1 00:00:01,166 --> 00:00:06,633 MAN: And now, it is my privilege and honor 2 00:00:06,633 --> 00:00:08,800 to introduce Robert Kennedy. 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,800 (cheers and applause) 4 00:00:19,100 --> 00:00:23,200 NARRATOR: On a hot August night in 1964, 5 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,866 Robert F. Kennedy mounted the podium 6 00:00:25,866 --> 00:00:28,666 at the Democratic convention in Atlantic City. 7 00:00:31,266 --> 00:00:34,466 JOHN SEIGENTHALER: It was first a rumble and then a roar 8 00:00:34,466 --> 00:00:38,066 and pretty soon, it just consumed the whole place 9 00:00:38,066 --> 00:00:40,033 and they would not stop. 10 00:00:40,033 --> 00:00:41,266 (cheers and applause) 11 00:00:41,266 --> 00:00:42,433 Mr. Chairman... 12 00:00:42,433 --> 00:00:43,933 SEIGENTHALER: They simply would not stop. 13 00:00:43,933 --> 00:00:45,500 Mr. Chairman... 14 00:00:45,500 --> 00:00:48,900 SEIGENTHALER: I don't know, 15, 16, 17, 18 minutes, 15 00:00:48,900 --> 00:00:51,166 I don't remember how long it was. 16 00:00:51,166 --> 00:00:54,066 I only remember that I couldn't stop crying. 17 00:00:54,066 --> 00:00:56,833 ♪ ♪ 18 00:00:56,833 --> 00:00:59,400 ANTHONY LEWIS: It didn't surprise me 19 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:00,933 that they would not let him speak, 20 00:01:00,933 --> 00:01:02,966 not let him... you know, not let go of him. 21 00:01:02,966 --> 00:01:05,400 (cheering continues) 22 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,866 He was the representation of what they had lost. 23 00:01:13,233 --> 00:01:16,800 And if the delegates had a sense of loss, 24 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,966 imagine what his feelings were. 25 00:01:20,966 --> 00:01:23,166 Every day, every hour, every minute, 26 00:01:23,166 --> 00:01:26,466 he felt the loss of his brother. 27 00:01:26,466 --> 00:01:28,066 NARRATOR: Ten months before, 28 00:01:28,066 --> 00:01:32,033 President John Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. 29 00:01:32,033 --> 00:01:36,233 Bobby had given his life to his brother, 30 00:01:36,233 --> 00:01:40,333 as confidant, protector, lightning rod. 31 00:01:40,333 --> 00:01:43,600 Now his brother was gone, 32 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,600 and he was left to carry on, alone. 33 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,600 JACK NEWFIELD: He was not really built for the spotlight, 34 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,500 he was built for the wings. 35 00:01:55,500 --> 00:01:58,433 He had to fight against a basic shyness, 36 00:01:58,433 --> 00:02:00,800 a basic nervousness in public. 37 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:05,466 Many times, I would stand behind the stage 38 00:02:05,466 --> 00:02:08,400 and I would see his leg shaking during his speech, 39 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,433 or his hands shaking. 40 00:02:10,433 --> 00:02:12,200 He wasn't a natural. 41 00:02:14,333 --> 00:02:19,033 But that all had to change when his brother was assassinated. 42 00:02:19,033 --> 00:02:23,566 And I think change is the motif of his whole life and career. 43 00:02:23,566 --> 00:02:26,366 (cheering continues) 44 00:02:26,366 --> 00:02:28,466 JEFF SHESOL: He really becomes something much larger 45 00:02:28,466 --> 00:02:31,400 than what he was when he began. 46 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,533 He becomes stronger through suffering. 47 00:02:37,666 --> 00:02:40,100 NARRATOR: The pandemonium went on for 22 long minutes. 48 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:48,400 As the crowd grew quiet, he bared his grief, 49 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:49,966 enshrining his brother 50 00:02:49,966 --> 00:02:54,000 in words from "Romeo and Juliet." 51 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:55,166 KENNEDY: When I think of... 52 00:02:55,166 --> 00:02:57,166 President Kennedy, 53 00:02:57,166 --> 00:03:00,233 I think of... 54 00:03:00,233 --> 00:03:04,266 what Shakespeare said in "Romeo and Juliet," 55 00:03:04,266 --> 00:03:06,433 that, "When he shall die, 56 00:03:06,433 --> 00:03:09,100 "take him and cut him out in little stars, 57 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:12,300 "and he shall make the face of Heaven so fine 58 00:03:12,300 --> 00:03:15,400 "that all the world will be in love with night, 59 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,000 and pay no worship to the garish sun." 60 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:24,500 (applause) 61 00:03:30,700 --> 00:03:32,400 NARRATOR: When he was finished speaking, 62 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:38,366 he left the hall, sat on a fire escape, and wept. 63 00:03:40,233 --> 00:03:44,633 ♪ ♪ 64 00:03:56,166 --> 00:04:02,200 ♪ ♪ 65 00:04:13,266 --> 00:04:15,933 NARRATOR: In the spring of 1952, 66 00:04:15,933 --> 00:04:18,533 Massachusetts Congressman John Kennedy 67 00:04:18,533 --> 00:04:20,733 was keeping up a brave face 68 00:04:20,733 --> 00:04:23,133 while his campaign for the United States Senate 69 00:04:23,133 --> 00:04:26,133 unraveled into chaos. 70 00:04:26,133 --> 00:04:27,533 He desperately needed 71 00:04:27,533 --> 00:04:31,200 a tough, disciplined campaign manager. 72 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,533 As he would for the rest of his life, 73 00:04:33,533 --> 00:04:35,800 he reached out to his kid brother. 74 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:40,233 Bobby didn't want to do it-- he already had a job, 75 00:04:40,233 --> 00:04:43,833 working as a lawyer in the Justice Department. 76 00:04:43,833 --> 00:04:48,533 But Robert F. Kennedy knew what his family expected. 77 00:04:48,533 --> 00:04:50,266 For the next 12 years, 78 00:04:50,266 --> 00:04:52,633 he would devote himself to Jack, 79 00:04:52,633 --> 00:04:56,400 putting his brother's ambitions before his own. 80 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,133 That had been the great lesson of his childhood. 