce a federal court order allowing the admittance of the institution's first African American student, [[James Meredith]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2012/093012.htm |title=U.S. Marshals Mark 50th Anniversary of the Integration of 'Ole Miss' |access-date=April 24, 2020 |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523031013/https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2012/093012.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The attorney general had hoped that legal means, along with the escort of federal officers, would be enough to force Governor [[Ross Barnett]] to allow Meredith's admission. He also was very concerned there might be a "mini-civil war" between federal troops and armed protesters.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], pp. 317–320.</ref> President Kennedy reluctantly sent federal troops after the situation on campus turned violent.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Bryant |first= Nick |date=Autumn 2006 |title= Black Man Who Was Crazy Enough to Apply to Ole Miss |journal= The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education |issue= 53 |page= 71}}</ref> The ensuing [[Ole Miss riot of 1962]] resulted in 300 injuries and two deaths,<ref name=npr>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/10/01/161573289/integrating-ole-miss-a-transformative-deadly-riot |title=Integrating Ole Miss: A Transformative, Deadly Riot |work=NPR |date=October 1, 2012 |access-date=March 23, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822214711/http://www.npr.org/2012/10/01/161573289/integrating-ole-miss-a-transformative-deadly-riot | archive-date=August 22, 2016}}</ref> but Kennedy remained adamant that black students had the right to the benefits of all levels of the educational system.

Kennedy saw voting as the key to racial justice and collaborated with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to create the landmark [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which helped bring an end to [[Jim Crow laws]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy|title=Robert F. Kennedy |publisher=JFK Library |access-date=May 3, 2023}}</ref> Throughout the spring of 1964, Kennedy worked alongside Senator [[Hubert Humphrey]] and Senate Minority Leader [[Everett Dirksen]] in search of language that could work for the Republican [[caucus]] and overwhelm the Southern Democrats' [[filibuster]]. In May, a deal was secured that could obtain a two-thirds majority in the Senate—enough to end debate. Kennedy did not see the civil rights bill as simply directed at the South and warned of the danger of racial tensions above the Mason–Dixon Line. "In the North", he said, "I think you have had [[Racial segregation in the United States#In the North|''de facto'' segregation]], which in some areas is bad or even more extreme than in the South", adding that people in "those communities, including my own state of Massachusetts, concentrated on what was happening in Birmingham, Alabama or Jackson, Mississippi, and didn't look at what was needed to be done in our home, our own town, or our own city." The ultimate solution "is a truly major effort at the local level to deal with the racial problem—Negroes and whites working together, within the structure of the law, obedience to the law, and respect for the law."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bohrer |first1=John R. |title=The Revolution of Robert Kennedy: From Power to Protest After JFK |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury |pages=55–56}}</ref>

Between December 1961 and December 1963, Kennedy also expanded the [[United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division]] by 60 percent.<ref>{{cite book| last = Belknap| first = Michal R.| title = Federal Law and Southern Order: Racial Violence and Constitutional Conflict in the Post-Brown South| publisher = University of Georgia Press| series = Studies in the legal history of the South| edition = illustrated, reprinted| date = 1995| page = 72| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IIXxGKEqg_oC | isbn = 9780820317359}}</ref>

===U.S. Steel===
At the president's direction, Kennedy used the power of federal agencies to influence [[U.S. Steel]] not to institute a price increase, and announced a grand jury probe to investigate possible collusion and [[price fixing]] by U.S. Steel in collaboration with other major steel manufacturers.<ref name="time steel">{{cite magazine |title= Smiting the Foe|date=April 20, 1962|magazine=Time|url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,873526,00.html|access-date=June 6, 2018}}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' wrote that the administration had set prices of steel "by naked power, by threats, by agents of the state security police". Yale law professor [[Charles Reich]] wrote in ''[[The New Republic]]'' that the Justice Department had violated [[civil liberties]] by calling a federal grand jury to indict U.S. Steel so quickly, then disbanding it after the price increase did not occur.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], pp. 402–407</ref>

===Berlin===
As one of the president's closest White House advisers, Kennedy played a crucial role in the events surrounding the [[Berlin Crisis of 1961]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://instruct.westvalley.edu/kelly/PoliSci4_on_campus/Online%20Readings/stiles_cuban_missile.htm | title =The Cuban Missile Crisis: Rationality – Case Histories in International Politics |edition=5th | author =Kendall Stiles | publisher =West Valley College }}</ref> Operating mainly through a private, [[backchannel]] connection to Soviet [[GRU (Soviet Union)|GRU]] officer [[Georgi Bolshakov]], he relayed important diplomatic communications between the U.S. and Soviet governments.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://blogs.reuters.com/berlin1961/2011/06/14/kennedys-showdown-at-checkpoint-charlie/ | title =Berlin 1961 Kennedy, Khrushchev and the most dangerous place on Earth Kennedy's showdown at Checkpoint Charlie | first =Frederick |last=Kempe | work =Reuters | date =June 14, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822204203/http://blogs.reuters.com/berlin1961/2011/06/14/kennedys-showdown-at-checkpoint-charlie/ | archive-date=August 22, 2016| url-status=dead | author-link =Frederick Kempe }}</ref> Most significantly, this connection helped the U.S. set up the [[Vienna Summit]] in June 1961, and later to defuse the tank standoff with the Soviets at Berlin's [[Checkpoint Charlie]] in October.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kempe|first=Frederick|title=Berlin 1961|year=2011|publisher=Penguin Group (USA)|isbn=978-0-399-15729-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/478 478–479]|url=https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/478}}</ref><ref>Schlesinger (1978), p. 500.</ref> Kennedy's visit with his wife to West Berlin in February 1962 demonstrated U.S. support for the city and helped repair the strained relationship between the administration and its special envoy in Berlin, [[Lucius D. Clay]].<ref>[[Andreas Daum]], ''Kennedy in Berlin''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-521-85824-3}}, pp. 57–61.</ref>

===Cuba===
[[File:President with Attorney General. President Kennedy, Attorney General Kennedy. White House, Oval Office Doorway. - NARA - 194221.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Robert with his brother John, {{circa|1963}}]]

As his brother's confidant, Kennedy oversaw the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s anti-[[Fidel Castro|Castro]] activities after the failed [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] in [[Cuba]], which included [[Covert operation|covert operations]] that [[Terrorism|targeted Cuban civilians]].<ref name="rabe">{{cite journal |title=After the Missiles of October: John F. Kennedy and Cuba, November 1962 to November 1963 |first=Stephen G. |last=Rabe |year=2000 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=30 |issue=4 |doi=10.1111/j.0360-4918.2000.00140.x |page=724 |quote="But Schlesinger, who deplored Robert Kennedy’s role in Operation Mongoose, conceded that when it came to Cuba, the attorney general was 'ever the activist,' constantly exclaiming that the administration 'must do something about Castro' (p. 543) (...) The Kennedy administration also showed no interest in Castro’s repeated request that the United States cease its campaign of sabotage and terrorism against Cuba."}}</ref> He also helped develop the strategy during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] to blockade Cuba instead of initiating a military strike that might have led to [[nuclear holocaust|nuclear war]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy|title=Robert F. Kennedy |publisher=JFK Library|access-date=}}</ref>

Allegations that the Kennedys knew of plans by the CIA to kill [[Fidel Castro]], or approved of such plans, have been debated by historians over the years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Operation Mongoose |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rfk-operation-mongoose/ |website=[[American Experience]] |publisher=[[PBS]] |quote=A congressional investigation of the CIA later uncovered eight separate plots of varying ridiculousness between 1960 and 1965. But did either John or Robert Kennedy actually order him killed? History will probably never know. The Kennedys knew the meaning of the term 'plausible deniability' all too well, and had been taught the old Boston Irish political rule, 'never write it down'.}}</ref> The "[[Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency)|Family Jewels]]" documents, declassified by the CIA in 2007, suggest that before the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the attorney general personally authorized one such assassination attempt.<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/family_jewels_wh2.pdf January 4, 1975, memorandum of conversation] between President [[Gerald Ford]] and [[Henry Kissinger]], made available by the [[National Security Archive]], June 2007</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070625220052/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F06%2F23%2Fwcia123.xml "CIA's 'family jewels' on show"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', June 23, 2007</ref> But there is evidence to the contrary, such as that Kennedy was informed of an earlier plot involving the CIA's use of Mafia bosses [[Sam Giancana]] and [[John Roselli]] only during a briefing on May 7, 1962, and in fact directed the CIA to halt any existing efforts directed at Castro's assassination.<ref>Schlesinger 2002 (reprint), pp. 493–494.</ref><ref>Thomas, pp. 171–172.</ref> Biographer Thomas concludes that "the Kennedys may have discussed the idea of assassination as a weapon of last resort. But they did not know the particulars of the [[William King Harvey|Harvey]]-Rosselli operation – or want to."<ref>Thomas, p. 159.</ref> Concurrently, Kennedy served as the president's personal representative in [[Operation Mongoose]], the post–Bay of Pigs covert operations program the president established in November 1961.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/old-man-and-cia-kennedy-plot-kill-castro/|title=The Old Man and the CIA: A Kennedy Plot to Kill Castro?|date=March 8, 2001|magazine=The Nation}}</ref> Mongoose was meant to incite revolution in Cuba that would result in Castro's downfall.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs|title=The Bay of Pigs Invasion and its Aftermath, April 1961 – October 1962|publisher=history.state.gov | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823123217/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/bay-of-pigs | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/19/us/declassified-papers-show-anti-castro-ideas-proposed-to-kennedy.html|title=Declassified Papers Show Anti-Castro Ideas Proposed to Kennedy|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Tim|last=Weiner|date=November 19, 1997 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823123351/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/19/us/declassified-papers-show-anti-castro-ideas-proposed-to-kennedy.html | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref>

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Kennedy proved himself to be a gifted politician with an ability to obtain compromises, tempering aggressive positions of key figures in the hawk camp. The trust the president placed in him on matters of negotiation was such that his role in the crisis is today seen as having been of vital importance in securing a [[blockade]], which averted a full military engagement between the United States and the Soviet Union.<ref name="Hayes 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Hayes |first1=Matthew A. |title=Robert Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis: A Reassertion of Robert Kennedy's Role as the President's 'Indispensable Partner' in the Successful Resolution of the Crisis |journal=History |publisher=Wiley |date=May 7, 2019 |volume=104 |issue=361 |pages=473–503 |issn=0018-2648 |doi=10.1111/1468-229x.12815|s2cid=164907501 |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10075581/ }}</ref> On October 27, Kennedy secretly met with Soviet Ambassador [[Anatoly Dobrynin]]. They reached a basic understanding: the Soviet Union would withdraw their missiles from Cuba, subject to [[United Nations]] verification, in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.<ref>{{cite web |title=The World on the Brink: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis |url=https://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct27/ |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref><ref>Thomas, p. 224–231.</ref> Kennedy also informally proposed that the [[PGM-19 Jupiter|Jupiter MRBMs]] in Turkey would be removed<ref name="20210730HershbergAnatomyofaControversy">{{cite journal |last1=Hershberg |first1=Jim |title=Anatomy of a Controversy: Anatoly F. Dobrynin's Meeting With Robert F. Kennedy, Saturday, 27 October 1962 |journal=Cold War International History Project Bulletin |issue=5 |date=Spring 1995 |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/moment.htm |via=The National Security Archive at George Washington University |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210730071109/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/moment.htm |archive-date=July 30, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> "within a short time after this crisis was over".<ref>{{cite book |last=Glover |first=Jonathan |title=Humanity: a moral history of the twentieth century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtqFJVhmuowC |access-date=July 2, 2009 |year=2000 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-08700-0 |page=464 |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727165249/https://books.google.com/books?id=xtqFJVhmuowC |url-status=live }}</ref> On the last night of the crisis, President Kennedy was so grateful for his brother's work in averting nuclear war that he summed it up by saying, "Thank God for Bobby."<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_10_32/ai_66495286 "Clarity Through Complexity"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223120100/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_10_32/ai_66495286 |date=December 23, 2007 }}, October 2000, FindArticles, Retrieved June 10, 2007</ref> Kennedy authored his account of the crisis in a book titled ''[[Thirteen Days (book)|Thirteen Days]]'' (posthumously published in 1969).<ref>Thomas, p. 232.</ref>

===Japan===
At a summit meeting with Japanese prime minister [[Hayato Ikeda]] in Washington D.C. in 1961, President Kennedy promised to make a reciprocal visit to Japan in 1962,<ref name=Kapur50>{{Cite book|last=Kapur|first=Nick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Re5hDwAAQBAJ|title=Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2018|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0674984424|pages=50}}</ref> but the decision to resume atmospheric nuclear testing forced him to postpone such a visit, and he sent Robert in his stead.<ref name=Kapur50/> Kennedy arrived in Tokyo in February 1962 at a very sensitive time in [[U.S.-Japan relations]], shortly after the massive [[Anpo protests]] against the [[U.S.-Japan Security Treaty]] had highlighted anti-American grievances. Kennedy won over a highly skeptical Japanese public and press with his cheerful, open demeanor, sincerity, and youthful energy.<ref name=Kapur50/> Most famously, Kennedy scored a public relations coup during a nationally televised speech at [[Waseda University]] in Tokyo. When radical Marxist student activists from [[Zengakuren]] attempted to shout him down, he calmly invited one of them on stage and engaged the student in an impromptu debate.<ref name=Kapur50/> Kennedy's calmness under fire and willingness to take the student's questions seriously won many admirers in Japan and praise from the Japanese media, both for himself and on his brother's behalf.<ref name=Kapur50/>

=== Assassination of John F. Kennedy ===
[[File:JFK's family leaves Capitol after his funeral, 1963.jpg|thumb|Robert Kennedy at the [[State funeral of John F. Kennedy|funeral]] of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, on November 25, 1963]]

When President Kennedy [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|was assassinated]] in [[Dallas]] on November 22, 1963, Robert Kennedy was at home with aides from the Justice Department. J. Edgar Hoover called and told him his brother had been shot.<ref name=Palmero1-6 /> Hoover then hung up before he could ask any questions. Kennedy later said he thought Hoover had enjoyed telling him the news.<ref>{{cite news |date= January 7, 2006|url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=131457&page=1|title=Robert Kennedy Struggled With JFK's Assassination|publisher=ABC News|access-date= January 17, 2020}}</ref><ref name=Palmero1-6>{{cite book|title=In His Own Right: The Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy|first=Joseph A.|last=Palmero|year=2002|pages=1–6|publisher=Columbia University Press}}</ref> Shortly after the call from Hoover, Kennedy phoned [[McGeorge Bundy]] at the White House, instructing him to change the locks on the president's files. He ordered the Secret Service to dismantle the hidden taping system in the Oval Office and cabinet room. He scheduled a meeting with CIA director [[John McCone]] and asked if the CIA had any involvement in his brother's death. McCone denied it, with Kennedy later telling investigator Walter Sheridan that he asked the director "in a way that he couldn't lie to me, and they [the CIA] hadn't".<ref>Thomas, pp. 276–277.</ref>

