Rembering RFK: An Icon for Modern Liberalism
June 4, 1968 was a hot summer day in California at the Ambassador Hotel. Citizens rallied in support for the promise of a new and brighter tomorrow, and Bobby was to be the one that was going to provide it to them. Senator Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for President of the United States earlier that year.
The 1960’s were an interesting but turbulent time in our history. It was wrought with the constant threat of complete and total annihilation whether it be through war, poverty, racism or uprising. The citizens of the United States were questioning the country’s motivation for the conflict with Vietnam. Many believed it to be a senseless war, others believed it to be the early indications of capitalism winning the battle since this could have been a clear case of war profiteering. Both suspicions about the Vietnam War point to the fact that it was indeed a senseless conflict with no tried and true reason for being there. When the powers that be were asked, there was never a definitive answer given as to why we were there.
As the body count in the war reached record numbers, Robert Kennedy remained a cut above the rest in the thinking. Bobby believed more and more with each passing day that the US needed to withdraw from Vietnam. He sympathized with the citizens of the country in their beliefs; they questioned the policies of a country known for its greatness. It was those same policies that were dividing the US in the growing movement for modern liberalism of which Bobby advocated.
Within four years of taking the New York senate seat, Bobby publicly split with President Johnson over the Vietnam War. Unlike today, it was not a regular occurrence to question the powers that reside over the US. The last time that there was any major changes that were attempting to be made in our nation’s policy, they were assassinated to protect the interests as they were; that was the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, older brother of Bobby.
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