81 00:05:00,133 --> 00:05:03,766 ♪ ♪ 82 00:05:03,766 --> 00:05:07,133 As the third boy and the seventh of nine children, 83 00:05:07,133 --> 00:05:11,100 Bobby Kennedy easily got lost. 84 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:13,433 He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, 85 00:05:13,433 --> 00:05:17,000 on November 20, 1925. 86 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,666 All through his early years, he struggled just to keep up. 87 00:05:20,666 --> 00:05:22,800 ♪ ♪ 88 00:05:29,766 --> 00:05:32,366 EVAN THOMAS: Everything was a competition, 89 00:05:32,366 --> 00:05:35,600 within the family and without. 90 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,633 They still talk, at this little yacht club in Hyannis, 91 00:05:38,633 --> 00:05:40,366 about how the Kennedys cheated 92 00:05:40,366 --> 00:05:43,166 by adding more sailcloth to their boats. 93 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:46,000 The Kennedys were very competitive, 94 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,800 and they wanted to win at everything they did. 95 00:05:50,266 --> 00:05:52,900 NARRATOR: "We don't want any losers around here," 96 00:05:52,900 --> 00:05:55,666 Joseph Kennedy told all his children. 97 00:05:55,666 --> 00:05:58,700 "In this family, we want winners. 98 00:05:58,700 --> 00:06:02,166 "Don't come in second or third-- that doesn't count. 99 00:06:02,166 --> 00:06:03,133 Win." 100 00:06:05,633 --> 00:06:07,833 Bobby's father was the towering figure 101 00:06:07,833 --> 00:06:09,866 in his childhood. 102 00:06:09,866 --> 00:06:12,233 Joseph P. Kennedy had made millions 103 00:06:12,233 --> 00:06:15,400 with shrewd investments in the stock market, the movies, 104 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,933 and, some say, by bootlegging liquor, 105 00:06:18,933 --> 00:06:21,300 but he wanted more out of life than money. 106 00:06:21,300 --> 00:06:25,466 He wanted his two oldest sons, Joe Jr. and Jack, 107 00:06:25,466 --> 00:06:27,966 to win elected office, 108 00:06:27,966 --> 00:06:33,500 and even more, he wanted Joe Jr. to become president someday. 109 00:06:33,500 --> 00:06:35,266 ROBERT DALLEK: This would give the family 110 00:06:35,266 --> 00:06:38,000 a kind of visibility, a kind of cachet, 111 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,800 a kind of social status 112 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,200 that Joe Kennedy was very hungry for. 113 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,066 And the children imbibed this ambition. 114 00:06:47,333 --> 00:06:48,900 NARRATOR: While Joe's attention was lavished 115 00:06:48,900 --> 00:06:51,166 on his two oldest boys, 116 00:06:51,166 --> 00:06:53,200 Bobby quietly took his place 117 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:58,466 among the younger children-- the girls. 118 00:06:58,466 --> 00:07:02,366 He was small, awkward, shy. 119 00:07:02,366 --> 00:07:06,833 His father described him as the family "runt." 120 00:07:06,833 --> 00:07:08,166 He would set out to prove 121 00:07:08,166 --> 00:07:10,433 he was as tough as his brothers. 122 00:07:12,233 --> 00:07:15,433 When he was only four, he dove off the family sailboat 123 00:07:15,433 --> 00:07:18,933 in a desperate attempt to prove he could swim ashore. 124 00:07:18,933 --> 00:07:22,500 As he was going under, Joe Jr. had to haul him out. 125 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:26,100 "It either showed a lot of guts," Jack said later, 126 00:07:26,100 --> 00:07:28,233 "or no sense at all." 127 00:07:28,233 --> 00:07:31,066 THOMAS: And that's how Bobby got his father's attention, 128 00:07:31,066 --> 00:07:32,533 by being the tough guy. 129 00:07:32,533 --> 00:07:34,600 But beneath that toughness, 130 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,900 there was always this softness and this sensitivity. 131 00:07:36,900 --> 00:07:39,666 ♪ ♪ 132 00:07:39,666 --> 00:07:42,033 He was a mama's boy. 133 00:07:42,033 --> 00:07:45,466 In fact, his grandmother worried that he was too much of a sissy, 134 00:07:45,466 --> 00:07:46,933 too much of a girlie-boy, 135 00:07:46,933 --> 00:07:50,700 because he clung to his mother's skirts. 136 00:07:50,700 --> 00:07:53,366 NARRATOR: Rose Kennedy was a devout Catholic, 137 00:07:53,366 --> 00:07:58,100 and Bobby absorbed her religious intensity. 138 00:07:58,100 --> 00:08:00,633 He made his first communion when he was seven 139 00:08:00,633 --> 00:08:02,533 and went on to become an altar boy 140 00:08:02,533 --> 00:08:05,566 and attend a school run by Benedictine monks. 141 00:08:07,533 --> 00:08:10,000 Bobby Kennedy grew up with a strong sense 142 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,500 of right and wrong, good and evil. 143 00:08:13,500 --> 00:08:15,533 Like his brothers, he was toughened 144 00:08:15,533 --> 00:08:18,400 by the rigorous demands of his father, 145 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,700 but he disguised, as well, a gentler nature. 146 00:08:22,700 --> 00:08:24,400 Bobby, a friend said, 147 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,866 was "truly in touch with his emotions." 148 00:08:27,866 --> 00:08:32,133 He was saved by being "overlooked." 149 00:08:35,966 --> 00:08:39,633 When World War II began, Bobby was in high school 150 00:08:39,633 --> 00:08:41,633 and chafed to get into the action, 151 00:08:41,633 --> 00:08:43,633 like his two older brothers. 152 00:08:43,633 --> 00:08:47,633 He flushed with pride when Jack became a hero, 153 00:08:47,633 --> 00:08:49,100 rescuing most of his crew 154 00:08:49,100 --> 00:08:54,066 after his PT boat was sliced in two by a Japanese destroyer. 155 00:08:54,066 --> 00:08:56,700 But disaster was to follow 156 00:08:56,700 --> 00:08:59,600 and determine the direction of Bobby's life. 157 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,100 ♪ ♪ 158 00:09:02,100 --> 00:09:04,400 In the summer of 1944, 159 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,800 Joe Jr. volunteered for a near-suicidal mission: 160 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:13,300 to pilot a plane loaded with dynamite toward an enemy target 161 00:09:13,300 --> 00:09:16,333 and then parachute to safety. 162 00:09:16,333 --> 00:09:21,133 His plane exploded before he ever got there. 