An hour after the president was shot, Robert Kennedy received a phone call from the newly ascended President Johnson before Johnson boarded [[Air Force One]]. RFK remembered their conversation starting with Johnson demonstrating sympathy before the president stated his belief that he should be sworn in immediately; RFK opposed the idea since he felt "it would be nice" for President Kennedy's body to return to Washington with the deceased president still being the incumbent.<ref>Sabato, p. 16.</ref> Eventually, the two concluded that the best course of action would be for Johnson to take the [[oath]] of office before returning to Washington.<ref>{{cite book|title=Lyndon B. Johnson|first=Debbie|last=Levy|page=[https://archive.org/details/lyndonbjohnson00levy/page/72 72.]|year=2003|isbn=978-0822500971|publisher=Lerner |url=https://archive.org/details/lyndonbjohnson00levy/page/72}}</ref> In his 1971 book ''We Band of Brothers'', aide [[Edwin O. Guthman]] recounted Kennedy admitting to him an hour after receiving word of his brother's death that he thought he would be the one "they would get" as opposed to his brother.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/24/his-brother-keeper-robert-kennedy-saw-conspiracy-jfk-assassination/TmZ0nfKsB34p69LWUBgsEJ/story.html|title=Robert F. Kennedy saw conspiracy in JFK's assassination|date=November 24, 2013| work=The Boston Globe}}</ref> In the days following the assassination, he wrote letters to his two eldest children, Kathleen and Joseph, saying that as the oldest Kennedy family members of their generation, they had a special responsibility to remember what their uncle had started and to love and serve their country.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy|isbn=978-0-15-100356-3|first=Robert F.|last=Kennedy|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|location=Orlando, Florida|pages=[https://archive.org/details/makegentlelifeof00kenn/page/137 137–139]|editor-first=Maxwell Taylor|editor-last=Kennedy|editor-link=Max Kennedy|url=https://archive.org/details/makegentlelifeof00kenn/page/137|year=1998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Just like her father?|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/1999/07/26/kennedy.townsend.html|date=July 26, 1999|first=Sally B.|last=Donnelly|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=April 6, 2011}}</ref> He was originally opposed to Jacqueline Kennedy's decision to have a closed casket, as he wanted the funeral to keep with tradition, but he changed his mind after seeing the cosmetic, waxen remains.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector|first=James|last=Hilty|page=484|publisher=Temple University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1566397667}}</ref>

The ten-month investigation by the [[Warren Commission]] concluded that the president had been assassinated by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] and that Oswald had acted alone.<ref>Thomas, p. 284.</ref> On September 27, 1964, Kennedy issued a statement through his New York campaign office: "As I said in Poland last summer, I am convinced Oswald was solely responsible for what happened and that he did not have any outside help or assistance. He was a malcontent who could not get along here or in the Soviet Union."<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; September 28, 1964">{{cite news|title=JFK Report Is Approved By Robert|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=m9haAAAAIBAJ&pg=3479%2C4668179|access-date=July 19, 2015|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=September 28, 1964|agency=AP|location=Pittsburgh|page=1}}</ref><ref>Thomas, p. 298.</ref> He added, "I have not read the report, nor do I intend to. But I have been briefed on it and I am completely satisfied that the Commission investigated every lead and examined every piece of evidence. The Commission's inquiry was thorough and conscientious."<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; September 28, 1964" /> After a meeting with Kennedy in 1966, historian [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]] wrote: "It is evident that he believes that [the Warren Commission's report] was a poor job and will not endorse it, but that he is unwilling to criticize it and thereby reopen the whole tragic business."<ref name="Caro">{{cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Caro |date=2012 |title=The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQO5g9pQjDIC&pg=PA574 |publisher= Knopf|pages=574–575 |isbn=9780375713255 |access-date=July 19, 2015}}</ref> According to Soviet archives, [[William Walton (painter)|William Walton]] was sent to the Soviet Union by Robert Kennedy in the days after the assassination of his brother. He was to go there for the purposes of [[cultural diplomacy]] but was also told to meet with Russian diplomat [[Georgi Bolshakov]] and deliver a message. Walton told Bolshakov that Robert and Jackie Kennedy believed there was a conspiracy involved in the killing of President Kennedy and informed him that Robert Kennedy shared the views of his brother in his approach to peace with the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naftali |first1=Timothy |last2=Fursenko |first2=Aleksandr |title=One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964 |date=1997 |publisher=W.W. Norton and Company |pages=344-6}}</ref>

The assassination was judged as having a profound impact on Kennedy. Michael Beran assesses the assassination as having moved Kennedy away from reliance on the political system and to become more questioning.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9806/05/last.patrician/index.html|title=Beran's 'Last Patrician' reconsiders Bobby Kennedy's politics|first=Jamie|last=Allen|date=June 5, 1998}}</ref> Larry Tye views Kennedy following the death of his brother as "more fatalistic, having seen how fast he could lose what he cherished the most."<ref>Tye, p. 314.</ref>

== 1964 vice presidential candidate ==
{{see also|1964 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1964 Democratic National Convention}}
[[File:Robert F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson - 415-10-wh64.jpg|thumb|300px|Kennedy meeting with President Lyndon Johnson at the White House on October 14, 1964]]

=== The "Bobby problem" ===
In the wake of the assassination of his brother and Lyndon Johnson's ascension to the presidency, with the office of [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] now vacant, Kennedy was viewed favorably as a potential candidate for the position in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]] presidential election.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Palermo |first1=Joseph A. |title=In His Own Right: The Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy |date=2001 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=5}}</ref> Johnson faced pressure from some within the Democratic Party to name Kennedy as his running mate, which Johnson staffers referred to internally as the "Bobby problem."<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Dallek |first1=Robert |title=Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973 |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=135–136}}</ref> It was an open secret that they disliked each other,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dallek |first1=Robert |title=Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973 |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=135}}</ref> and Johnson had no intention of remaining in the shadow of another Kennedy.<ref name="Columbia University Press">{{cite book |last1=Palermo |first1=Joseph A. |title=In His Own Right: The Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy |date=2001 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=6}}</ref> At the time, Johnson privately said of Kennedy, "I don't need that little runt to win", while Kennedy privately said of Johnson that he was "mean, bitter, vicious—an animal in many ways."<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 297">A. J. Langguth ''Our Vietnam'' (2000) p. 297</ref><ref>Thomas, p. 292.</ref> An April 1964 [[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]] poll reported Kennedy as the vice-presidential choice of 47 percent of Democratic voters. Coming in a distant second and third were Adlai Stevenson with 18 percent and [[Hubert Humphrey]] with 10 percent.<ref>Schlesinger (1978), p. 652.</ref>

Although Johnson confided to aides on several occasions that he might be forced to accept Kennedy in order to secure a victory over a moderate Republican ticket such as [[Nelson Rockefeller]] and [[George W. Romney|George Romney]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Donaldson |first1=Gary |title=Liberalism's Last Hurrah: The Presidential Campaign of 1964 |date=2003 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |page=111}}</ref> Kennedy supporters attempted to force the issue by running a [[Draft (politics)|draft movement]] during the [[New Hampshire primary]].<ref name=":0" /> This movement gained momentum after Governor [[John W. King]]'s endorsement and infuriated Johnson. Kennedy received 25,094 [[write in]] votes for vice president in New Hampshire, far surpassing Senator Hubert Humphrey, the eventual vice-presidential nominee.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Donaldson |first1=Gary |title=Liberalism's Last Hurrah: The Presidential Campaign of 1964 |date=2003 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |page=186}}</ref> The potential need for a Johnson–Kennedy ticket was ultimately eliminated by the Republican nomination of conservative [[Barry Goldwater]]. With Goldwater as his opponent, Johnson's choice of vice president was all but irrelevant; opinion polls had revealed that, while Kennedy was an overwhelming first choice among Democrats, any choice made less than a 2% difference in a general election that already promised to be a landslide.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Donaldson |first1=Gary |title=Liberalism's Last Hurrah: The Presidential Campaign of 1964 |date=2003 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |pages=187–193}}</ref>

During a post-presidency interview with historian [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]], Johnson claimed that Kennedy "acted like he was the custodian of the Kennedy dream" despite Johnson being seen as this after JFK was assassinated; arguing that he had "waited" his turn and Kennedy should have done the same. Johnson recalled a "tidal wave of letters and memos about how great a vice president Bobby would be," but felt he could not "let it happen" as he viewed the possibility of Kennedy on the ticket as ensuring that he would never know if he could be elected "on my own."<ref name=Sabato269>{{cite book|title=The Kennedy Half-Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy|first=Larry J.|last=Sabato|year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury USA|isbn=978-1620402825|pages=269–271}}</ref> In July 1964, Johnson issued an official statement ruling out all of his current cabinet members as potential running mates, judging them to be "so valuable&nbsp;... in their current posts." In response to this statement, angry letters poured in directed towards both Johnson and his wife, [[Lady Bird Johnson|Lady Bird]], expressing disappointment at Kennedy being dropped from the field of potential running mates.<ref name=Sabato269 />

==== Democratic National Convention ====
As the [[1964 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] approached, Johnson feared that delegates, still swept with lingering emotion over the assassination of JFK, might draft his brother onto the ticket as the vice-presidential nominee. Johnson ordered the FBI to monitor Kennedy's contacts and actions at the convention, and made sure that Kennedy did not speak until after Hubert Humphrey was confirmed as his running mate.<ref name="Columbia University Press"/>

On the last day of the convention, Kennedy introduced a short film, ''A Thousand Days'', in honor of his brother's memory. After Kennedy appeared on the convention floor, delegates erupted in 22 minutes of uninterrupted applause, causing him to nearly break into tears. Speaking about his brother's vision for the country, Kennedy quoted from ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'': "When he shall die, take him and cut him out into the stars, and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun."<ref>A. J. Langguth ''Our Vietnam'' (2000) pp. 311–312</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Donaldson |first1=Gary |title=Liberalism's Last Hurrah: The Presidential Campaign of 1964 |date=2003 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |page=230}}</ref> 
[[File:Robert Kennedy at the 1964 Democratic National Convention (cropped).jpg|thumb|Kennedy at the [[1964 Democratic National Convention]]]]

=== Kennedy's political future ===
In June 1964, Kennedy offered to succeed [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to South Vietnam|U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert F. Kennedy|first=Steven K.|last=Schneider|page=72|year=2001| publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0595137015}}</ref> President Johnson rejected the idea.<ref name="Thomas, p. 293">Thomas, p. 293.</ref> Kennedy considered leaving politics altogether after his brother, Ted Kennedy, suffered a broken back in the crash of a small plane near [[Southampton, Massachusetts]], on June 19.<ref name="Schlesinger 1978, p. 666">Schlesinger (1978), p. 666.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Senator Kennedy Hurt in Air Crash; Bayh Injured, Too; Both Are In Fair Condition In Massachusetts Hospital—Pilot of Plane Killed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/20/archives/senator-kennedy-hurt-in-air-crash-bayh-injured-too-both-are-in-fair.html |access-date=December 10, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=June 20, 1964}}</ref> Positive reception during a six-day trip to Germany and Poland convinced him to remain in politics.<ref name="Schlesinger 1978, p. 666"/><ref name="Thomas, p. 293"/>

In search of a way out of the dilemma, Kennedy asked speechwriter [[Milton Gwirtzman]] to write a memo comparing two offices: 1) governor of Massachusetts and 2) U.S. senator from New York, and "which would be a better place from which to make a run for the presidency in future years?"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shesol |first1=Jeff |title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade |date=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=179}}</ref> Biographer Shesol wrote that the [[governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts governorship]] offered one important advantage: isolation from Lyndon Johnson. However, the state was hobbled by debt and an unruly legislature. Gwirtzman informed Kennedy that "you are going to receive invitations to attend dedications and speak around the country and abroad and to undertake other activities in connection with President Kennedy" and that "it would seem easier to do this as a U.S. senator based in Washington, D.C. than as a governor based in Boston."<ref name="W. W. Norton">{{cite book |last1=Shesol |first1=Jeff |title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade |date=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=180}}</ref>

==U.S. Senate (1965–1968)==
=== 1964 election ===
{{See also|1964 United States Senate election in New York}}

On August 25, 1964, two days before the end of that year's Democratic National Convention,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52579320/the-news-and-observer/ |title=Robert F. Kennedy Formally Announces |date=August 26, 1964 |work=The News and Observer |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200601135000/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52579320/the-news-and-observer/ |archive-date=June 1, 2020 |url-status=live |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Kennedy announced his candidacy for the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] representing [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref>Dallek (1998), ''Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961–1973'', p. 58.</ref> He resigned as attorney general on September 2.<ref>Thomas, p. 297.</ref> Kennedy could not run for the U.S. Senate from his native [[Massachusetts]] because his younger brother [[Ted Kennedy|Ted]] was running for [[United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1964|reelection in 1964]].<ref>{{cite news |title=But Does New York Need Him? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/12/archives/but-does-new-york-need-him.html |work=The New York Times |date=August 12, 1964}} "if his brother were not already representing Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Kennedy undoubtedly would have [[1964 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|run in that state]]. But to run now would mean that he would have to elbow out another Kennedy. Thus, Mr. Kennedy apparently needs New York. But does New York really need Bobby Kennedy?"</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rudin |first1=Ken |title=A Warm New York Welcome |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/junkie/archive/junkie061199.htm |agency=Washington Post |date=June 11, 1999 |quote=His goal thwarted, Bobby then decided to run for the Senate. He couldn't run from his home state of Massachusetts – not when the incumbent up in '64 was his brother Ted.}}</ref> Despite their notoriously difficult relationship, President Johnson gave considerable support to Kennedy's campaign.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shesol |first1=Jeff |title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade |date=1998 |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=213}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' editorialized, "there is nothing illegal about the possible nomination of Robert F. Kennedy of Massachusetts as Senator from New York, but there is plenty of cynical about it,&nbsp;... merely choosing the state as a convenient launching‐pad for the political ambitions of himself."<ref name="Another Senator Kennedy">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/16/archives/another-senator-kennedy.html|title=Another Senator Kennedy?|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 16, 1964|access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>Tye, p. 320</ref>
[[File:LBJ and RFK campaign 1964.jpg|thumb|Kennedy (left) campaigning with President Lyndon Johnson, {{circa|October 1964}}]]

His opponent was [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] incumbent [[Kenneth Keating]], who attempted to portray Kennedy as an arrogant "[[Parachute candidate|carpetbagger]]" since he did not reside in the state and was not registered to vote there.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bobby-claims-victory-keating-article-1.1991856|title=From the archives: Bobby claims victory over Keating|date=November 4, 2014|newspaper=New York Daily News | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823134420/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bobby-claims-victory-keating-article-1.1991856 | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref><ref>Schlesinger, p. 668.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=McNearney |first1=Allison |title=Watch RFK's Speech from his 1964 Senate Campaign |url=https://www.history.com/news/robert-f-kennedy-1964-senator-columbia-university-speech |website=History.com |date=September 2018 |access-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref> Kennedy was a legal resident of Massachusetts,<ref>{{cite book |title=Official Congressional Directory – 88th Congress |date=1964 |page=489 |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDIR-1964-01-01/pdf/CDIR-1964-01-01.pdf}}</ref> and, under New York law, he couldn't vote in the election.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bohrer |first1=John R. |title=The Revolution of Robert Kennedy: From Power to Protest After JFK |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=114}}</ref> His wife [[Ethel Kennedy|Ethel]] made light of the criticism by suggesting this slogan: "There is only so much you can do for Massachusetts."<ref>Schlesinger (1978), p. 668.</ref> RFK charged Keating with having "not done much of anything constructive" despite his presence in Congress during a September 8 press conference.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1964/09/09/page/46/article/kennedy-rips-into-record-of-sen-keating|title=Kennedy Rips into Record of Sen. Keating|date=September 9, 1964|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> During the campaign, Kennedy was frequently met by large crowds where he encountered multitudes of hecklers carrying signs that read: <small>"BOBBY GO HOME!"</small> and <small>"GO BACK TO MASSACHUSETTS!"</small>.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kennedy Swamps Stratton to Win State Nomination; Democrats Name Attorney General, 968 to 153, at a Noisy Convention Here; Nominee Answers Foes; He Says New York's First Senator Was an Able Man from Massachusetts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/02/archives/kennedy-swamps-stratton-to-win-state-nomination-democrats-name.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 2, 1964}}</ref><ref>Kennedy, Rory. ''Ethel''. [[HBO]] Documentary Films. October 18, 2012.</ref> In the end, New York voters ignored the carpetbagging issue and Kennedy won the November election, helped in part by Johnson's huge victory margin in the state.<ref name=Leaming189>Leaming, Barbara (2014). ''Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story''. [[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan]]. pp. 189–190. {{ISBN|9781250017642}}.</ref> With his victory, Robert and Ted Kennedy became the first brothers since [[Dwight Foster (politician, born 1757)|Dwight]] and [[Theodore Foster]] to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Senate.<ref>Schlesinger (1978), p. 676.</ref> Frequent appearances during this campaign period would help Kennedy refine his style, and he would give more than 300 speeches throughout his time in the Senate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Robert F. |year=2018 |editor1-last=Allen |editor1-first=Richard |editor2-last=Guthman |editor2-first=Edwin |title=RFK: His Words for Our Times |location=New York |publisher=William Morrow |page=133 |isbn=9780062834140 |oclc=1031929341 |language=en}}</ref>