163 00:09:23,066 --> 00:09:25,433 Joe Jr. was dead, 164 00:09:25,433 --> 00:09:29,000 along with all the hopes his father had invested in him. 165 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,566 Now it would be up to Jack 166 00:09:32,566 --> 00:09:35,400 to realize his father's ambitions. 167 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,500 And it would become Bobby's role to help him. 168 00:09:39,966 --> 00:09:43,500 But Bobby was young-- only 18-- 169 00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:47,833 still struggling to determine his own destiny. 170 00:09:47,833 --> 00:09:51,200 ♪ ♪ 171 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,366 In 1948 he graduated from Harvard, 172 00:09:55,366 --> 00:09:59,333 went on to law school, 173 00:09:59,333 --> 00:10:03,533 and then became the first of the Kennedy boys to settle down. 174 00:10:05,866 --> 00:10:10,200 24 years old, he married Ethel Skakel-- 175 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,266 wealthy, outgoing, athletic, 176 00:10:13,266 --> 00:10:17,200 so devout she had almost become a nun. 177 00:10:20,666 --> 00:10:27,400 A year later, the first of his 11 children was born. 178 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:33,566 When it came to those he loved, Bobby was tender, maternal, 179 00:10:33,566 --> 00:10:39,033 but he turned a hardened face to the world. 180 00:10:39,033 --> 00:10:42,266 THOMAS: He was particularly edgy and volatile 181 00:10:42,266 --> 00:10:46,033 and, I think, unhappy when he was in his early 20s. 182 00:10:46,033 --> 00:10:47,500 He was an angry young man. 183 00:10:47,500 --> 00:10:49,400 I mean, he was always getting into fistfights. 184 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,200 I mean, his temper was about that far from the surface. 185 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,066 NARRATOR: In 1952, 186 00:10:55,066 --> 00:10:58,233 when he managed his brother's victorious run for the Senate, 187 00:10:58,233 --> 00:11:02,500 Robert Kennedy gained a reputation as "ruthless," 188 00:11:02,500 --> 00:11:06,100 a rude, arrogant, impatient kid. 189 00:11:06,100 --> 00:11:08,866 But he shrugged off complaints. 190 00:11:08,866 --> 00:11:12,100 "I don't care if anyone around here likes me," Bobby said, 191 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:14,666 "as long as they like Jack." 192 00:11:15,966 --> 00:11:18,166 Now with Jack in the Senate, 193 00:11:18,166 --> 00:11:21,166 Bobby would darken his reputation further 194 00:11:21,166 --> 00:11:24,300 when his father got him a job with a family friend, 195 00:11:24,300 --> 00:11:27,300 one of the most controversial men in America: 196 00:11:27,300 --> 00:11:31,133 Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. 197 00:11:31,133 --> 00:11:34,166 Any man who has been given the honor 198 00:11:34,166 --> 00:11:37,366 of being promoted to general and who says, 199 00:11:37,366 --> 00:11:41,000 "I will protect another general who protects communists," 200 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,133 is not fit to wear that uniform, General! 201 00:11:44,133 --> 00:11:48,933 NARRATOR: In 1953, Bobby enlisted in McCarthy's crusade 202 00:11:48,933 --> 00:11:50,333 against what both men saw 203 00:11:50,333 --> 00:11:54,133 as the evil of communism in America. 204 00:11:54,133 --> 00:11:56,133 DALLEK: Robert Kennedy in the 1950s 205 00:11:56,133 --> 00:11:57,700 was very much his father's son. 206 00:11:57,700 --> 00:12:01,033 His father was fiercely anti-communist. 207 00:12:01,033 --> 00:12:05,366 Joe Kennedy saw Joe McCarthy as doing the Lord's work. 208 00:12:05,366 --> 00:12:07,433 THOMAS: History thinks of Joe McCarthy 209 00:12:07,433 --> 00:12:09,500 as this virulent Red-baiter, 210 00:12:09,500 --> 00:12:12,533 but Bobby Kennedy was a black-and-white moralist 211 00:12:12,533 --> 00:12:14,233 at this stage of his life. 212 00:12:14,233 --> 00:12:16,366 And the communists were the bad guys, 213 00:12:16,366 --> 00:12:18,633 and anybody who was against the communists 214 00:12:18,633 --> 00:12:20,666 was therefore a good guy. 215 00:12:20,666 --> 00:12:23,966 And so, he liked the kind of black-and-white morality 216 00:12:23,966 --> 00:12:26,566 that Joe McCarthy was selling. 217 00:12:26,566 --> 00:12:28,066 RONALD STEEL: What was striking about Bobby 218 00:12:28,066 --> 00:12:32,500 was not that he worked for Joe McCarthy so much, 219 00:12:32,500 --> 00:12:34,300 but rather that he admired Joe McCarthy, 220 00:12:34,300 --> 00:12:36,966 and became very close to Joe McCarthy. 221 00:12:36,966 --> 00:12:41,866 So when McCarthy was conducting his investigations 222 00:12:41,866 --> 00:12:44,266 into suspected communists, 223 00:12:44,266 --> 00:12:48,233 Bobby enthusiastically joined in this role. 224 00:12:48,233 --> 00:12:51,033 NARRATOR: Bobby worked for McCarthy for six months, 225 00:12:51,033 --> 00:12:52,400 then moved on, 226 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:57,133 still grimly determined to root out evil in America. 227 00:12:57,133 --> 00:12:59,333 I decline to answer this question 228 00:12:59,333 --> 00:13:02,300 on the grounds that the answer may tend to incriminate me. 229 00:13:02,300 --> 00:13:04,100 I decline to answer on the ground... 230 00:13:04,100 --> 00:13:05,533 MAN: The answer... 231 00:13:05,533 --> 00:13:09,266 (stammers): The answer may... tend on recriminate myself. 232 00:13:09,266 --> 00:13:11,766 KENNEDY: Somebody that's been as successful as you 233 00:13:11,766 --> 00:13:14,700 can remember how to say, "I decline to answer the question," 234 00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:15,866 so don't put that act on. 235 00:13:15,866 --> 00:13:17,066 MAN: I wanted to make sure. 236 00:13:17,066 --> 00:13:18,200 KENNEDY: Yeah. 237 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:19,733 NARRATOR: As chief legal counsel 238 00:13:19,733 --> 00:13:22,533 for what became known as the Senate Rackets Committee, 239 00:13:22,533 --> 00:13:25,766 Bobby began probing into labor unions and mobsters, 240 00:13:25,766 --> 00:13:29,633 grilling some of the toughest gangsters in America. 241 00:13:31,300 --> 00:13:35,166 But no one rankled him more than Jimmy Hoffa. 242 00:13:35,166 --> 00:13:37,966 Hoffa was president of the Brotherhood of Teamsters, 243 00:13:37,966 --> 00:13:40,166 the country's largest, richest 244 00:13:40,166 --> 00:13:43,200 and one of its most corrupt unions. 245 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:47,733 Bobby said he detected in Hoffa "absolute evilness." 246 00:13:47,733 --> 00:13:49,300 KENNEDY: Did you say anything to the effect 247 00:13:49,300 --> 00:13:51,800 that the jury treated you very well, 248 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:53,600 and that you thought that you could do very well 249 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:54,833 before a jury? 250 00:13:54,833 --> 00:13:55,900 You know, that's pretty ridiculous. 251 00:13:55,900 --> 00:13:56,900 KENNEDY: Did you say anything... 252 00:13:56,900 --> 00:13:58,033 I did not! 253 00:13:58,033 --> 00:13:59,633 And I appeal to the chair 254 00:13:59,633 --> 00:14:01,533 that that be taken out of the record! 255 00:14:01,533 --> 00:14:04,033 ♪ ♪ 256 00:14:04,033 --> 00:14:05,933 NARRATOR: Bobby turned his investigation of Hoffa 257 00:14:05,933 --> 00:14:07,433 into a holy cause, 258 00:14:07,433 --> 00:14:10,333 holding hearings month after month 259 00:14:10,333 --> 00:14:13,433 and calling more than 1,500 witnesses. 260 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,466 Punishing Hoffa became a crusade. 261 00:14:18,466 --> 00:14:20,933 You've got people in Detroit, at least 15, 262 00:14:20,933 --> 00:14:23,166 who have police records. 263 00:14:23,166 --> 00:14:25,466 You've got Joey Glimco in Chicago. 264 00:14:25,466 --> 00:14:26,900 I say you're not tough enough 265 00:14:26,900 --> 00:14:28,300 to get rid of these people, then. 266 00:14:28,300 --> 00:14:31,066 NARRATOR: But Hoffa was contemptuous. 267 00:14:31,066 --> 00:14:32,933 He denied any wrongdoing, 268 00:14:32,933 --> 00:14:35,366 taunting the crusading young investigator. 269 00:14:35,366 --> 00:14:38,633 KENNEDY: Did you say, "That S.O.B., I'll break his back"? 270 00:14:38,633 --> 00:14:39,633 Who? 271 00:14:39,633 --> 00:14:40,700 KENNEDY: You. 272 00:14:40,700 --> 00:14:41,633 Say it to who? 273 00:14:41,633 --> 00:14:42,633 KENNEDY: To anyone. 274 00:14:42,633 --> 00:14:43,800 HOFFA: Figure of speech-- 275 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:44,933 I don't even know who I was talking about, 276 00:14:44,933 --> 00:14:46,266 and I don't know what you're talking about. 277 00:14:46,266 --> 00:14:48,666 KENNEDY: Mr. Hoffa, all I'm trying to find out... 278 00:14:48,666 --> 00:14:50,166 I'll tell you what I'm talking about. 279 00:14:50,166 --> 00:14:52,966 I'm trying to find out whose back you were going to break. 280 00:14:52,966 --> 00:14:54,700 Figure of speech. 281 00:14:54,700 --> 00:14:56,900 Figure of speech. 282 00:14:56,900 --> 00:14:59,200 NARRATOR: "I used to love," Hoffa said, 283 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:00,700 "to bug the little bastard." 284 00:15:02,266 --> 00:15:04,466 Bobby could never bring Hoffa down, 285 00:15:04,466 --> 00:15:07,100 but his zealous efforts won him the attention 286 00:15:07,100 --> 00:15:08,500 of the nation's press-- 287 00:15:08,500 --> 00:15:11,133 much to the delight of his brother Jack, 288 00:15:11,133 --> 00:15:13,666 who was a member of the Senate Rackets Committee, too. 289 00:15:13,666 --> 00:15:16,166 ♪ ♪ 290 00:15:16,166 --> 00:15:18,300 "Two boyish young men from Boston," 291 00:15:18,300 --> 00:15:20,366 wrote a reporter in "Look" magazine, 292 00:15:20,366 --> 00:15:23,366 "have become hot tourist attractions in Washington." 293 00:15:23,366 --> 00:15:26,366 ♪ ♪ 294 00:15:33,666 --> 00:15:35,833 The Kennedys' fabulous wealth, 295 00:15:35,833 --> 00:15:38,633 their marriages, their glamour, 296 00:15:38,633 --> 00:15:42,333 all made them favorites of the picture magazines. 297 00:15:44,133 --> 00:15:47,633 "I think he found himself during the Hoffa investigation," 298 00:15:47,633 --> 00:15:49,266 a friend said. 299 00:15:49,266 --> 00:15:54,400 "For the first time in his life, Bobby was happy." 300 00:15:55,833 --> 00:15:58,033 But in September 1959, 301 00:15:58,033 --> 00:16:00,466 Bobby resigned from the Senate Rackets Committee, 302 00:16:00,466 --> 00:16:02,733 where he had made his mark. 303 00:16:02,733 --> 00:16:05,400 His brother was running for president. 304 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:06,766 (crowd cheering) 305 00:16:06,766 --> 00:16:08,300 ♪ ♪ 306 00:16:12,433 --> 00:16:16,266 When Jack set out to win the Democratic nomination, 307 00:16:16,266 --> 00:16:21,433 Bobby once again put his own ambitions aside. 308 00:16:21,433 --> 00:16:24,900 He would do whatever it took to get his brother elected. 309 00:16:27,733 --> 00:16:29,933 While Jack rose above the fray, 310 00:16:29,933 --> 00:16:32,200 Bobby took on the gritty day-to-day business 311 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:33,633 of running the campaign: 312 00:16:33,633 --> 00:16:37,000 pushing his staffers to their limits; 313 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,566 attacking Jack's opponents; 314 00:16:42,566 --> 00:16:47,166 becoming the campaign's dark driving force. 315 00:16:47,166 --> 00:16:49,966 As one journalist put it, 316 00:16:49,966 --> 00:16:53,233 "Whenever you see Bobby Kennedy in public with his brother, 317 00:16:53,233 --> 00:16:57,133 he looks as though he showed up for a rumble." 318 00:16:57,133 --> 00:17:01,166 (crowd cheering) 319 00:17:01,166 --> 00:17:05,033 By the time the Democrats met for their convention 320 00:17:05,033 --> 00:17:06,566 in Los Angeles, 321 00:17:06,566 --> 00:17:09,233 Kennedy seemed to have the nomination wrapped up. 322 00:17:09,233 --> 00:17:11,300 But Lyndon Johnson, 323 00:17:11,300 --> 00:17:13,600 the powerful Senate majority leader from Texas, 324 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:15,733 set out to stop him. 325 00:17:15,733 --> 00:17:19,133 The person you select as your president... 326 00:17:19,133 --> 00:17:21,333 his judgment, 327 00:17:21,333 --> 00:17:23,233 the responsibilities he's shouldered, 328 00:17:23,233 --> 00:17:27,566 the weight he's carried, the burdens he knows... 