===Tenure===
Kennedy drew attention in Congress early on as the brother of President Kennedy, which set him apart from other senators. He drew more than 50 senators as spectators when he delivered a speech in the Senate on nuclear proliferation in June 1965.<ref>Palermo, pp. 8–9.</ref> But he also saw a decline in his power, going from the president's most influential advisor to one of a hundred senators, and his impatience with collaborative lawmaking showed.<ref name=Canellos /> Though fellow senator [[Fred R. Harris]] expected not to like Kennedy, the two became allies; Harris even called them "each other's best friends in the Senate".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newson6.com/story/7803296/the-oklahoman-who-might-have-been-president|title=The Oklahoman Who Might Have Been President|date=January 31, 2008|publisher=News On 6 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823134902/http://www.newson6.com/story/7803296/the-oklahoman-who-might-have-been-president | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy's younger brother Ted was his senior there. Robert saw his brother as a guide on managing within the Senate, and the arrangement worked to deepen their relationship.<ref name=Canellos>{{cite book|title=Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy|first1=Bella|last1=English|first2=Peter S.|last2=Canellos|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lastlionfallrise00pete/page/111 111–112.]|year=2009|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1439138175|url=https://archive.org/details/lastlionfallrise00pete/page/111}}</ref> Harris noted that Kennedy was intense about matters and issues that concerned him.<ref name="Schlesinger, 682, 683">Schlesinger (2002) [1978], pp. 682, 683.</ref> Kennedy gained a reputation in the Senate for being well prepared for debate, but his tendency to speak to other senators in a more "blunt" fashion caused him to be "unpopular&nbsp;... with many of his colleagues".<ref name="Schlesinger, 682, 683"/>

[[File:President Lyndon B. Johnson Signing of the Immigration Act of 1965 (02) - restoration1.jpg|thumb|President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]] as Ted and Robert Kennedy and others look on]]

While serving in the Senate, Kennedy advocated [[gun control]]. In May 1965, he co-sponsored S.1592, proposed by President Johnson and sponsored by Senator [[Thomas J. Dodd]], that would put federal restrictions on mail-order gun sales.<ref name="cq">{{cite web|url=https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal65-1259893|title=Hearings Held on Administration Gun Control Bill|year=1965|work=CQ Almanac Online Edition|access-date=June 18, 2016}}{{subscription required|date=October 2017}}</ref> Speaking in support of the bill, Kennedy said, "For too long we dealt with these deadly weapons as if they were harmless toys. Yet their very presence, the ease of their acquisition and the familiarity of their appearance have led to thousands of deaths each year. With the passage of this bill we will begin to meet our responsibilities. It would save hundreds of thousands of lives in this country and spare thousands of families&nbsp;... grief and heartache."<ref name="cq"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Gun Control|page=[https://archive.org/details/guncontrol0000gold/page/57 57.]|first=Susan Dudley|last=Gold|year=2004|publisher=Cavendish Square|isbn=978-0761415848|url=https://archive.org/details/guncontrol0000gold/page/57}}</ref> In remarks during a May 1968 campaign stop in [[Roseburg, Oregon]], Kennedy defended the bill as keeping firearms away from "people who have no business with guns or rifles". The bill forbade "mail order sale of guns to the very young, those with criminal records and the insane", according to ''[[The Oregonian]]''{{'s}} report.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/10/in_1968_robert_f_kennedy_calle.html |title=In 1968 Robert F. Kennedy called for gun control, in Roseburg (video)|website=Oregon Live|date=October 4, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823135337/http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/10/in_1968_robert_f_kennedy_calle.html | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/2015/10/06/video-robert-kennedy-once-spoke-about-gun-control-roseburg-oregon/Fc4YYHtz8CbfhSyeHU65nI/story.html|title=Video: Robert F. Kennedy once spoke about gun control in Roseburg, Oregon|date=October 6, 2015|publisher=Boston.com|first=Eric|last=Levenson}}</ref> S.1592 and subsequent bills, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy himself, paved the way for the eventual passage of the [[Gun Control Act of 1968]].<ref name="Wilson2007">{{cite book|author=Wilson, Harry L.|title=Guns, Gun Control, and Elections: The Politics and Policy of Firearms|url=https://archive.org/details/gunsguncontrolel0000wils|url-access=registration|access-date=October 19, 2017|year=2007|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-5348-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/gunsguncontrolel0000wils/page/89 89]–90}}</ref>

As a senator, he was popular among African Americans and other minorities, including Native Americans and immigrant groups. He spoke forcefully in favor of what he called the "disaffected",<ref>Thomas, p. 196.</ref> the impoverished,<ref>{{cite book|title=American Politics in the Postwar Sunbelt: Conservative Growth in a Battleground Region|page=127|first=Sean P.|last=Cunningham|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1107024526|date=June 30, 2014}}</ref> and "the excluded",<ref>Edelman, p. 34.</ref> thereby aligning himself with leaders of the civil rights struggle and social justice campaigners. Kennedy and his staff had employed a cautionary "amendments–only" strategy for his first year in the Senate. He added an amendment to the [[Appalachian Regional Development Act]] to add 13 low-income New York counties situated along the Pennsylvania border. His work the first year included proposing funding for drug treatment and reform in the financing of [[social security]].<ref>Shesol (1997) pp. 238–241.</ref> He succeeded in amending the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] to protect U.S. educated non-English speakers (mainly Puerto Ricans in New York City) from unfair imposition of English-language literacy tests and added an evaluation requirement to the new federal program to help educationally disadvantaged children.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bohrer |first1=John R. |title=The Revolution of Robert Kennedy: From Power to Protest After JFK |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=166}}</ref> In 1966 and 1967 they took more direct legislative action, but were met with increasing resistance from the Johnson administration.<ref>Shesol (1997) p. 329</ref> Despite perceptions that the two were hostile in their respective offices to each other, ''[[U.S. News]]'' reported Kennedy's support of the Johnson administration's "[[Great Society]]" program through his voting record. Kennedy supported both major and minor parts of the program, and each year over 60% of his roll call votes were consistently in favor of Johnson's policies.<ref>Shesol (1997) p. 336.</ref>

[[File:Pelé e Robert Kennedy, sem data.tif|thumb|[[Pelé]] and Kennedy shaking hands after a game at [[Maracanã Stadium]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]], {{circa|November 1965}}]]

On February 8, 1966, Kennedy urged the United States to pledge that it would not be the first country to use nuclear weapons against countries that did not have them noting that China had made the pledge and the [[Soviet Union]] indicated it was also willing to do so.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/1966-kennedy-seeks-nuclear-pledge/ |title=1966: Kennedy Seeks Nuclear Pledge|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 8, 2016}}</ref>

Kennedy increased emphasis on human rights as a central focus of U.S. foreign policy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy|title=Robert F. Kennedy |website=Library|access-date=May 3, 2023}}</ref> He criticized [[United States invasion of the Dominican Republic|U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic]] in 1965 and concluded that Johnson had abandoned the reform aims of President Kennedy's [[Alliance for Progress]]. He warned after a trip to [[Latin America]] in late 1965, "if we allow communism to carry the banner of reform, then the ignored and the dispossessed, the insulted and injured, will turn to it as the only way out of their misery."<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], p. xv.</ref><ref>Shesol (1997) pp. 277–283.</ref> In June 1966, he visited [[History of South Africa in the apartheid era|apartheid-era South Africa]] accompanied by his wife, Ethel, and a few aides. The tour was greeted with international praise at a time when few politicians dared to entangle themselves in the politics of South Africa. Kennedy spoke out against the oppression of the native population and was welcomed by the black population as though he were a visiting head of state.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978] pp. 743–744</ref><ref>Sullivan, Patricia (2021). ''Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy's America in Black and White''. Harvard University Press. pp. 291–295.</ref> In an interview with ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' magazine he said:

{{blockquote|At the [[University of Natal]] in [[Durban]], I was told the church to which most of the white population belongs teaches apartheid as a moral necessity. A questioner declared that few churches allow black Africans to pray with the white because the Bible says that is the way it should be, because God created Negroes to serve. "But suppose God is black", I replied. "What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?" There was no answer. Only silence.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Robert F.|url=http://www.rfksa.org/magazines/magazine.php?id=6|title=Suppose god is Black|date=August 23, 1966|work=Look|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041023010025/http://rfksa.org/magazines/magazine.php?id=6|archive-date=October 23, 2004}}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}
 
At the [[University of Cape Town]] he delivered the annual [[Day of Affirmation Address]]. A quote from this address appears on his memorial at [[Arlington National Cemetery]]: "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rfksa.org/contents/overview.php|work=Ripple of Hope in the Land of Apartheid: Robert F. Kennedy in South Africa, June 1966|title=Overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041012075359/http://rfksa.org/contents/overview.php|archive-date=October 12, 2004}}</ref> South Africa was considered in the United States to be an anti-communist ally, a position he critiqued, asking "What does it mean to be against communism if one’s
own system denies the value of the individual and gives all the power to the government—just as the Communists do?".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mahoney |first1=Richard D. |title=Sons & Brothers The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy |date=1999 |publisher=Arcade Publishing |page=322}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Kennedy and CBCC's Donald F. Benjamin.jpg|thumb|Kennedy (right) speaks with children while touring [[Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn|Bedford–Stuyvesant]] in [[Brooklyn]], {{circa|February 1966}}]]

During his years as a senator, he helped to start [[Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation|a successful redevelopment project]] in poverty-stricken [[Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/nyregion/thecity/01disp.html |title=Star Power, Still Shining 40 Years On|date=January 29, 2009|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Schlesinger wrote that Kennedy had hoped Bedford-Stuyvesant would become an example of self-imposed growth for other impoverished neighborhoods. Kennedy had difficulty securing support from President Johnson, whose administration was charged by Kennedy as having opposed a "special impact" program meant to bring about the federal progress that he had supported. [[Robert B. Semple Jr.]] repeated similar sentiments in September 1967, writing the Johnson administration was preparing "a concerted attack" on Robert F. Kennedy's proposal that Semple claimed would "build more and better low-cost housing in the slums through private enterprise". Kennedy confided to journalist [[Jack Newfield]] that while he tried collaborating with the administration through courting its members and compromising with the bill, "They didn't even try to work something out together. To them it's all just politics."<ref>Schlesinger, p. 789.</ref> In spite of a public awareness campaign, the Bedford–Stuyvesant Corporation only received modest support from private businesses. Investments from [[IBM]] (which already considered the move independently), [[Xerox]], and [[U.S. Gypsum]] notwithstanding, most corporate executives believed there was little profit in poorer communities and were concerned about hostile working environments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Newfield |first1=Jack |title=RFK: a Memoir |date=1969 |page=98}}</ref> Most of the residents of Bedford–Stuyvesant were initially skeptical of the project's intentions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Newfield |first1=Jack |title=RFK: a Memoir |date=1969 |page=101}}</ref> In the long run, however, the project did become a prototype for [[community development corporations]] that sprang up across the country. By 1974, there were 34 federally funded and 75 privately funded corporations.<ref>Shesol (1997) pp. 249–250.</ref>

He [[Joseph S. Clark's and Robert F. Kennedy's tour of the Mississippi Delta|visited]] the [[Mississippi Delta]] in April 1967 and [[Eastern Kentucky Coalfield|eastern Kentucky]] in February 1968 as a member of the Senate committee reviewing the effectiveness of "[[War on Poverty]]" programs, particularly that of the [[Economic Opportunity Act of 1964]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/blog/entry/mississippi-rising-building-two-generation-solutions1|title=Mississippi Rising: Building Two-Generation Solutions|publisher=Aspen Institute | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823140141/http://ascend.aspeninstitute.org/blog/entry/mississippi-rising-building-two-generation-solutions1 | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Coal & The Kennedys: 1960s–2010s |url=https://pophistorydig.com/topics/coal-and-kennedy-family/ |website=The Pop History Dig}}</ref> [[Marian Wright Edelman]] described Kennedy as "deeply moved and outraged" by the sight of the starving children living in the economically abysmal climate of Mississippi, changing her impression of him from "tough, arrogant, and politically driven".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://billmoyers.com/content/what-inspired-robert-f-kennedys-fight-against-hunger/|title=What Inspired Robert F. Kennedy's Fight Against Hunger|date=June 22, 2012|publisher=Bill Moyers | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823140347/http://billmoyers.com/content/what-inspired-robert-f-kennedys-fight-against-hunger/ | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> Edelman noted further that the senator requested she call on Martin Luther King Jr. to bring the impoverished to Washington, D.C., to make them more visible, leading to the creation of the [[Poor People's Campaign]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://philanthropy.com/article/War-on-Poverty-Spurs-Lifelong/153157|title=War on Poverty Spurs Lifelong Advocacy for Children|date=May 6, 2014|publisher=Philanthropy.com}}</ref><ref name="Edelman">Edelman, Marian Wright. [http://www.phillytrib.com/commentaryarticles/item/2877-still-hungry-in-america.html "Still Hungry in America"]. ''Philadelphia Tribune'', February 21, 2012.</ref> He also toured [[Native American reservations]] and was so outraged by the deplorable conditions he found that he created a Senate subcommittee on Indian Education and served as its chairman.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Newfield |first1=Jack |title=RFK: a Memoir |date=1969 |page=81}}</ref> In a forceful speech to a congress of native leaders in North Dakota, Kennedy said that their treatment by the federal government was a "national disgrace".<ref>Thomas, p. 261.</ref> Kennedy sought to remedy the problems of poverty and [[urban decay]] through legislation (i.e., a 1966 amendment to the Economic Opportunity Act)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Newfield |first1=Jack |title=RFK: a Memoir |date=1969 |page=97}}</ref> to encourage private industry through [[tax breaks]] to locate in poverty-stricken areas, thus creating jobs for the unemployed, and stressed the importance of work over [[welfare]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy|title=Robert F. Kennedy |website=JFK Library|access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>Thomas, p. 340.</ref> According to Kennedy, government welfare and housing programs ignored the unemployment and social disorganization that caused people to seek public assistance in the first place, and often become bogged down in bureaucracy and lack flexibility.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Nonprofit Corporation and Community Development in Bedford- Stuyvesant |journal=Washington and Lee Law Review |date=1985 |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=1264–1271 |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2957&context=wlulr}}</ref>