329 00:17:27,566 --> 00:17:29,800 the decision he makes may well determine 330 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,166 whether you live as free men. 331 00:17:33,166 --> 00:17:34,533 (cheering) 332 00:17:34,533 --> 00:17:35,766 NARRATOR: LBJ was one 333 00:17:35,766 --> 00:17:38,866 of America's smartest political operators, 334 00:17:38,866 --> 00:17:41,400 but Bobby outmaneuvered him, 335 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,166 skillfully working the convention floor, 336 00:17:43,166 --> 00:17:48,333 making sure that LBJ didn't get the votes. 337 00:17:48,333 --> 00:17:49,866 DELEGATE: Mr. Chairman... 338 00:17:49,866 --> 00:17:55,266 Wyoming's vote will make the majority for Senator Kennedy. 339 00:17:55,266 --> 00:17:58,700 (cheers and applause) 340 00:17:58,700 --> 00:18:01,233 NARRATOR: John Kennedy was nominated overwhelmingly 341 00:18:01,233 --> 00:18:04,433 on the first ballot. 342 00:18:04,433 --> 00:18:09,166 Now all that was left was the choice for vice president. 343 00:18:09,166 --> 00:18:12,300 When he chose Lyndon Johnson, 344 00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:14,833 he set into motion a sequence of events 345 00:18:14,833 --> 00:18:17,266 that left Bobby and LBJ 346 00:18:17,266 --> 00:18:20,766 smoldering with resentments that would never go away. 347 00:18:20,766 --> 00:18:27,166 From the very first, LBJ and Bobby detested each other. 348 00:18:27,166 --> 00:18:30,200 It was, as Johnson politely described it, 349 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:31,900 "a matter of chemistry." 350 00:18:31,900 --> 00:18:34,133 NICHOLAS KATZENBACH: It was just oil and water. 351 00:18:34,133 --> 00:18:36,133 Bobby was very moralistic; 352 00:18:36,133 --> 00:18:40,300 integrity meant everything to him. 353 00:18:40,300 --> 00:18:44,033 And LBJ was a... was a politician. 354 00:18:44,033 --> 00:18:46,933 Robert Kennedy spoke the word "politician" 355 00:18:46,933 --> 00:18:48,500 as if it were an obscenity. 356 00:18:48,500 --> 00:18:52,100 He hated the back slapping, the log rolling, 357 00:18:52,100 --> 00:18:54,966 all of the horse trading of politics-- 358 00:18:54,966 --> 00:18:58,100 the sort of thing that Lyndon Johnson absolutely loved. 359 00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:01,600 DALLEK: Bobby dislikes Johnson intensely, 360 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,400 but Jack Kennedy is calling the shots. 361 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,233 And what Jack Kennedy understands 362 00:19:06,233 --> 00:19:09,766 is that as a Northeastern Irish Catholic, 363 00:19:09,766 --> 00:19:13,333 he needs very much to get Southern votes. 364 00:19:13,333 --> 00:19:15,300 And so it becomes essential 365 00:19:15,300 --> 00:19:18,800 to bring someone like Lyndon Johnson onto the ticket. 366 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:20,933 But once they let out the word 367 00:19:20,933 --> 00:19:22,833 that they're going to make Lyndon Johnson 368 00:19:22,833 --> 00:19:24,800 the vice presidential nominee, 369 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,833 labor and liberals in the party throw a fit. 370 00:19:28,833 --> 00:19:32,766 Bobby is charged by his brother with the responsibility 371 00:19:32,766 --> 00:19:34,833 of talking Johnson off the ticket. 372 00:19:34,833 --> 00:19:37,266 ♪ ♪ 373 00:19:37,266 --> 00:19:40,200 NARRATOR: Bobby confronted Johnson in his hotel room 374 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,766 and told him flatly that JFK no longer wanted him 375 00:19:43,766 --> 00:19:46,533 to be the vice presidential nominee. 376 00:19:46,533 --> 00:19:50,766 LBJ didn't believe him. 377 00:19:50,766 --> 00:19:53,400 Insulted, he refused to quit. 378 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,533 DALLEK: Johnson wants to be vice president. 379 00:19:55,533 --> 00:19:56,866 He's not going to back down. 380 00:19:56,866 --> 00:19:58,100 He's not going to give up. 381 00:19:58,100 --> 00:20:01,533 And he thinks that Bobby is operating 382 00:20:01,533 --> 00:20:03,066 without Jack's approval. 383 00:20:03,066 --> 00:20:06,133 NARRATOR: "Bobby's been out of touch," 384 00:20:06,133 --> 00:20:08,366 Jack leaked to a reporter. 385 00:20:08,366 --> 00:20:10,666 "He doesn't know what's happening." 386 00:20:10,666 --> 00:20:12,600 SHESOL: Bobby is absolutely taking the fall 387 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:13,933 for his brother here, 388 00:20:13,933 --> 00:20:16,366 and that suits John Kennedy perfectly well. 389 00:20:16,366 --> 00:20:19,700 And Johnson has fallen for this head fake, 390 00:20:19,700 --> 00:20:21,500 but it is absolutely inconceivable 391 00:20:21,500 --> 00:20:23,266 to anybody who knew the Kennedy brothers 392 00:20:23,266 --> 00:20:26,100 that Robert Kennedy would be acting on his own 393 00:20:26,100 --> 00:20:29,066 to split up his brother's presidential ticket 394 00:20:29,066 --> 00:20:31,366 within hours of the deal being sealed. 395 00:20:31,366 --> 00:20:33,566 And I am grateful, finally, 396 00:20:33,566 --> 00:20:36,366 that I can rely in the coming months 397 00:20:36,366 --> 00:20:38,366 on many others, 398 00:20:38,366 --> 00:20:39,800 on a distinguished running mate 399 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,966 who brings unity and strength to our platform and our ticket-- 400 00:20:44,966 --> 00:20:45,966 Lyndon Johnson. 401 00:20:45,966 --> 00:20:49,166 (cheers and applause) 402 00:20:49,166 --> 00:20:51,766 SHESOL: Lyndon Johnson will never forgive Robert Kennedy 403 00:20:51,766 --> 00:20:52,866 for this. 404 00:20:52,866 --> 00:20:54,933 The manner of the selection 405 00:20:54,933 --> 00:20:57,033 of Lyndon Johnson as vice president 406 00:20:57,033 --> 00:21:00,066 severed the relationship between the two of them permanently, 407 00:21:00,066 --> 00:21:01,400 and there would be no turning back. 408 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,433 For the rest of his life, Johnson will say 409 00:21:04,433 --> 00:21:06,900 that "John Kennedy offered me the vice presidency, 410 00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:08,333 "and in the dark of night, 411 00:21:08,333 --> 00:21:11,900 Bobby Kennedy came downstairs to try to take it away from me." 412 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:14,466 ♪ ♪ 413 00:21:14,466 --> 00:21:17,866 NARRATOR: The election of 1960 was too close to call. 414 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,933 JFK won by only 120,000 votes-- 415 00:21:23,933 --> 00:21:26,066 as one Kennedy aide described it, 416 00:21:26,066 --> 00:21:28,033 "a gnat's eyebrow." 417 00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:32,333 Bobby had driven himself relentlessly, 418 00:21:32,333 --> 00:21:36,033 and JFK was forever grateful. 419 00:21:36,033 --> 00:21:38,800 "He's the hardest worker, he's the greatest organizer," 420 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,500 President John Kennedy said. 421 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:45,000 "Easily the best man I've ever seen." 422 00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:53,033 As JFK prepared to assume the reins of power, 423 00:21:53,033 --> 00:21:55,400 he wanted Bobby by his side 424 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,966 and appointed his 35-year-old brother attorney general. 425 00:21:58,966 --> 00:22:00,933 SEIGENTHALER: It was a controversial appointment-- 426 00:22:00,933 --> 00:22:04,433 he had never been a lawyer in a courtroom-- 427 00:22:04,433 --> 00:22:07,200 and it was nepotism. 428 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:08,900 I mean, he was the brother of the president. 429 00:22:08,900 --> 00:22:11,466 ANTHONY LEWIS: His experience was zero. 430 00:22:11,466 --> 00:22:15,066 He'd been a lawyer for Senate committees, 431 00:22:15,066 --> 00:22:18,766 a zealot with no understanding of the terrible responsibilities 432 00:22:18,766 --> 00:22:20,133 of an attorney general. 433 00:22:20,133 --> 00:22:21,600 I was appalled. 434 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,566 I thought it was a simply awful idea. 435 00:22:23,566 --> 00:22:28,833 ♪ ♪ 436 00:22:28,833 --> 00:22:31,500 NARRATOR: Bobby surprised everyone, 437 00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:32,933 moving quickly to show 438 00:22:32,933 --> 00:22:35,400 he was more than just the president's brother. 439 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:37,200 There are a number of different areas 440 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,066 where action is needed. 441 00:22:40,066 --> 00:22:42,533 I think that in the field of organized crime, 442 00:22:42,533 --> 00:22:44,233 I think it's a very serious situation 443 00:22:44,233 --> 00:22:46,333 that's facing the country at the present time. 444 00:22:46,333 --> 00:22:49,033 NARRATOR: Within two weeks of taking office, 445 00:22:49,033 --> 00:22:51,566 he became the first attorney general ever 446 00:22:51,566 --> 00:22:53,600 to declare "war on crime." 447 00:22:55,966 --> 00:22:57,900 He proved a hard, tireless worker, 448 00:22:57,900 --> 00:23:01,866 and his casual, freewheeling style was a striking departure 449 00:23:01,866 --> 00:23:04,733 from the formality of bureaucratic Washington. 450 00:23:06,266 --> 00:23:07,533 ANTHONY LEWIS: He was unlike 451 00:23:07,533 --> 00:23:09,900 any other attorney general I've known. 452 00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:13,400 He wandered around in his shirtsleeves. 453 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,933 He had his big, huge dog, Brumus, in his office. 454 00:23:16,933 --> 00:23:18,166 The kids came in. 455 00:23:18,166 --> 00:23:20,433 The children's drawings were on the wall. 456 00:23:20,433 --> 00:23:24,800 HARRIS WOFFORD: If you saw Bob Kennedy in a tie at his office, 457 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,233 it would be way down, open. 458 00:23:28,233 --> 00:23:30,533 His office was a place of constant motion, 459 00:23:30,533 --> 00:23:35,000 and doing things unexpected, breaking the schedule. 460 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,333 He was not a sit-behind-your-desk man. 461 00:23:37,333 --> 00:23:39,666 NARRATOR: But just three months 462 00:23:39,666 --> 00:23:42,266 after Bobby had started his new job, 463 00:23:42,266 --> 00:23:46,266 he received an urgent summons to the Oval Office. 464 00:23:46,266 --> 00:23:49,633 The president was face-to-face with disaster. 465 00:23:53,566 --> 00:23:57,600 JFK had gone along with a C.I.A. plan to invade Cuba 466 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,600 with a small army of Cuban exiles. 467 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:02,900 The president had been assured 468 00:24:02,900 --> 00:24:04,900 that the Cuban people would rise up 469 00:24:04,900 --> 00:24:07,833 against the communist government of Fidel Castro 470 00:24:07,833 --> 00:24:10,300 and revolt. 471 00:24:10,300 --> 00:24:13,133 But the C.I.A. had been wrong. 472 00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:16,566 Bobby watched helplessly 473 00:24:16,566 --> 00:24:19,766 as his brother wrestled with catastrophe. 474 00:24:19,766 --> 00:24:21,966 The invaders were under attack. 475 00:24:21,966 --> 00:24:25,166 Castro's army was taking prisoners. 476 00:24:25,166 --> 00:24:29,066 "They can't do this to you," Bobby said. 477 00:24:29,066 --> 00:24:31,500 But the invasion failed. 478 00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:33,900 JFK had fumbled badly. 479 00:24:35,966 --> 00:24:38,566 Now the president would turn to his brother 480 00:24:38,566 --> 00:24:39,700 for advice and counsel 481 00:24:39,700 --> 00:24:43,000 as he never had before. 482 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,366 SHESOL: Traditionally, attorneys general 483 00:24:44,366 --> 00:24:46,366 have nothing to do with foreign policy, 484 00:24:46,366 --> 00:24:48,266 but after the Bay of Pigs, 485 00:24:48,266 --> 00:24:50,433 John Kennedy really wanted Bobby by his side, 486 00:24:50,433 --> 00:24:52,500 helping him to make the decisions on everything. 487 00:24:52,500 --> 00:24:54,833 Because there was only one person in the world 488 00:24:54,833 --> 00:24:57,300 that John Kennedy trusted unequivocally, 489 00:24:57,300 --> 00:24:58,533 and that was Robert Kennedy. 490 00:24:58,533 --> 00:25:01,066 I think that brought them much closer together 491 00:25:01,066 --> 00:25:03,000 than they had been earlier. 492 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:04,166 There was, I think, 493 00:25:04,166 --> 00:25:08,433 a recognition for the first time by Jack, 494 00:25:08,433 --> 00:25:11,933 on a need for Bobby, rather than simply a use of Bobby. 