Kennedy worked on the [[Senate Labor Committee]] at the time of the [[workers' rights]] activism of [[Cesar Chavez]], [[Dolores Huerta]], and the [[National Farm Workers Association]] (NFWA).<ref>Mills, pp. 339–340.</ref> At the request of labor leader Walter Reuther, who had previously marched with and provided money to Chavez, Kennedy flew out to [[Delano, California]], to investigate the situation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/100greatestameri0000drei/page/339|title=The 100 greatest Americans of the 20th century: a social justice hall of fame|last=Dreier |first=Peter|date=2012|publisher=Nation Books|isbn=9781568586816|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/100greatestameri0000drei/page/339 339]|oclc=701015405}}</ref> Although little attention was paid to the first two committee hearings in March 1966 for legislation to include farm workers by an amendment of the [[National Labor Relations Act]], Kennedy's attendance at the third hearing brought media coverage.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography|first=Miriam|last=Pawel|pages=122–123|year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Press|isbn= 978-1608197101}}</ref> Biographer Thomas wrote that Kennedy was moved after seeing the conditions of the workers, who he deemed were being taken advantage of.<ref>Thomas, p. 320.</ref> Chavez stressed to Kennedy that migrant workers needed to be recognized as human beings. Kennedy later engaged in an exchange with [[Kern County]] sheriff Leroy Galyen who admitted to arresting strikers who looked "ready to violate the law". Kennedy shot back, "May I suggest that during the luncheon period of time that the sheriff and the district attorney read the Constitution of the United States?"<ref>Pawel, p. 123.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=RFK and Cesar Chavez |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rfk-cesar-chavez/ |website=PBS American Experience}}</ref>

====Vietnam====
The JFK administration backed U.S. involvement in [[Southeast Asia]] and other parts of the world in the frame of the Cold War, but Kennedy was not known to be involved in discussions on the [[Vietnam War]] as his brother's attorney general.<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], p. 727.</ref><ref>Hilty, p. 460.</ref> Entering the Senate, Kennedy initially kept private his disagreements with President Johnson on the war. While Kennedy vigorously supported his brother's earlier efforts, he never publicly advocated commitment of ground troops. Though bothered by the beginning of the bombing of [[North Vietnam]] in February 1965, Kennedy did not wish to appear antagonistic toward the president's agenda.<ref name=Mills359>Mills, p. 359.</ref> But by April, Kennedy was advocating a halt to the bombing to Johnson, who acknowledged that Kennedy played a part in influencing his choice to temporarily cease bombing the following month.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade|year=1998|page=265|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn= 978-0393318555}}</ref> Kennedy cautioned Johnson against sending combat troops as early as 1965, but Johnson chose instead to follow the recommendation of the rest of his predecessor's still intact staff of advisers. In July, after Johnson made a large commitment of American ground forces to Vietnam, Kennedy made multiple calls for a settlement through negotiation. In a letter to Kennedy the following month, [[John Paul Vann]], a [[lieutenant colonel]] in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]], wrote that Kennedy "indicat[ed] comprehension of the problems we face".<ref>Palmero, p. 13.</ref> In December 1965, Kennedy advised his friend, the Defense Secretary [[Robert McNamara]], that he should counsel Johnson to declare a ceasefire in Vietnam, a bombing pause over North Vietnam, and to take up an offer by Algeria to serve as a "honest broker" in peace talks.<ref>A. J. Langguth ''Our Vietnam'' (2000) p. 409</ref> The left-wing Algerian government had friendly relations with North Vietnam and the National Liberation Front and had indicated in 1965–1966 that it was willing to serve as a conduit for peace talks, but most of Johnson's advisers were leery of the Algerian offer.<ref>A. J. Langguth ''Our Vietnam'' (2000) p. 416</ref>

On January 31, 1966, Kennedy said in a speech on the Senate floor: "If we regard bombing as the answer in Vietnam, we are headed straight for disaster."<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 422">A. J. Langguth ''Our Vietnam'' (2000) p. 422</ref> In February 1966, Kennedy released a peace plan that called for preserving South Vietnam while at the same time allowing the National Liberation Front, better known as the [[Viet Cong]], to join a coalition government in [[Saigon]].<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 422"/> When asked by reporters if he was speaking on behalf of Johnson, Kennedy replied: "I don't think anyone has ever suggested that I was speaking for the White House."<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 422"/> Kennedy's peace plan made front page news with ''The New York Times'' calling it a break with the president while the ''Chicago Tribunal'' labelled him in an editorial "Ho Chi Kennedy".<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 423">A. J. Langguth ''Our Vietnam'' (2000) p. 423</ref> Vice President Humphrey on a visit to New Zealand said that Kennedy's "peace recipe" included "a dose of arsenic" while the National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy quoted to the press Kennedy's remarks from 1963 saying he was against including Communists in coalition governments (though Kennedy's subject was Germany, not Vietnam).<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 423"/> Kennedy was displeased when he heard anti-war protesters chanting his name, saying "I'm not [[Wayne Morse]]."<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 423"/> To put aside reports of a rift with Johnson, Kennedy flew with Johnson on ''Air Force One'' on a trip to New York on February 23, 1966, and barely clapped his hands in approval when Johnson denied waging a war of conquest in Vietnam.<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 423"/> In an interview with the ''Today'' program, Kennedy conceded that his views on Vietnam were "a little confusing."<ref name="A.J. Langguth 2000 pp. 423"/>

[[File:Senator Robert F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson - NARA - 192487.jpg|thumb|Senator Kennedy and President Johnson in the [[Oval Office]], {{circa|June 1966}}]]
In April 1966, Kennedy had a private meeting with [[Philip Heymann]] of the [[United States Department of State|State Department's]] Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs to discuss efforts to secure the release of American prisoners of war in Vietnam. Kennedy wanted to press the Johnson administration to do more, but Heymann insisted that the administration believed the "consequences of sitting down with the Viet Cong" mattered more than the prisoners they were holding captive.<ref>Palmero, pp. 33–34.</ref> On June 29, Kennedy released a statement disavowing President Johnson's choice to bomb [[Haiphong]], but he avoided criticizing either the war or the president's overall foreign policy, believing that it might harm Democratic candidates in the 1966 [[1966 United States elections|midterm elections]].<ref>Palmero, pp. 36–37.</ref> In August, the ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'' described Kennedy's popularity as outpacing President Johnson's, crediting Kennedy's attempts to end the Vietnam conflict which the public increasingly desired.<ref name=NYTAugust2016>{{cite news|url=https://iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/1966-surging-popularity-for-kennedy/ |title=1966: Surging Popularity for Kennedy|date=August 22, 2016}}</ref>

In early 1967, Kennedy traveled to Europe, where he had discussions about Vietnam with leaders and diplomats. A story leaked to the State Department that Kennedy was talking about seeking peace while President Johnson was pursuing the war. Johnson became convinced that Kennedy was undermining his authority. He voiced this during a meeting with Kennedy, who reiterated the interest of the European leaders to pause the bombing while going forward with negotiations; Johnson declined to do so.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/no-vietnam-secrets-between-rfk-lbj-028465|title=No Vietnam secrets between RFK, LBJ|date=October 20, 2009|publisher=Politico | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823205944/http://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/no-vietnam-secrets-between-rfk-lbj-028465 | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> On March 2, Kennedy outlined a three-point plan to end the war which included suspending the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, and the eventual withdrawal of American and North Vietnamese soldiers from South Vietnam; this plan was rejected by [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Dean Rusk]], who believed North Vietnam would never agree to it.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kennedy-proposes-plan-to-end-the-war|title=Kennedy proposes plan to end the war|date=March 2, 1967 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823210124/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kennedy-proposes-plan-to-end-the-war | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> On November 26, during an appearance on ''[[Face the Nation]]'', Kennedy asserted that the Johnson administration had deviated from his brother's policies in Vietnam, his first time contrasting the two administrations' policies on the war. He added that the view that Americans were fighting to end communism in Vietnam was "immoral".<ref>Shesol, p. 386.</ref><ref>Clarke, p. 32.</ref>

On February 8, 1968, Kennedy delivered an address in Chicago, where he critiqued Saigon "government corruption" and expressed his disagreement with the Johnson administration's stance that the war would determine the future of Asia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1968/02/08/Kennedy-urges-compromise-in-Vietnam/3841557748231/|title=Kennedy urges compromise in Vietnam|date=February 8, 1968|publisher=UPI}}</ref> On March 14, Kennedy met with defense secretary [[Clark Clifford]] at the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] regarding the war. Clifford's notes indicate that Kennedy was offering not to enter the ongoing Democratic presidential primaries if President Johnson would admit publicly to having been wrong in his Vietnam policy and appoint "a group of persons to conduct a study in depth of the issues and come up with a recommended course of action";<ref>{{cite book|title=The Kennedy Half-Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy|pages=291–292|first=Larry J.|last=Sabato| year=2014|isbn=978-1620402825|publisher=Bloomsbury USA}}</ref> Johnson rejected the proposal.<ref>Hilty, p. 614.</ref> On April 1, after President Johnson halted bombing of North Vietnam, Kennedy said the decision was a "step toward peace" and, though offering to collaborate with Johnson for national unity, opted to continue his presidential bid.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1968/04/02/page/2/article/bobby-calls-lbjs-move-a-step-to-peace|title=Bobby Calls LBJ's Move A Step To Peace|date=April 1, 1968|first=Joseph|last=Zullo|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> On May 1, while campaigning in Indiana, Kennedy said continued delays in beginning peace talks with North Vietnam meant both more lives lost and the postponing of the "domestic progress" hoped for by the U.S.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1968/05/02/page/12/article/kennedy-loses-ohio-senators-backing|title= Kennedy Loses Ohio Senator's Backing|date=May 2, 1968|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|first=Russell|last=Freeburg}}</ref> Later that month, Kennedy called the war "the gravest kind of error" during a speech in Oregon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/newly-digitized-footage-reveals-an-rfk-speech-one-week-before-his-assassination/283971/|title=Newly Digitized Footage Reveals an RFK Speech One Week Before His Assassination|date=February 20, 2014|work=The Atlantic|first=Rebecca J.|last=Rosen}}</ref> In an interview on June 4, hours before he was shot, Kennedy continued to advocate for a change in policy towards the war.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbc-news/24949903#24949903|title=In RFK's final hours, an interview|date=June 4, 1968|work=NBC News | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823210807/http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nbc-news/24949903 | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref>

==1968 presidential campaign==
{{Main|Robert F. Kennedy 1968 presidential campaign}}
{{See also|1968 United States presidential election|1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries}}
[[File:RWRMay1968RFKspeaksm.jpg|thumb|upright|Tired but still intense in the days leading up to his defeat in the Oregon primary, Robert Kennedy speaks from the platform of a campaign train, {{circa|May 1968}}]]
In 1968, Johnson prepared to run for reelection. In January, faced with what was widely considered an unrealistic race against an incumbent president, Kennedy said he would not seek the presidency.<ref name="The Last Good Campaign">{{cite web |date=June 2008 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/06/rfk_excerpt200806 |title=The Last Good Campaign |first=Thurston |last=Clark |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220171610/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/06/rfk_excerpt200806 | archive-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref> After the [[Tet Offensive]] in Vietnam in early February, he received a letter from writer [[Pete Hamill]] that said poor people kept pictures of President Kennedy on their walls and that Kennedy had an "obligation of staying true to whatever it was that put those pictures on those walls".<ref>Schlesinger (1978) p. 845</ref> There were other factors that influenced Kennedy's decision to seek the presidency. On February 29, the [[Kerner Commission]] issued a report on the [[Long, hot summer of 1967|racial unrest]] that had affected American cities during the previous summer. The report blamed "white racism" for the violence, but its findings were largely dismissed by the Johnson administration.<ref>Thomas, p. 357.</ref> Kennedy indicated that Johnson's apparent disinterest in the commission's conclusions meant that "he's not going to do anything about the cities."<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], p. 846.</ref>

Kennedy traveled to Delano, California, to meet with civil rights activist [[César Chávez]], who was on a 25-day [[hunger strike]] showing his commitment to [[nonviolence]].<ref>Thomas, p. 359.</ref> It was on this visit to California that Kennedy decided he would challenge Johnson for the presidency, telling his former Justice Department aides, [[Edwin Guthman]] and [[Peter Edelman]], that his first step was to get lesser-known U.S. Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]] to drop out of the presidential race.<ref name="Thurston, 2008">{{cite book|year=2008 |url=https://archive.org/details/lastcampaignrobe00clar/page/36 |first=Thurston |last=Clarke |publisher=Henry Holt |title=The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America |isbn=978-0805077926 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lastcampaignrobe00clar/page/36 36] }}</ref> His younger brother Ted Kennedy was the leading voice against a bid for the presidency. He felt that his brother ought to wait until [[1972 United States presidential election|1972]], after Johnson's tenure was finished. If RFK ran in 1968 and lost in the primaries to a sitting president, Ted felt that it would destroy his brother's chances later.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled|first=Vincent|last=Bzdek|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0230613676|page=[https://archive.org/details/kennedylegacyjac00bzde_0/page/130 130]|date=2009|url=https://archive.org/details/kennedylegacyjac00bzde_0/page/130}}</ref> Johnson won a narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary on March 12, against McCarthy 49–42%,<ref name="Thurston, 2008"/> but this close second-place result dramatically boosted McCarthy's standing in the race.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mccarthy-does-well-in-the-democratic-primary | title =McCarthy does well in the Democratic primary | publisher =history.com | date =March 12, 1968 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823212553/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mccarthy-does-well-in-the-democratic-primary | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref>

After much speculation, and reports leaking out about his plans,<ref name="decides">{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10911F83E541A7493C4A81788D85F4C8685F9 | title=Kennedy decides to run; will discuss plans today| url-access=subscription| last=Witkin|first=Richard|date=March 16, 1968|work=The New York Times|pages=1, 14|access-date=August 31, 2009}}</ref> and seeing in McCarthy's success that Johnson's hold on the job was not as strong as originally thought, Kennedy declared his candidacy on March 16, in the Caucus Room of the [[Russell Senate Office Building]], the same room where his brother John had declared his own candidacy eight years earlier.<ref name="caucus">{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB071EF73F541B7B93C5A81788D85F4C8685F9 |title=Scene is the Same, But 8 Years Later – Kennedy Brothers Declared for Race in Same Room |last=Herbers |first=John |date= March 17, 1968|work=The New York Times | location=paid archive| page=68 |access-date=August 31, 2009}}</ref> He said, "I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man, but to propose new policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I'm obliged to do all I can."<ref name="announcement">{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F4071EF73F541B7B93C5A81788D85F4C8685F9 |title=Kennedy's Statement and Excerpts From News Conference|last=Kennedy | first=Robert F. | date=March 16, 1968|work=The New York Times | location=paid archive| page=68 | access-date=August 31, 2009}}</ref>

McCarthy supporters angrily denounced Kennedy as an [[opportunist]].<ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], p. 860.</ref> Kennedy's announcement split the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war movement]] in two.<ref name="Rutgers University">{{cite web | url=http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/programs/egov/ap_vietnam-escalate.php | title =American Political History Vietnam: Kennedy, Johhson and Escalation | publisher =[[Rutgers University]] | date =April 16, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823213714/http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/programs/egov/ap_vietnam-escalate.php | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> On March 31, Johnson stunned the nation by dropping out of the race.<ref>Thomas, p. 365.</ref> Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] entered the race on April 27 with the financial backing and critical endorsement of the party "establishment",<ref name="Schlesinger 2002 1978, p. xvi"/> which gave him a better chance at gaining convention delegates from non-primary [[Caucus|party caucuses]] and state conventions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wainstock |first1=Dennis |title=Election Year 1968: The Turning Point |date=2012 |page=84}}</ref> With state registration deadlines long past, Humphrey joined the race too late to enter any primaries but had the support of the president.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Solberg |first1=Carl |title=Hubert Humphrey: A Biography |date=1984 |pages=327–328, 332}}</ref><ref name="Rutgers University"/> Kennedy, like his brother before him, planned to win the nomination through popular support in the primaries.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Clarke |first1=Thurston |title=The Last Good Campaign |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/06/rfk_excerpt200806 |magazine=Vanity Fair|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220171610/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/06/rfk_excerpt200806 |archive-date=December 20, 2014 }}</ref>