495 00:25:11,933 --> 00:25:14,200 THOMAS: You would think that after the Bay of Pigs, 496 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,233 the lesson would be, don't mess with Castro. 497 00:25:17,233 --> 00:25:18,833 Bobby's nature, however, 498 00:25:18,833 --> 00:25:20,900 was not, when the yellow light was blinking, 499 00:25:20,900 --> 00:25:22,833 to hit the brakes, but rather to hit the gas. 500 00:25:25,166 --> 00:25:28,166 NARRATOR: Castro became Bobby's obsession. 501 00:25:28,166 --> 00:25:30,333 Working closely with the C.I.A., 502 00:25:30,333 --> 00:25:33,500 Bobby launched a secret war against him, 503 00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:36,766 code-named "Operation Mongoose." 504 00:25:36,766 --> 00:25:39,766 SAMUEL HALPERN: All kinds of things were tried, all kinds-- 505 00:25:39,766 --> 00:25:41,433 tried to infiltrate the military, 506 00:25:41,433 --> 00:25:45,266 to have a coup or a revolt, sabotage. 507 00:25:45,266 --> 00:25:47,600 He was pushing, always pushing. 508 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,866 Bobby Kennedy wanted things blown up, so we blew things up. 509 00:25:51,866 --> 00:25:55,233 NARRATOR: Nothing was off-limits. 510 00:25:55,233 --> 00:25:58,900 Between 1960 and 1965, 511 00:25:58,900 --> 00:26:01,733 the C.I.A. made at least eight separate attempts 512 00:26:01,733 --> 00:26:04,300 on Fidel Castro's life. 513 00:26:04,300 --> 00:26:07,300 But neither of the Kennedys was ever directly linked 514 00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:08,633 to any of them. 515 00:26:08,633 --> 00:26:12,300 HALPERN: The orders I got were, "Get rid of Castro." 516 00:26:12,300 --> 00:26:15,533 And I kept asking them, "What do you mean by, 'Get rid of?' 517 00:26:15,533 --> 00:26:17,300 "Can you be a little bit more specific? 518 00:26:17,300 --> 00:26:18,800 "What do you want to happen? 519 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,166 What do you want to see as an end result?" 520 00:26:21,166 --> 00:26:24,866 They said, "We want him to disappear." 521 00:26:24,866 --> 00:26:26,600 Then it's left up to you, as a senior officer, 522 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:31,000 to decide what your limits are, if any. 523 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:32,333 THOMAS: My own conclusion 524 00:26:32,333 --> 00:26:37,100 is that Bobby never quite came out and said, 525 00:26:37,100 --> 00:26:38,866 "You must kill this guy." 526 00:26:38,866 --> 00:26:40,700 You will never find good evidence. 527 00:26:40,700 --> 00:26:41,966 They didn't write it down. 528 00:26:41,966 --> 00:26:46,100 Uh, Joe Kennedy once said to Bobby, 529 00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:49,633 "Never write it down-- old Irish rule in Boston." 530 00:26:51,766 --> 00:26:53,466 NARRATOR: Bobby attempted to oust Castro 531 00:26:53,466 --> 00:26:55,833 for nearly two years, 532 00:26:55,833 --> 00:27:00,900 but his efforts only seemed to stiffen Cuban resolve. 533 00:27:00,900 --> 00:27:02,533 HALPERN: Total waste of effort. 534 00:27:02,533 --> 00:27:04,500 I tried to tell them that at the time. 535 00:27:04,500 --> 00:27:06,466 We were not going to succeed. 536 00:27:06,466 --> 00:27:09,100 Fidel was going to be there, and he's going to stay there. 537 00:27:09,100 --> 00:27:14,733 But Bobby Kennedy didn't understand what his limits were. 538 00:27:14,733 --> 00:27:17,766 No matter what we told him, no matter what we tried to do, 539 00:27:17,766 --> 00:27:19,966 no matter how many people we put on the job, 540 00:27:19,966 --> 00:27:22,733 he was always screaming for more. 541 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:30,566 ♪ ♪ 542 00:27:41,300 --> 00:27:46,433 NARRATOR: By the end of 1961, Bobby Kennedy was 36 years old 543 00:27:46,433 --> 00:27:48,833 and the father of seven children. 544 00:27:48,833 --> 00:27:52,333 After a long day at the Justice Department, 545 00:27:52,333 --> 00:27:55,333 he returned home to a Civil War mansion 546 00:27:55,333 --> 00:27:57,366 just outside of Washington 547 00:27:57,366 --> 00:27:58,766 called Hickory Hill. 548 00:28:01,966 --> 00:28:04,900 SEIGENTHALER: It was a household where there was constantly 549 00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:06,400 something going on. 550 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,000 Bob was overloaded with work, 551 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,566 but he always took time for those children. 552 00:28:10,566 --> 00:28:15,300 ♪ ♪ 553 00:28:15,300 --> 00:28:17,933 KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND: There was a lot of physical affection. 554 00:28:17,933 --> 00:28:20,366 Saturday or Sunday, all the children 555 00:28:20,366 --> 00:28:22,633 would pile into my parents' beds 556 00:28:22,633 --> 00:28:24,966 and tickle each other, and it was called a "tickle tumble." 557 00:28:27,033 --> 00:28:28,966 And of course, there were plenty of dogs, 558 00:28:28,966 --> 00:28:30,933 plenty of horses. 559 00:28:30,933 --> 00:28:34,200 My brother Bobby collected, you know, reptiles. 560 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,700 We had a coatimundi, hawks, falcons. 561 00:28:36,700 --> 00:28:40,100 It was a menagerie. 562 00:28:40,100 --> 00:28:42,300 ♪ ♪ 563 00:28:42,300 --> 00:28:46,266 (child laughing) 564 00:28:47,833 --> 00:28:50,800 NARRATOR: Hickory Hill was the center of Bobby's private world. 565 00:28:54,233 --> 00:28:57,333 To be invited to a Hickory Hill party 566 00:28:57,333 --> 00:29:00,566 signaled acceptance into an exclusive community 567 00:29:00,566 --> 00:29:03,300 of power and privilege. 568 00:29:03,300 --> 00:29:04,733 THOMAS: A Hickory Hill party was a weird mixture 569 00:29:04,733 --> 00:29:06,333 of kind of fraternity party 570 00:29:06,333 --> 00:29:10,800 and high-minded salon. 571 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:12,666 And it was kind of a fun mix of both, 572 00:29:12,666 --> 00:29:14,133 because they did talk about serious issues. 