[[File:SWPC-RFK-C004-003.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy campaigning in Los Angeles (photo courtesy of ''John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum'', Boston)]]
Kennedy ran on a platform of [[racial equality]], [[economic justice]], non-aggression in foreign policy, [[decentralization]] of power, and social improvement.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert F. Kennedy 1968 for President Campaign Brochure |url=https://www.4president.org/brochures/1968/rfk1968brochure.htm |access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Newfield |first1=Jack |title=RFK: A Memoir |date=1969 |pages=36–37, 73–74}}</ref><ref>Schlesinger (2002) [1978], p. xii, xv.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Campaign |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/events-and-awards/kennedy-library-forums/past-forums/transcripts/robert-f-kennedy-and-the-1968-campaign |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref> A crucial element of his campaign was youth engagement. "You are the people," Kennedy said, "who have the least ties to the present and the greatest stake in the future."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sullivan |first1=Patricia |title=Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy's America in Black and White |date=2021 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=393}}</ref> During a [[Robert F. Kennedy's remarks at the University of Kansas|speech]] at the [[University of Kansas]] on March 18, Kennedy notably outlined why he thought the [[gross national product]] (GNP) was an insufficient measure of success, emphasizing the negative values it accounted for and the positive ones it ignored.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sullivan |first1=Patricia |title=Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy's America in Black and White |date=2021 |publisher=Harvard University Press |pages=394–395}}</ref> According to Schlesinger, Kennedy's presidential campaign generated "wild enthusiasm" as well as deep anger.<ref name="Schlesinger 2002 1978, p. xvi"/> He visited numerous small towns and made himself available to the masses by participating in long [[motorcade]]s and street-corner [[stump speech]]es, often in inner cities.<ref>Clarke, p. 26, 166, 255.</ref> Kennedy's candidacy faced opposition from [[Southern Democrats]], leaders of organized labor, and the business community.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Newfield |first1=Jack |title=RFK: A Memoir |date=1969 |page=230}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Zeitz |first1=Joshua |title=The Bobby Kennedy Myth |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/05/rfk-bobby-kennedy-myth-legend-history-218593/ |website=[[Politico]]|date=June 5, 2018 }}</ref>  At one of his university speeches ([[Indiana University School of Medicine|Indiana University Medical School]]), he was asked, "Where are we going to get the money to pay for all these new programs you're proposing?" He replied to the medical students, about to enter lucrative careers, "From you."<ref>Thomas, p. 371.</ref>

On April 4, Kennedy learned of the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] and gave a heartfelt [[Robert F. Kennedy's speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|impromptu speech]] in [[Indianapolis, Indiana|Indianapolis's]] inner city, calling for a reconciliation between the races.<ref>Thomas, pp. 366–367.</ref> The address was the first time Kennedy spoke publicly about his brother's killing.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/03/30/remebering-robert-f-kennedys-historic-mlk-speech/82416498/|title=Remembering Robert F. Kennedy's historic MLK speech|date=March 31, 2016|website=Indianapolis Star | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823214623/http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/03/30/remebering-robert-f-kennedys-historic-mlk-speech/82416498/ | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> [[King assassination riots|Riots broke out in 60 cities in the wake of King's death]], but not in Indianapolis, a fact many attribute to the effect of this speech.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.indystar.com/story/life/2015/04/02/april-rfk-saved-indianapolis/70817218/ | title=April 4, 1968: How RFK Saved Indianapolis | website=Indianapolis Star/USA Today | access-date=August 23, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823215224/http://www.indystar.com/story/life/2015/04/02/april-rfk-saved-indianapolis/70817218/ | archive-date=August 23, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy addressed the [[City Club of Cleveland]] the following day; delivering the famous "[[On the Mindless Menace of Violence]]" speech.<ref>{{cite web|title=On The Mindless Menace of Violence|url=https://cityclub.org/events/on-the-mindless-menace-of-violence|website=The City Club of Cleveland|access-date=February 18, 2017}}</ref> He attended King's funeral, accompanied by Jacqueline and Ted Kennedy. He was described as being the "only white politician to hear only cheers and applause".<ref>Clarke, p. 129.</ref>

Kennedy won the Indiana primary on May 7 with 42 percent of the vote,<ref>Thomas, p. 375.</ref> and the Nebraska primary on May 14 with 52 percent of the vote.<ref>Thomas, p. 377.</ref> On May 28, Kennedy lost the Oregon primary,<ref>Tye, p. 428.</ref> marking the first time a Kennedy lost an election, and it was assumed that McCarthy was the preferred choice among the young voters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shock Year: 1968 |work=American Experience |publisher=PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rfk-shock-year-1968/|access-date=July 16, 2020}}</ref> If he could defeat McCarthy in the California primary, the leadership of the campaign thought, he would knock McCarthy out of the race and set up a one-on-one against Vice President Humphrey at the [[1968 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] in August.<ref>Thomas, p. 24.</ref>

==Assassination==
{{Main|Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy}}
[[File:SWPC-RFK-C020-010.jpg|thumb|Kennedy delivers remarks to a crowd at the [[Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)|Ambassador Hotel]] in Los Angeles moments before his [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|assassination]], {{circa|June 5, 1968}}]]
Kennedy scored major victories when he won both the California and South Dakota primaries on June 4.<ref>Thomas, p. 387.</ref> He was now in second place with 393 total delegates, against Humphrey's 561 delegates.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Jeffrey K. |title=Bad Blood: Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, and the Tumultuous 1960s |date=2010 |page=266}}</ref> Kennedy addressed his supporters shortly after midnight on June 5, in a [[ballroom]] at the [[Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)|Ambassador Hotel]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="NYTjune61968">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/05/archives/kennedy-claims-victory-and-then-shots-ring-out.html|title=Kennedy claims victory; and then shots ring out|last=Morriss|first=John G.|date=June 6, 1968|work=The New York Times|page=1|access-date=December 29, 2015}}</ref> At approximately 12:10&nbsp;a.m., concluding his speech, Kennedy said: "So my thanks to all of you and on to [[1968 Democratic National Convention|Chicago]] and let's win there."<ref>{{cite web |title=Remembering Robert Kennedy 50 Years After His Assassination |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/896710-robert-kennedy-50-years-after-assassination/ |website=CBS News|date=June 6, 2018 }}</ref> Leaving the ballroom, he went through the hotel kitchen after being told it was a shortcut to a press room.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taraborrelli |first=J. Randy |author-link=J. Randy Taraborrelli |title=Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot |publisher=[[Warner Books]] |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jackieetheljoanw00tararich/page/333 333] |isbn=0-446-52426-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/jackieetheljoanw00tararich/page/333 }}</ref> He did this despite being advised by his bodyguard—former FBI agent Bill Barry—to avoid the kitchen. In a crowded kitchen passageway, Kennedy turned to his left and shook hands with hotel [[busboy]] Juan Romero just as [[Sirhan Sirhan]], a 24-year-old Palestinian,<ref name="NYTsirhan">{{cite web| url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0605.html |title=Kennedy is Dead, Victim of Assassin; Suspect, Arab Immigrant, Arraigned; Johnson Appoints Panel on Violence |last=[[Gladwin Hill|Hill]]|first=Gladwin|date=June 6, 1968|work=The New York Times |access-date=December 29, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824121103/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0605.html | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> opened fire with a [[.22 Short|.22-caliber]] [[revolver]]. Kennedy was hit three times, and five other people were wounded.<ref name=cnnMartinez>{{cite news|last=Martinez|first=Michael|title=RFK assassination witness tells CNN: There was a second shooter|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/28/justice/california-rfk-second-gun|publisher=CNN|date=April 30, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824121307/http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/28/justice/california-rfk-second-gun | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref>

[[George Plimpton]], former decathlete [[Rafer Johnson]], and former professional football player [[Rosey Grier]] are credited with wrestling Sirhan to the ground after he shot the senator.<ref name="timealife">{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,900110,00.html|title=Nation: A Life on the Way to Death|date=June 14, 1968|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=June 6, 2018}}</ref> As Kennedy lay mortally wounded, Romero cradled his head and placed a [[rosary]] in his hand. Kennedy asked Romero, "Is everybody OK?", and Romero responded, "Yes, everybody's OK." Kennedy then turned away from Romero and said, "Everything's going to be OK."<ref name="nw29-30">{{cite journal|title=Bobby's Last, Longest Day|journal=Newsweek|date=June 17, 1968|pages=29–30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=The busboy who cradled a dying RFK has finally stepped out of the past|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0830-lopez-romero-20150829-column.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824121507/http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0830-lopez-romero-20150829-column.html | work=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> After several minutes, medical attendants arrived and lifted the senator onto a stretcher, prompting him to whisper, "Don't lift me", which were his last words.<ref>{{cite book|title=RFK: a candid biography of Robert F. Kennedy|url=https://archive.org/details/rfkcandidbiograp00heym|url-access=registration|last=Heymann|first=C. David|location=New York|publisher=Dutton|year=1998|page=[https://archive.org/details/rfkcandidbiograp00heym/page/500 500]|isbn=9780525942177}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Clarke|first=Thurston |author-link=Thurston Clarke |title=The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=87A0ZdEeWzoC&pg=PA34|date=May 27, 2008|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-8050-7792-6 |page=275}}</ref> He lost consciousness shortly thereafter.<ref name="w273">{{cite book|last=Witcover|first=Jules|title=85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy|location=New York|publisher=Putnam|year=1969 |oclc=452367|author-link=Jules Witcover |page=273}}</ref> He was rushed first to Los Angeles' Central Receiving Hospital, less than {{convert|2|miles|km}} east of the Ambassador Hotel, and then to the adjoining (one city block distant) [[Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles)|Good Samaritan Hospital]]. Despite extensive neurosurgery to remove the bullet and bone fragments from his brain, Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:44&nbsp;a.m. (PDT) on June 6, nearly 26 hours after the shooting.<ref>{{cite book|last= Dooley|first= Brian|title= Robert Kennedy: The Final Years|publisher= St. Martin's Press|year=1996|location= New York|page=140|isbn= 9780312161309}}</ref><ref>Tye, p. 437.</ref> Kennedy's death, like the [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|1963 assassination of his brother John]], has been the subject of [[Robert F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Arango |first=Tim |date=June 5, 2018 |title=A Campaign, a Murder, a Legacy: Robert F. Kennedy's California Story |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/us/robert-kennedy-california.html |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Funeral===
Kennedy's body was returned to Manhattan, where it [[lying in repose|lay in repose]] at [[St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York|Saint Patrick's Cathedral]] from approximately 10:00&nbsp;p.m. until 10:00&nbsp;a.m. on June 8.<ref>[[J. Anthony Lukas|Lukas, J. Anthony]]. "Kennedy's Body Is Flown Here For Funeral Rites". ''The New York Times''. June 7, 1968.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/robert-f-kennedy-assassinated-june-5-1968-223826|title=Robert F. Kennedy assassinated, June 5, 1968|first=Andrew|last=Glass|website=Politico|date=June 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824122254/http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/robert-f-kennedy-assassinated-june-5-1968-223826 | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> A [[Requiem|high requiem Mass]] was held at the cathedral at 10:00&nbsp;a.m. on June 8. The service was attended by members of the extended Kennedy family, President Johnson and his wife [[Lady Bird Johnson]], and members of the Johnson [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson#Administration|cabinet]].<ref>
*[[David K. Shipler|Shipler, David K.]] "Family Serves in Funeral Mass". ''The New York Times''. June 9, 1968
* Kilpatrick, Carroll. "Johnsons Attend Kennedy Services". ''The Washington Post''. June 9, 1968.</ref> Ted, the only surviving Kennedy brother, said the following:

{{blockquote|My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: "Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not."<ref name="RFKeulogy">{{cite web|url=http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ekennedytributetorfk.html |title=Edward M. Kennedy Address at the Public Memorial Service for Robert F. Kennedy|website=American Rhetoric: Top 100 Speeches|access-date=August 29, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824122452/http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ekennedytributetorfk.html | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}

[[File:Robert F. Kennedy grave in Arlington National Cemetery.jpg|thumb|upright|Kennedy's gravesite in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]]]
The requiem Mass concluded with the hymn "[[The Battle Hymn of the Republic]]", sung by [[Andy Williams]].<ref name="1968 Year In Review UPI.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1968/Robert-F.-Kennedy-Assassinated/12303153093431-3/|title=Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated|work=UPI|access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref> Immediately following the Mass, Kennedy's body was transported by a special private train to Washington, D.C. Kennedy's [[funeral train]] was pulled by two [[Penn Central]] [[GG1]] electric locomotives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/rfk-funeral-train-1968-06-08.jpg|title=RFK Funeral Train|access-date=April 8, 2020}}</ref> Thousands of mourners lined the tracks and stations along the route, paying their respects as the train passed. The train departed [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|New York Penn Station]] at 12:30&nbsp;pm.<ref name="Rites">"Kennedy Rites Are Announced". ''The Washington Post''. June 7, 1968.</ref> When it arrived in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], an eastbound train on a parallel track to the funeral train hit and killed two spectators and seriously injured four,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.steamlocomotive.com/GG1/funeral.php|title=The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1: Robert F. Kennedy's Funeral Train|website=SteamLocomotive.com|access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref> after they were unable to get off the track in time, even though the eastbound train's engineer had slowed to 30&nbsp;mph for the normally 55&nbsp;mph curve, blown his horn continuously, and rung his bell through the curve.<ref name="ModernRailways">{{cite journal|last=Morgan |first=David P.|date=August 1968|title=The train the nation watched|journal=Modern Railways|publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton, Middlesex|volume=XXIV|issue=239|pages=408–409}}</ref><ref name="Wicker">Wicker, Tom. [https://www.nytimes.com/1968/06/09/archives/president-joins-kennedys-in-tribute-at-graveside-service-for.html "President Joins Kennedys in Tribute at Graveside"]. ''The New York Times''. June 9, 1968.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://hnn.us/node/51186 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130707075428/http://hnn.us/node/51186 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 7, 2013 |title=Robert F. Kennedy and the 82 Days That Inspired America |first=Thurston |last=[[Thurston Clarke|Clarke]] |website=History News Network }}</ref> The normally four-hour trip took more than eight hours because of the thick crowds lining the tracks on the {{convert|225|mi|km|adj=on}} journey.<ref name="ReedThousands">Reed, Roy. "Thousands Visit Kennedy's Grave on Day of Mourning". ''The New York Times''. June 10, 1968.</ref> The train was scheduled to arrive at about 4:30&nbsp;pm,<ref name="WhiteFitt">White, Jean M. "Kennedy to Be Buried Near Brother". ''The Washington Post''. June 7, 1968,</ref><ref name="Madden">Madden, Richard L. "Kennedy Will Be Buried a Few Steps From the Arlington Grave of His Brother". ''The New York Times''. June 8, 1968.</ref> but sticking [[Railway brake|brakes]] on the casket-bearing car contributed to delays,<ref name="ModernRailways" /> and the train finally arrived at Washington, D.C.'s [[Washington Union Station|Union Station]] at 9:10&nbsp;p.m. on June 8.<ref name="ReedThousands" />

===Burial===
{{main|Grave of Robert F. Kennedy}}

Kennedy was buried close to his brother John at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] in [[Arlington, Virginia]], just across the [[Potomac River]] from Washington, D.C.<ref name="1968 Year In Review UPI.com"/> Although he had always maintained that he wished to be buried in Massachusetts, his family believed Robert should be interred in Arlington next to his brother.<ref>Martin, p. 19; Barnes, p. 289.</ref> The procession left Union Station and passed the [[Dirksen Senate Office Building|New Senate Office Building]], where he had his offices, and then proceeded to the [[Lincoln Memorial]], where it paused. The [[Marine Corps Band]] played "[[The Battle Hymn of the Republic]]".<ref name="Wicker" /> The funeral motorcade arrived at the cemetery at 10:24&nbsp;p.m. As the vehicles entered the cemetery, people lining the roadway spontaneously lit candles to guide the motorcade to the burial site.<ref name="Wicker" />

The 15-minute ceremony began at 10:30&nbsp;p.m. [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Patrick O'Boyle (American bishop)|Patrick O'Boyle]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington|Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington]], officiated at the graveside service in lieu of Cardinal [[Richard Cushing]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston|Archbishop of Boston]], who fell ill during the trip.<ref name="ReedThousands"/> Also officiating was Cardinal [[Terence Cooke]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York|Archbishop of New York]].<ref name="Wicker" /> On behalf of the United States, [[John Glenn]] presented the folded flag to Ted Kennedy, who passed it to Robert's eldest son Joe, who passed it to Ethel Kennedy. The [[United States Navy Band|Navy Band]] played "[[Eternal Father, Strong to Save|The Navy Hymn]]".<ref name="Wicker" />

Officials at Arlington National Cemetery said that Kennedy's burial was the only night burial to have taken place at the cemetery.<ref name="Night burial">{{cite web|url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/Robert_F_Kennedy.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000829150136/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/Robert_F_Kennedy.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 29, 2000 |title=Robert F. Kennedy Memorial |publisher=Arlington National Cemetery |access-date=August 29, 2009 }}</ref> (The re-interment of [[Patrick Bouvier Kennedy]], who died two days after his birth in August 1963, and a stillborn daughter, Arabella, both children of President Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, also occurred at night.) After the president was interred in Arlington Cemetery, the two infants were buried next to him on December 5, 1963, in a private ceremony without publicity.<ref name="Wicker"/> His brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, was also buried at night, in 2009.<ref>Barry, Dan. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/us/politics/30kennedy.html "Kennedy Mourners Memorialize 'Soul of the Democratic Party{{'"}}]. ''The New York Times''. August 30, 2009. Accessed July 22, 2012.</ref>

On June 9, President Johnson assigned security staff to all [[United States presidential election|U.S. presidential candidates]] and declared an official [[national day of mourning]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/assassination-the-night-bobby-kennedy-was-shot-432970.html|title=Assassination: The night Bobby Kennedy was shot|date=January 20, 2007|work=The Independent| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824123805/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/assassination-the-night-bobby-kennedy-was-shot-432970.html | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> After the assassination, the mandate of the [[United States Secret Service|U.S. Secret Service]] was altered by Congress to include the protection of U.S. presidential candidates.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/06/05/a-robert-kennedy-legacy-secret-service-for-candidates/|title=A Robert Kennedy legacy: Secret Service for candidates|date=June 5, 2015|first=David|last=Johnson|work=USA Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91122836|title=RFK Assassination Sparked Secret Service Change|date=June 5, 2008|work=NPR}}</ref>

{{Wide image|File:Robert Kennedy Memorial.jpg|2000|The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, built in 1971, across from his gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery}}

==Personal life==
=== Wife and children===
[[File:Kennedy bros.jpg|thumb|The Kennedy brothers from left to right: John, Robert, and Ted, in [[Cape Cod]], [[Massachusetts]], {{Circa|July 1960}}]]
On June 17, 1950, Kennedy married [[Ethel Kennedy|Ethel Skakel]] at St. Mary's Catholic Church in [[Greenwich, Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/ethel-skakel-kennedy|title=Ethel Skakel Kennedy|website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum|access-date=December 12, 2019}}</ref> They first met during a skiing trip to [[Mont Tremblant Resort]] in [[Quebec]], Canada in December 1945.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethel Skakel Kennedy |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/ethel-skakel-kennedy |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref> The couple had 11 children: [[Kathleen Kennedy Townsend|Kathleen]] in 1951, [[Joseph P. Kennedy II|Joseph]] in 1952, [[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.|Robert Jr.]] in 1954, David in 1955, Mary Courtney in 1956, [[Michael LeMoyne Kennedy|Michael]] in 1958, [[Kerry Kennedy|Mary Kerry]] in 1959, [[Christopher G. Kennedy|Christopher]] in 1963, [[Max Kennedy|Maxwell]] in 1965, [[Douglas Harriman Kennedy|Douglas]] in 1967, and [[Rory Kennedy|Rory]] in 1968.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lord |first1=Debbie |title=Robert Kennedy assassination: What happened to RFK's children after he was killed? |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/national/robert-kennedy-assassination-what-happened-rfk-children-after-was-killed/Nu7ndfLSIy7FHbE5tCCgTN/ |agency=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=June 4, 2018}}</ref>

After law school, Kennedy and his wife Ethel lived in a townhouse in [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oppenheimer |first1=Jerry |title=The Other Mrs. Kennedy: An Intimate and Reevaling Look at the Hidden Life of Ethel Skakel Kennedy |date=1995 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |pages=208–209}}</ref><ref>Thomas, p. 69.</ref> In 1952, they moved into a rooming house in [[Boston]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oppenheimer |first1=Jerry |title=The Other Mrs. Kennedy: An Intimate and Reevaling Look at the Hidden Life of Ethel Skakel Kennedy |date=1995 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=194}}</ref> In 1956, the Kennedys purchased [[Hickory Hill (McLean, Virginia)|Hickory Hill]], an estate in [[McLean, Virginia]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethel Skakel Kennedy |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/ethel-skakel-kennedy |website=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref> from Robert's brother John.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hickory Hill: RFK's Virginia Home |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rfk-hickory-hill-robert-and-ethel-kennedys-virginia-home/ |publisher=PBS |access-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502145106/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rfk-hickory-hill-robert-and-ethel-kennedys-virginia-home/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Robert and Ethel held many gatherings at Hickory Hill and were known for their impressive and eclectic guest lists.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{Cite news| url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/21/shock_over_plan_to_sell_rfk_home/ | newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] | title='Shock' over plan to sell RFK home | date=October 21, 2003 | first=Mary | last=Leonard}}</ref> The couple also owned a home in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]] on [[Cape Cod]].<ref>Tye, p. 102.</ref> 

Until 1964, Kennedy maintained a voting address in the [[Beacon Hill, Boston|Beacon Hill]] section of Boston, across from the [[Massachusetts State House]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hilty |first1=James |title=Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector |date=2000 |publisher=Temple University Press |page=47 |quote=both established legal residence in a three-room apartment at 122 Bowdoin Street (Boston). Robert retained this apartment until 1964}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sweeney |first1=Emily |title=John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby shared the same address on Beacon Hill in the 1950 Census|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/19/metro/john-f-kennedy-his-brother-bobby-shared-same-address-1950-census/ |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=24 May 2024 |quote=John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby living at an address near the State House on Beacon Hill.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bobby Gets Into Race for Senate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDhWAAAAIBAJ&dq=1964+kennedy+has+had+his+home+in+Virginia+and+his+voting+residence+in+Massachusetts&pg=PA13&article_id=2473,3757341 |access-date=24 May 2024 |agency=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |date=August 26, 1964 |quote=Kennedy has had his home in Virginia and his voting residence in Massachusetts.}}</ref> When he began preparations to run for the U.S. Senate from New York, Kennedy rented a Colonial home in [[Glen Cove, New York|Glen Cove]], [[Long Island]].<ref>Tye, p. 326.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kennedy Takes Lease on House in Glen Cove, L.I.; He Will Announce Candidacy for Senate Today—Fight Is Pledged by Stratton |work=The New York Times |date=August 25, 1964 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/25/archives/kennedy-takes-lease-on-house-in-glen-cove-li-he-will-announce.html |access-date=24 May 2024 |quote=Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy has taken a lease on a white frame Colonial house in Glen Cove, L. I.}}</ref> In 1965, he purchased an apartment at United Nations Plaza in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{cite web |title=KENNEDY BUYING EAST RIVER SUITE; Gives Up Glen Cove House -- Keeps Virginia Farm |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/06/18/archives/kennedy-buying-east-river-suite-gives-up-glen-cove-house-keeps.html |website=The New York Times |date=June 18, 1965}}</ref>

===Attitudes and approach===
Kennedy's opponents on Capitol Hill maintained that his collegiate magnanimity was sometimes hindered by a tenacious and somewhat impatient manner. His professional life was dominated by the same attitudes that governed his family life: a certainty that good humor and leisure must be balanced by service and accomplishment. Schlesinger comments that Kennedy could be both the most ruthlessly diligent and yet generously adaptable of politicians, at once both temperamental and forgiving. In this he was very much his father's son, lacking truly lasting emotional independence, and yet possessing a great desire to contribute. He lacked the innate self-confidence of his contemporaries yet found a greater self-assurance in the experience of married life; an experience he said had given him a base of self-belief from which to continue his efforts in the public arena.<ref name="Schlesinger">{{Cite book |last=Schlesinger Jr. |first=Arthur M.|year=1978 |title=Robert Kennedy and His Times}}</ref>

Kennedy confessed to possessing a bad temper that required self-control: "My biggest problem as counsel is to keep my temper. I think we all feel that when a witness comes before the United States Senate, he has an obligation to speak frankly and tell the truth. To see people sit in front of us and lie and evade makes me boil inside. But you can't lose your temper; if you do, the witness has gotten the best of you."<ref>Schlesinger, p. 150.</ref>

Attorney Michael O'Donnell wrote, "[Kennedy] offered that most intoxicating of political aphrodisiacs: authenticity. He was blunt to a fault, and his favorite campaign activity was arguing with college students. To many, his idealistic opportunism was irresistible."

<blockquote>In his earlier life, Kennedy had developed a reputation as the family's attack dog. He was a hostile cross-examiner on Joseph McCarthy's Senate committee; a fixer and leg-breaker as JFK's campaign manager; an unforgiving and merciless cutthroat—his father's son right down to Joseph Kennedy's purported observation that "he hates like me." Yet Bobby Kennedy somehow became a liberal icon, an antiwar visionary who tried to outflank Lyndon Johnson's Great Society from the left.<ref name="o'donnell">{{cite news|title=How the Thug Became a Dove|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-thug-became-a-dove-1497042993|author=O'Donnell, Michael|date=June 9, 2017|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|page=C7}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How the Thug Became a Dove|url=http://www.michael-odonnell.com/how-the-thug-became-a-dove/|author=O'Donnell, Michael|date=June 10, 2017|publisher=michael-odonnell.com|access-date=October 19, 2017}}</ref></blockquote>

On Kennedy's ideological development, his brother John once remarked, "He might once have been intolerant of liberals as such because his early experience was with that high-minded, high-speaking kind who never got anything done. That all changed the moment he met a liberal like [[Walter Reuther]]."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Robert Kennedy and His Times, Volute 2|last=Schlesinger|first=Arthur|publisher=Mariner Books|year=2012|isbn=978-1328567567|page=191}}</ref> [[Evan Thomas]] noted that although Kennedy embraced the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] movement to some extent, he remained true to his Catholic outlook and censorious moralism.<ref>Thomas, p. 348.</ref>

===Relationship with family members===
Kennedy's mother Rose found his gentle personality endearing, but this made him "invisible to his father."<ref>Mills, pp. 34–35.</ref> She influenced him heavily and, like her, Robert became a devout [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], practicing his faith more seriously than his siblings over his lifetime.<ref>{{cite book|title=In His Own Right: The Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy|url=https://archive.org/details/inhisownrightpol00pale|url-access=registration|page=2|first=Joseph A.|last=Palermo|year=2002 |publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231120692}}</ref> Joe Sr. was satisfied with Kennedy as an adult, believing him to have become "hard as nails", more like him than any of the other children, while his mother believed he exemplified all she had wanted in a child.<ref name=Mills19>Mills, pp. 18–19.</ref>

In October 1951, Kennedy embarked on a seven-week Asian trip with his brother John (then a U.S. congressman from [[Massachusetts's 11th congressional district|Massachusetts' 11th district]]) and their sister Patricia to Israel, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Japan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYME6Z35nyAC&q=robert+kennedy+seven-week+Asian+trip&pg=PA947 |title=The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia |first=Wilbur R. |last=Miller |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |year=2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821140129/https://books.google.com/books?id=tYME6Z35nyAC&pg=PA947&lpg=PA947&dq=robert%2Bkennedy%2Bseven-week%2BAsian%2Btrip&source=bl&ots=EY8xEGqu-I&sig=5m3nuiVFsaN7rL-pUc7OOv0U4YM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DH5qUfGwG6W3ywH4r4GgCQ&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBTgK |archive-date=August 21, 2016 |url-status=dead |isbn=9781412988766 }}</ref> Because of their age gap, the two brothers had previously seen little of each other—this {{convert|25000|mi|km|adj=on}} trip came at their father's behest<ref name="Thomas58">Thomas, pp. 58–59.</ref> and was the first extended time they had spent together, serving to deepen their relationship. On this trip, the brothers met [[Liaquat Ali Khan]] just before his assassination, and India's prime minister, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon|page=97|first=Larry |last=Tye| publisher=Random House|year=2016|isbn=978-0812993349}}</ref>

===Religious faith and Greek philosophy===
Throughout his life, Kennedy made reference to his faith, how it informed every area of his life, and how it gave him the strength to reenter politics after his brother's assassination.<ref name="npr1">{{Cite web|title=Faith was integral to Bobby Kennedy's life and politics|url=https://www.ncronline.org/books/2022/10/faith-was-integral-bobby-kennedys-life-and-politics}}</ref> Historian Evan Thomas calls Kennedy a "romantic Catholic who believed that it was possible to create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Robert Kennedy: His Life|publisher=Simon & Schuster|date=2000|isbn=0684834804|last1=Thomas|first1=Evan|author-link=Evan Thomas|page=23}}</ref> Journalist [[Murray Kempton]] wrote about Kennedy: "His was not an unresponsive and staid faith, but the faith of a Catholic Radical, perhaps the first successful Catholic Radical in American political history."<ref>Schlesinger, p. 191 Cf. Murray Kempton, ''The Progressive'', September 1960.</ref> Kennedy was deeply shaken by [[anti-Catholicism]] he encountered during his brother's [[John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign|presidential campaign]] in 1960, especially that of Protestant intellectuals and journalists. That year, Kennedy said, "Anti-Catholicism is the anti-semitism of the intellectuals."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Robert Kennedy: His Life|publisher=Simon & Schuster|date=2000|isbn=0684834804|last1=Thomas|first1=Evan|author-link=Evan Thomas|page=395}}</ref>

At his household, Kennedy and his family prayed before meals and bed, and had every bedroom of his children outfitted with a [[Catholic Bible|Bible]], a statue of [[St. Mary]], a [[crucifix]] and [[holy water]]. In their visit to the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] in 1962, [[Pope John XXIII]] gave Robert and Ethel medals of his Pontificate and rosaries for themselves and each of their seven children.<ref name="npr1"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=Robert and Ethel Kennedy Received by Pope John XXIII|date=February 21, 2022 |url=https://www.realtime1960s.com/post/robert-and-ethel-kennedy-received-by-pope-john-xxiii}}</ref> Kennedy also pressured the Catholic hierarchy to move toward [[progressivism]]. In 1966, he visited [[Pope Paul VI]] and urged him to address the misery and poverty of [[South Africa]]'s black population. In 1967, he asked Paul to adapt more liberal rhetoric and extend the Church's appeal to Hispanics and other nationalities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Robert Kennedy: His Life|publisher=Simon & Schuster|date=2000|isbn=0684834804|last1=Thomas|first1=Evan|author-link=Evan Thomas|pages=451–452}}</ref>

In the last years of his life, Kennedy also found solace in the playwrights and poets of Ancient Greece, especially [[Aeschylus]],<ref name="Schlesinger"/> suggested to him by Jacqueline after JFK's death.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Kennedy: His Life|first=Evan|last=Thomas |publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2013|page=22}}</ref> In his Indianapolis speech on April 4, 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Kennedy quoted these lines from Aeschylus:

<blockquote>Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Statement on Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Indianapolis, Indiana, April 4, 1968 |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy/robert-f-kennedy-speeches/statement-on-assassination-of-martin-luther-king-jr-indianapolis-indiana-april-4-1968|access-date=July 16, 2020|publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=February 10, 2014|title=Aeschylus on Suffering and Wisdom|url=https://dwkcommentaries.com/2014/02/10/aeschylus-on-suffering-and-wisdom/|access-date=July 16, 2020|website=dwkcommentaries}}</ref></blockquote>

== Legacy ==
{{Quote box
| width = 275px
| bgcolor = #c6dbf7
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| quote = Kennedy's approach to national problems did not fit neatly into the idealogical categories of his time. ...His was a muscular liberalism, committed to an activist federal government but deeply suspicious of concentrated power and certain that fundamental change would best be achieved at the community level, insistent on responsibilities as well as rights, and convinced that the dynamism of capitalism could be the impetus for broadening national growth.
| source = — [[Edwin O. Guthman]] and C. Richard Allen, 1993{{sfn|Guthman|Allen|1993|p=ix}}
}}

Biographer Evan Thomas wrote that at times Kennedy misused his powers by "modern standards", but concluded, "on the whole, even counting his warts, he was a great attorney general."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Bush-honors-RFK-Kennedy-daughter-blasts-2853939.php|title=Bush honors RFK / Kennedy daughter blasts president, Ashcroft|first=Glen|last=Johnson|date=November 21, 2001|work=[[The Boston Globe]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824131923/http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Bush-honors-RFK-Kennedy-daughter-blasts-2853939.php | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> [[Walter Isaacson]] commented that Kennedy "turned out arguably to be the best attorney general in history", praising him for his championing of civil rights and other initiatives of the administration.<ref>{{cite book|title=Profiles in Leadership: Historians on the Elusive Quality of Greatness|first=Walter|last=Isaacson|page=287|year=2011|isbn=978-0393340761|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company}}</ref> As Kennedy stepped down from being attorney general in September 1964, ''The New York Times'', notably having criticized his appointment three years prior, praised Kennedy for raising the standards of the position.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Legislative Branch of the Federal Government: Purpose, Process, and People |page=215|year=2010|first=Brian|last=Duignan|isbn=978-1615300273|publisher=Rosen Education Service}}</ref> Some of his successor attorneys general have been unfavorably compared to him, for not displaying the same level of poise in the profession.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-22-oe-cole22-story.html|title=Ashcroft Is No Bobby Kennedy|first=David|last=Cole| work=Los Angeles Times |url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824132058/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/22/opinion/oe-cole22 | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/american-society/mr-holder-youre-no-bobby-kennedy/|title=Mr. Holder, You're No Bobby Kennedy|date=September 28, 2014|first=Tara|last=Helfman|work=Commentary}}</ref> Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] cited Kennedy as the inspiration for his belief that the Justice Department could be "a force for that which is right."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-eric-holder-and-robert-f-kennedys-legacy/2014/09/28/8c0b7360-45d2-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html|title=Eric Holder and Rert F. Kennedy's legacy|first=E.J. Jr.|last=Dionne|date=September 28, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

Kennedy has also been praised for his oratorical abilities<ref>{{cite news|date=March 13, 2016|title=What Bobby Kennedy Would Say to Trump|work=POLITICO|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/13/what-bobby-kennedy-would-say-to-trump.html}}</ref> and his skill at creating unity.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/others/Todays-US-political-landscape-could-use-the-healing-magic-of-Bobby-Kennedy.html|title=Bobby Kennedy, a healer between the races needed more than ever in US|date=June 6, 2016|work=Irish Central|first=Larry|last=Tye | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824133957/http://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/others/Todays-US-political-landscape-could-use-the-healing-magic-of-Bobby-Kennedy.html | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> Joseph A. Palermo of ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' observed that Kennedy's words "could cut through social boundaries and partisan divides in a way that seems nearly impossible today."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/robert-f-kennedy-would-be_b_8607490.html|title=Robert F. Kennedy Would Be 90 Years Old Today|date=November 20, 2015|work=Huffington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824134143/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/robert-f-kennedy-would-be_b_8607490.html | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> [[Dolores Huerta]]<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6309127.stm|title=Who was Bobby Kennedy?|date=January 30, 2007|work=BBC News Magazine | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824134450/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> and [[Philip W. Johnston]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/11/20/rfk_what_we_lost/|title=RFK: what we lost|date=November 20, 2005|first=Philip W.|last=Johnston|publisher=boston.com}}</ref> expressed the view that Kennedy, both in his speeches and actions, was unique in his willingness to take political risks. That blunt sincerity was said by associates to be authentic; Frank N. Magill wrote that Kennedy's oratorical skills lent their support to minorities and other disenfranchised groups who began seeing him as an ally.<ref>{{cite book|title=The 20th Century Go-N: Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 8|page=1935|first=Frank N.|last=Magill|year=2014|publisher=Routledge}}</ref>

[[File:Rkennedy05.jpg|thumb|Kennedy campaigning in 1968 (photo by [[Evan Freed]])]]
Kennedy's assassination was a blow to the optimism for a brighter future that his campaign had brought for many Americans who lived through the turbulent 1960s.<ref name="Schlesinger 2002 1978, p. xvi">Schlesinger (2002) [1978], p. xvi.</ref><ref name= newfield>{{cite book|last=Newfield |first=Jack |title=Robert Kennedy: A Memoir |publisher=Penguin Group |edition=reprint |date=1988 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/304 304] |isbn=0-452-26064-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/304 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Bill Clinton: The Inside Story|first=Robert E.|last=Levin|year=1992|page=[https://archive.org/details/billclinton00robe/page/60 60]|isbn=978-1561711772|publisher=S.P.I. Books|url=https://archive.org/details/billclinton00robe/page/60}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Robert F. Kennedy and the 82 Days That Inspired America |url=http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/51186#sthash.q53iPSHc.dpuf|work=History News Network|date=June 8, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824172920/http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/51186 | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> Juan Romero, the busboy who shook hands with Kennedy right before he was shot, later said, "It made me realize that no matter how much hope you have it can be taken away in a second."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11834126/Busboy-describes-Bobby-Kennedys-final-moments.html|title=Busboy describes Bobby Kennedy's final moments|date=August 30, 2015|work=Telegraph | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824173128/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11834126/Busboy-describes-Bobby-Kennedys-final-moments.html | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref>

Kennedy's death has been cited as a significant factor in the Democratic Party's loss of the 1968 presidential election.<ref name= newfield2>{{cite book|last=Newfield |first=Jack |title=Robert Kennedy: A Memoir |publisher=Penguin Group |edition=reprint |date=1988 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/292 292–293] |isbn=0-452-26064-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/292 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2008/06/after_the_assassination.html|title=WHAT IF BOBBY KENNEDY HAD BECOME PRESIDENT?|date=June 1, 2008|work=Slate | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824173515/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2008/06/after_the_assassination.html | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> Since his passing, Kennedy has become generally well-respected by liberals<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/michael-cohen-rfk-dems-revere-article-1.2660354|title=RFK and the Dems who revere him: 48 years after Robert Kennedy's assassination, we should remember him in all his complexity|date=June 5, 2016|work=New York Daily News|author=Michael Cohen | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824173806/http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/michael-cohen-rfk-dems-revere-article-1.2660354 | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> and conservatives, which is far from the polarized views of him during his lifetime.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/06/robert-kennedy-assassination-anniversary|title=Bobby Kennedy: Democratic apostate, political opportunist, liberal idealist ...|first=Michael|last=Cohen|date=June 6, 2013|work=The Guardian}}</ref> [[Joe Scarborough]], [[John Ashcroft]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=20010117&id=s49XAAAAIBAJ&pg=6971,4439837&hl=en|title=Ashcroft: Cites Robert Kennedy as role model|date=January 17, 2001|work=The Spokesman-Review}}</ref> [[Tom Bradley (American politician)|Tom Bradley]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-23-me-39065-story.html|title= Exploring the Legacy of a Fallen Leader : Politics: Friends and family of Robert F. Kennedy say the themes of his 1968 presidential bid have renewed relevancy.
|date=May 23, 1993|work=Los Angeles Times |url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824174048/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-23/local/me-39065_1_robert-kennedy | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> [[Mark Dayton]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/12/28/a-job-that-suits-mark-dayton|first=Mark|last=Zdechlik|date=December 29, 2013|work=MPR News|title=Dayton, a year left in first term, says he has the job he wants – and will seek again | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630181545/http://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/12/28/a-job-that-suits-mark-dayton | archive-date=June 30, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://abcnewspapers.com/2015/02/11/governor-visits-spring-lake-park-high-school/|title=Governor visits Spring Lake Park High School|date=February 11, 2015|work=ABC Newspapers|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701092925/http://abcnewspapers.com/2015/02/11/governor-visits-spring-lake-park-high-school/|archive-date=July 1, 2016}}</ref> [[John Kitzhaber]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/246646-114716-kitzhaber-draws-on-history-inspiration-for-fourth-inauguration-speech|title=Kitzhaber draws on history, inspiration for fourth inauguration speech|date=January 13, 2015|work=Portland Tribune | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824174440/http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/246646-114716-kitzhaber-draws-on-history-inspiration-for-fourth-inauguration-speech | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> [[Max Cleland]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/max-cleland-inspired-by-bobby-kennedy-looks-to-young-joe|title=Max Cleland, Inspired by Bobby Kennedy, Looks to Young Joe|date=October 21, 2012|work=Rollcall|first=Joshua|last=Miller |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824174605/http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/max-cleland-inspired-by-bobby-kennedy-looks-to-young-joe | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> [[Tim Cook]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/06/tim-cook-joins-robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-board/|title=Tim Cook joins Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights' board|date=April 6, 2016|work=Techcrunch}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ceo-tim-cook-joins-board-robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-group-2016-4?r=UK&IR=T|title=Apple CEO Tim Cook is joining the board of a human rights group|date=April 7, 2016|first=Rob|last=Price|work=Business Insider | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824174842/http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ceo-tim-cook-joins-board-robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-group-2016-4?r=UK&IR=T | archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> [[Phil Bredesen]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2010/07/01/governor-reveals-odd-choice-for-role-model-rfk|title=Governor Reveals Odd Choice for Role Model: RFK|first=Jeff|last=Woods|work=Nashville Scene|date=July 1, 2010|access-date=April 20, 2016|archive-date=May 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508131013/http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2010/07/01/governor-reveals-odd-choice-for-role-model-rfk|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Joe Biden]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-human-rights-award-2016-1968-529273|title=Joe Biden Compares 2016 to 1968|date=December 7, 2016|work=Newsweek|first=Lucy|last=Westcott}}</ref> [[J. K. Rowling]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/Ser/invisible/seria/elpepicul/20080208elpepicul_1/Tes|title=Ser invisible ... eso sería lo más|last=Cruz|first=Juan|work=[[El País]]|language=es|date=February 8, 2008|access-date=February 8, 2008}}</ref> [[Jim McGreevey]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://pennpoliticalreview.org/2014/03/an-interview-with-jim-mcgreevey/|date=March 18, 2014|publisher=Penn Political Review|title=An Interview with Jim McGreevey}}</ref> [[Gavin Newsom]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://svlocalmag.com/news/view/7057/A_Conversation_with_California_Lt._Governor_Gavin_Newsome|date=June 10, 2016|publisher=svlocalmag.com|title=A Conversation with California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome }}</ref> and [[Ray Mabus]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/20/navy-to-name-ship-after-robert-kennedy/|title=Navy naming ship after Robert F. Kennedy|date=September 20, 2016|newspaper=Portland Press Herald}}</ref> have acknowledged Kennedy's influence on them. Josh Zeitz of ''[[Politico]]'' observed, "Bobby Kennedy has since become an American folk hero—the tough, crusading liberal gunned down in the prime of life."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/1976-nepotism-law-lyndon-johnson-bobby-kennedy-trump-kushner-214465|title=The Bitter Feud Behind the Law That Could Keep Jared Kushner Out of the White House|first=Josh|last=Zeitz|date=November 17, 2016|work=Politico}}</ref>

Kennedy's (and to a lesser extent his older brother's) ideas about using government authority to assist less fortunate peoples became central to [[American liberalism]] as a tenet of the "Kennedy legacy."<ref>{{cite book| last = Brinkley| first = Alan| title = American History: A Survey| publisher = McGraw–Hill| edition = 12th| date = 2007| page = 846| isbn = 978-0-07-325718-1}}</ref>

==Honors==
[[File:BushDedicatingRFKJusticeDepartmentBuilding.jpg|thumb|President [[George W. Bush]] dedicates the [[Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building|Justice Department building]] in Robert Kennedy's honor as his widow [[Ethel Kennedy]] looks on, {{ca|November 2001}}]]
In the months and years after Kennedy's death, numerous roads, public schools, and other facilities across the United States have been named in his memory. Examples include:
* District of Columbia Stadium in Washington, D.C. was renamed [[Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium]] in 1969.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QfNOAAAAIBAJ&pg=4964%2C5819035 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |agency=Associated Press |title=Stadium renamed for Robert Kennedy |date=January 19, 1968 |page=16A}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1969/01/19/page/56/article/d-c-stadium-name-changed-to-honor-r-f-k |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |agency=UPI |title=D.C. Stadium name changed to honor R.F.K. |date=January 19, 1969 |page=2, section 2}}</ref>
* On November 20, 2001, President [[George W. Bush]] and Attorney General [[John Ashcroft]] dedicated the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Justice as the [[Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/justice.rfk/index.html|title=Bush names Justice Department building for Robert F. Kennedy|date=November 20, 2001|publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824181850/http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/11/20/justice.rfk/index.html |archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> 
* On June 4, 2008, the [[Triborough Bridge]] in New York City was renamed the [[Robert F. Kennedy Bridge|Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/triborough-bridge-is-renamed-for-rfk/ |title=The Triborough Is Officially the R.F.K. Bridge |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 19, 2008 |access-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Jacob |last=Gershman |url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/enduring-wish-may-come-true-in-rfk-bridge/69058/ |date=January 8, 2008 |access-date=January 16, 2018 |title=Enduring Wish May Come True in RFK Bridge |newspaper=The New York Sun |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906194158/http://www.nysun.com/new-york/enduring-wish-may-come-true-in-rfk-bridge/69058/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights]] was founded in 1968, with an [[Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award|international award]] program to recognize human rights activists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rfkcenter.org/robert-f-kennedy/ |title=Robert F. Kennedy's Life & Vision |publisher=Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights |access-date=August 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824180758/http://rfkcenter.org/robert-f-kennedy/ |archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> In a further effort to remember Kennedy and continue his work helping the disadvantaged, a small group of private citizens launched the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps in 1969. The private, nonprofit, Massachusetts-based organization helps more than 800 abused and neglected children each year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rfkchildren.org/about-us/who-we-are/ |title=Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps – Who We Are |publisher=Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps |access-date=August 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824182057/http://www.rfkchildren.org/about-us/who-we-are/ |archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref>

In 1978, the U.S. Congress awarded Kennedy the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] for distinguished service.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=43909|title=Ronald Reagan: Remarks on Presenting the Robert F. Kennedy Medal to Mrs. Ethel Kennedy|website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=June 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824181249/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=43909 |archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref> In 1998, the [[United States Mint]] released the [[Robert F. Kennedy silver dollar]], a special dollar coin that featured Kennedy's image on the obverse and the emblems of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Senate on the reverse.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert F. Kennedy Commemorative Silver Dollar |url=https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/robert-f-kennedy |publisher=[[United States Mint]] |access-date=June 11, 2019 |archive-date=June 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608021050/https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/robert-f-kennedy |url-status=live }}</ref>

Personal items and documents from his office in the Justice Department Building are displayed in a permanent exhibit dedicated to him at the [[John F. Kennedy Library and Museum]] in Boston.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Kennedy's Attorney General Office |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/permanent-exhibits/robert-kennedys-attorney-general-office |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref> Papers from his years as attorney general, senator, peace and civil rights activist and presidential candidate, as well as personal correspondence, are also housed in the library.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/Search.aspx?nav=N:4294885975 |title=Robert F. Kennedy Papers |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=August 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824182919/https://www.jfklibrary.org/Search.aspx?nav=N%3A4294885975 |archive-date=August 24, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.===
{{Quote box
|quote    =  "I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight." "Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in." — Robert Kennedy<ref>{{cite web |title=When Robert Kennedy Delivered the News of Martin Luther King's Assassination |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/emotionally-wounded-robert-kennedy-delivers-news-kings-assassination-180968625/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date= October 21, 2022 }}</ref>
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Several public institutions jointly honor Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.:

* In 1969, the former Woodrow Wilson Junior College, a two-year institution and a constituent campus of the [[City Colleges of Chicago]], was renamed [[Kennedy–King College]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-woodrow-wilson-western-avenue-chicago-flashback-per-1228-jm-20141226-story.html|title=Woodrow Wilson Road didn't go far|date=December 26, 2014|newspaper=Chicago Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824183230/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-woodrow-wilson-western-avenue-chicago-flashback-per-1228-jm-20141226-story.html |archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref>
* In 1994, the ''[[Landmark for Peace Memorial]]'' sculpture was erected in Indianapolis.<ref>{{cite web|title=Landmark for Peace: A tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy|url=http://www.in.gov/visitindiana/blog/index.php/2011/01/14/landmark-for-peace-a-tribute-to-dr-martin-luther-king-and-robert-kennedy/|date=January 14, 2011|last=Nwiltrout|publisher=Indiana Office of Tourism Development|access-date=February 16, 2012|archive-date=July 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726144501/http://www.in.gov/visitindiana/blog/index.php/2011/01/14/landmark-for-peace-a-tribute-to-dr-martin-luther-king-and-robert-kennedy|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title="Robert F. Kennedy on Death of Martin L. King" historical marker|publisher= Indiana Historical Bureau|url=http://www.in.gov/history/markers/470.htm|access-date = March 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824183902/http://www.in.gov/history/markers/470.htm |archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref>

In 2019, Kennedy's "Speech on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." (April 4, 1968) was selected by the [[Library of Congress]] for preservation in the [[National Recording Registry]] for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."<ref>{{cite news |last=Andrews |first=Travis M. |date=March 20, 2019 |title=Jay-Z, a speech by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and 'Schoolhouse Rock!' among recordings deemed classics by Library of Congress |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/jay-z-a-speech-by-sen-robert-f-kennedy-and-schoolhouse-rock-among-recordings-deemed-classics-by-library-of-congress/2019/03/19/f7eb08ea-4a58-11e9-9663-00ac73f49662_story.html?|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref>

==Publications==
* ''[[The Enemy Within (Kennedy book)|The Enemy Within: The McClellan Committee's Crusade Against Jimmy Hoffa and Corrupt Labor Unions]]'' (1960)
* ''Just Friends and Brave Enemies'' (1962)
* ''[[The Pursuit of Justice]]'' (1964)
* ''[[To Seek a Newer World]]'', essays (1967)
* ''[[Thirteen Days (book)|Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis]]'', published posthumously (1969)

==Art, entertainment, and media==
{{Main|Robert F. Kennedy in media}}

Kennedy has been the subject of several documentaries and has appeared in various works of popular culture. Kennedy's role in the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] has been dramatized by [[Martin Sheen]] in the TV play ''[[The Missiles of October]]'' (1974) and by [[Steven Culp]] in ''[[Thirteen Days (film)|Thirteen Days]]'' (2000).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443982904578044623795424306 | title=The Missiles of October | publisher=Dow Jones & Company, Inc. | work=The Wall Street Journal | date=October 15, 2012 | access-date=August 19, 2016 | author=Teachout, Terry|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819201026/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443982904578044623795424306|archive-date=August 19, 2016 }}</ref> The film ''[[Bobby (2006 film)|Bobby]]'' (2006) is the story of multiple people's lives leading up to RFK's assassination. The film employs stock footage from his presidential campaign, and he is briefly portrayed by Dave Fraunces.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.21ststreetfilms.com/about/ | title=About 21st Street Films | publisher=21st Street Films | access-date=August 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819203119/http://www.21ststreetfilms.com/about/|archive-date=August 19, 2016 }}</ref> [[Barry Pepper]] won an Emmy for his portrayal of Kennedy in ''[[The Kennedys (TV miniseries)|The Kennedys]]'' (2011), an eight-part miniseries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/07/15/barry-pepper-says-kennedys-emmy-nods-a-wonderful-validation/|title=Barry Pepper Says 'Kennedys' Emmy Nods a 'Wonderful Validation'|date=July 15, 2011|newspaper=wsj.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://theweek.com/articles/463869/9-actors-who-have-played-john-f-kennedy|title=9 actors who have played John F. Kennedy|date=November 8, 2013|publisher=theweek.com}}</ref> He is played by [[Peter Sarsgaard]] in the film about Jacqueline Kennedy, ''[[Jackie (2016 film)|Jackie]]'' (2016).<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/peter-sarsgaard-robert-kennedy-natalie-portman-jackie-1201628093/|title=Peter Sarsgaard to Play Robert Kennedy Opposite Natalie Portman in 'Jackie' (Exclusive)|date=October 28, 2015|magazine=Variety.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/28/peter-sarsgaard-robert-f-kennedy-natalie-portman|title=Peter Sarsgaard set to play Robert F Kennedy opposite Natalie Portman|date=October 28, 2015|first=Nigel M.|last=Smith|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> He is played by [[Jack Huston]] in [[Martin Scorsese]]'s film ''[[The Irishman]]'' (2019).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/11/15/the-irishman-another-hit-for-deniro-pacino-scorsese/|title='The Irishman' another hit for DeNiro, Pacino, Scorsese|publisher=bostonherald.com|date=November 15, 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Civil rights movement|Law|United States|Politics}}
* [[List of assassinated American politicians]]
* [[List of peace activists]]
* [[List of United States Congress members killed or wounded in office]]
* [[List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–1999)]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Altschuler |first=Bruce E. |date=Summer 1980 |title=Kennedy Decides to Run: 1968 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=10 |issue=3: Why Great Men are, or Are Not, Elected President |pages=348–352 |issn=0360-4918 |jstor=27547591}}
* Barnes, John A. ''Irish-American Landmarks''. Canton, Mich.: Visible Ink, 1995.
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Stuart Gerry |year=1972 |title=The Presidency on Trial: Robert Kennedy's 1968 Campaign and Afterwards |publisher=U. Press of Hawaiʻi |location=Honolulu |isbn=0-8248-0202-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/presidencyontria00brow }}
* {{cite book |last=Burner |first=David |author2=West, Thomas R. |year=1984 |title=The Torch Is Passed: The Kennedy Brothers and American Liberalism |publisher=Atheneum |location=New York |isbn=0-689-11438-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/torchispassedken00burn }}
* {{cite book |last=Dooley |first=Brian |year=1996 |title=Robert Kennedy: The Final Years |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's |isbn=0-312-16130-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Goldfarb |first=Ronald |year=1995 |title=Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes: Robert F. Kennedy's War against Organized Crime |url=https://archive.org/details/perfectvillainsi00gold |url-access=registration |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=0-679-43565-4 }}
* Grubin, David, director and producer, ''RFK''. Video. (DVD, VHS). 2hr. WGBH Educ. Found. and David Grubin Productions, 2004. Distrib. by PBS Video.
* {{cite book| editor-last = Guthman| editor-first = Edwin O.| editor-last2 = Allen| editor-first2 = C. Richard| title = RFK: Collected Speeches| publisher = Viking| date = 1993| location = New York City| isbn = 0-670-84873-5| url = https://archive.org/details/es00robe}}
* Haas, Lawrence J. ''The Kennedys in the World: How Jack, Bobby, and Ted Remade America's Empire'' (2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Kennedys-World-Remade-Americas-Empire/dp/1640123849/ excerpt]
* {{cite book| last = Hersh | first = Burton | title = Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America | publisher = Basic Books | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0786719822 | url = https://archive.org/details/bobbyjedgarhisto00hers }}
* Hilty, James M. ''Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector'' (1997), vol. 1 to 1963. Temple U. Press., 1997.
* Martin, Zachary J. ''The Mindless Menace of Violence: Robert F. Kennedy's Vision and the Fierce Urgency of Now''. Lanham, Md.: Hamilton Books, 2009.
* {{cite book|title=Robert Kennedy|first=Judie|last=Mills|year=1998|isbn=978-1562942502|publisher=Millbrook Press|url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedy00mill}}
* {{cite book |last1=Langguth |first1=A. J. |title=Our Vietnam: The War 1954-1975 |date=2000 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-7432-1231-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Melanson |first=Philip H. |title=The Robert F. Kennedy Assassination: New Revelations on the Conspiracy and Cover-Up, 1968-1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9Ex5XwDE4IC|date=June 1, 1991|location=New York|publisher=Shapolsky Publishers|isbn = 978-1561713240|author-link=Philip H. Melanson}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Murphy |first=John M. |year=1990 |title='A Time of Shame and Sorrow': Robert F. Kennedy and the American Jeremiad |journal=Quarterly Journal of Speech |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=401–414 |doi=10.1080/00335639009383933 |issn=0033-5630}} RFK's speech after the death of Martin Luther King in 1968.
* Navasky, Victor S. (1972). ''Kennedy Justice''. Argues the policies of RFK's Justice Department show the conservatism of justice, the limits of charisma, the inherent tendency in a legal system to support the status quo, and the counterproductive results of many of Kennedy's endeavors in the field of civil rights and crime control.
*  Neff, James (2015). ''Vendetta: Bobby Kennedy Versus Jimmy Hoffa''. [https://www.amazon.com/Vendetta-Bobby-Kennedy-Versus-Jimmy/dp/0316067423/ Excerpt].
* {{cite book|last=Newfield|first=Jack| author-link = Jack Newfield |title=RFK: A Memoir|publisher=Nation Books|year=2003}}
* {{cite book|last=Niven|first=David|title=The Politics of Injustice: The Kennedys, the Freedom Rides, and the Electoral Consequences of a Moral Compromise|publisher=U. of Tennessee Press|year=2003}}
* {{cite book|last=Palermo|first=Joseph A.|title=In His Own Right: The Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy|url=https://archive.org/details/inhisownrightpol00pale|url-access=registration|publisher=Columbia U. Press|year=2001|isbn=9780231120685 }}
* {{cite book | last = Schlesinger | first = Arthur M. Jr. | author-link = Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. | title = Robert Kennedy and His Times | url = https://archive.org/details/robertkenn00schl | url-access = registration | year = 1978 | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | location = Boston | isbn = 978-0-395-24897-3 }} [[National Book Award]].
* Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. (2002) [1978], ''Robert Kennedy and His Times'', Mariner Books-Houghton Mifflin Co., {{ISBN|978-0-618-21928-5}}.
* {{cite book|last=Schmitt|first=Edward R.|title=President of the Other America: Robert Kennedy and the Politics of Poverty|publisher=UMass Press|year=2010}} {{ISBN|1-55849-730-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Shesol|first=Jeff|title=Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade|url=https://archive.org/details/mutualcontemptly00shes|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=W.W. Norton |isbn=9780393040784}}
* Schmitt, Edward R. (2010) ''President of the Other America: Robert Kennedy and the Politics of Poverty''. University of Massachusetts Press {{ISBN|978-1-55849-730-6}}. 324 pp.
* Sullivan, Patricia (2021). ''Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy's America in Black and White''. Harvard University Press.
* {{cite book| last = Thomas | first = Evan | title = Robert Kennedy: His Life | publisher = Simon & Schuster | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0743203296 | url = https://archive.org/details/robertkennedy00thom }} [https://archive.org/details/robertkennedy00thom online free]
* {{cite book | last = Tye | first = Larry | title = Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon | publisher = Random House | year = 2016 | isbn = 978-0812993349 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links |wikt=no |commons=Robert F. Kennedy |b=no |n=no |q=Robert F. Kennedy |s=Robert Francis Kennedy |v=no |voy=no |species=no |author=yes}} 
* [https://vault.fbi.gov/Robert%20F.%20Kennedy%20 FBI Records: The Vault – Robert F. Kennedy] at fbi.gov
* [https://www.justice.gov/ag/bio/kennedy-robert-francis Biography] at United States Department of Justice
* {{CongBio|K000114}}
* [http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people/Kennedy,+Robert Annotated Bibliography for Robert F. Kennedy from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804025956/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people%2FKennedy%2C+Robert |date=August 4, 2010 }})
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rfk/index.html ''American Experience'': RFK] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209104855/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rfk/index.html |date=February 9, 2017 }}), [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]
* [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rfkonmlkdeath.html Text, Audio, and Video of Robert Kennedy's Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061003184041/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Reference%2BDesk/Speeches/EMK/Tribute%2Bto%2BSenator%2BRobert%2BF.%2BKennedy.htm Edward Kennedy eulogy to Robert Kennedy (text and audio)]
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042203088_pf.html My Father's Stand on Cuba Travel] by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, ''The Washington Post'', April 23, 2009
* [http://radiotapes.com/specialpostings.html Radio airchecks/recordings] of the shooting and death of Senator Kennedy including Mutual Radio's Andrew West's shooting coverage, continued live coverage from CBS Radio, announcements of RFK's death, CBS Radio's complete coverage of funeral mass St. Patrick's Cathedral, and CBS Radio coverage of the train arrival of RFK's body in Washington DC.
* [http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?m=KTTV%20Channel%2011%20-%20Robert%20F.%20Kennedy%20Assassination%20Coverage KTTV assassination coverage] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924020307/http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?m=KTTV%20Channel%2011%20-%20Robert%20F.%20Kennedy%20Assassination%20Coverage |date=September 24, 2015 }}) at [[The Museum of Classic Chicago Television]]
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/Robert%20F%20Kennedy%20%28Assassination%29%20 FBI file on the RFK assassination]
* [http://www.lib.umassd.edu/archives/swain/rfk-assassination-archives "The Robert F. Kennedy Assassination Archives"]—A collection within the [[University of Massachusetts Dartmouth#Claire T. Carney Library|University of Massachusetts Dartmouth]] Archives and Special Collections established in 1984
* {{C-SPAN|2428}}

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