573 00:29:14,133 --> 00:29:16,100 They had Hickory Hill seminars, 574 00:29:16,100 --> 00:29:17,733 where they would bring in famous people 575 00:29:17,733 --> 00:29:21,733 to lecture about child development or juvenile crime 576 00:29:21,733 --> 00:29:23,533 or the future of the Cold War. 577 00:29:23,533 --> 00:29:25,533 At the same time, they're goofing around 578 00:29:25,533 --> 00:29:26,733 and they're playing charades. 579 00:29:26,733 --> 00:29:28,000 ♪ ♪ 580 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,366 It was an odd mixture 581 00:29:29,366 --> 00:29:34,500 of high sophistication and childish hijinks. 582 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:38,000 There was a childlike quality to Bobby Kennedy. 583 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,400 Bobby was always asking what flavor ice cream you like, 584 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:43,566 and his favorite was chocolate. 585 00:29:43,566 --> 00:29:46,433 ♪ ♪ 586 00:29:46,433 --> 00:29:48,566 NARRATOR: There were always plenty of games, 587 00:29:48,566 --> 00:29:52,066 including Bobby's favorite, touch football. 588 00:29:54,566 --> 00:29:56,133 SEIGENTHALER: I really didn't like to play the Kennedy brand 589 00:29:56,133 --> 00:29:57,266 of touch football. 590 00:29:57,266 --> 00:30:00,400 The rules were crazy. 591 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:02,566 They made up the rules as they went along, 592 00:30:02,566 --> 00:30:03,833 or they had their own rules. 593 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,066 I played a couple of times, 594 00:30:08,066 --> 00:30:09,700 but I'd usually try to find something to do-- 595 00:30:09,700 --> 00:30:11,633 you know, somebody had to make a phone call, 596 00:30:11,633 --> 00:30:13,366 or have to go to the bathroom. 597 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:17,733 They were so competitive with each other, 598 00:30:17,733 --> 00:30:20,900 it was no real fun to play. 599 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:27,800 NARRATOR: When all the guests had gone home, 600 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:29,900 Bobby and Ethel assembled their children 601 00:30:29,900 --> 00:30:31,700 for an evening ritual. 602 00:30:34,033 --> 00:30:37,966 TOWNSEND: My mother and my father shared a belief 603 00:30:37,966 --> 00:30:41,700 that we are on earth for a short period of time, 604 00:30:41,700 --> 00:30:45,033 and that we are actually children of God. 605 00:30:45,033 --> 00:30:46,400 We prayed every night 606 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:48,566 that John Kennedy would be the best president ever 607 00:30:48,566 --> 00:30:52,733 and that our father would be the best attorney general ever. 608 00:30:57,866 --> 00:31:01,100 NARRATOR: The Kennedy brothers were now a team. 609 00:31:01,100 --> 00:31:02,600 Jack needed his brother, 610 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,533 and nowhere more than with a problem 611 00:31:04,533 --> 00:31:07,133 that had begun to tear the country apart-- 612 00:31:07,133 --> 00:31:09,300 the struggle of African-Americans 613 00:31:09,300 --> 00:31:11,066 for equal rights. 614 00:31:11,066 --> 00:31:14,800 ♪ ♪ 615 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,666 In the spring of 1961, 616 00:31:16,666 --> 00:31:20,366 a group called the Freedom Riders set out 617 00:31:20,366 --> 00:31:24,766 to integrate bus stations across the South. 618 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,433 In a little Alabama town called Anniston, 619 00:31:29,433 --> 00:31:33,266 an angry mob attacked them, burning their bus, 620 00:31:33,266 --> 00:31:36,233 beating them mercilessly. 621 00:31:36,233 --> 00:31:39,033 ♪ ♪ 622 00:31:42,566 --> 00:31:47,633 JOHN LEWIS: The Freedom Ride was very dangerous. 623 00:31:47,633 --> 00:31:51,433 Just our very being, our very presence, 624 00:31:51,433 --> 00:31:53,166 was very, very dangerous. 625 00:31:55,066 --> 00:31:59,066 During those days, it was impossible for a person of color 626 00:31:59,066 --> 00:32:00,533 to get on a bus in the South 627 00:32:00,533 --> 00:32:04,300 without being forced to go to the back of the bus, 628 00:32:04,300 --> 00:32:07,233 or go to a waiting room marked "Colored Waiting." 629 00:32:08,900 --> 00:32:10,433 Or use a restroom facility 630 00:32:10,433 --> 00:32:13,600 marked "Colored Men," "Colored Women." 631 00:32:16,466 --> 00:32:17,866 We wanted to bring down those signs. 632 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,200 NARRATOR: The Freedom Riders were acting 633 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,833 on their constitutional rights. 634 00:32:24,833 --> 00:32:28,033 Federal statute outlawed segregation in bus terminals 635 00:32:28,033 --> 00:32:30,266 used in interstate transportation, 636 00:32:30,266 --> 00:32:32,000 and as attorney general, 637 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,666 Robert Kennedy was obligated to enforce the law. 638 00:32:35,666 --> 00:32:40,200 I didn't know a great deal about Robert Kennedy. 639 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:45,433 I knew he was the brother of the president of the United States. 640 00:32:45,433 --> 00:32:49,200 I knew he was the attorney general. 641 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,600 I wanted him to... to intervene. 642 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,866 NARRATOR: But Bobby was reluctant. 643 00:32:54,866 --> 00:32:57,400 The rage and resistance from white Southerners 644 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,166 had taken him by surprise. 645 00:33:00,166 --> 00:33:03,233 "Before I became attorney general," he admitted, 646 00:33:03,233 --> 00:33:05,566 "I won't say I lay awake at night 647 00:33:05,566 --> 00:33:07,966 worrying about civil rights." 648 00:33:07,966 --> 00:33:11,233 NEWFIELD: I think he was slow and late in getting it 649 00:33:11,233 --> 00:33:13,600 about the Civil Rights Movement. 650 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:14,700 Robert Kennedy was saying 651 00:33:14,700 --> 00:33:18,400 what most of the establishment said in that period-- 652 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,733 "It's a good idea, but it's the wrong time." 653 00:33:20,733 --> 00:33:22,833 KATZENBACH: I don't think any of us 654 00:33:22,833 --> 00:33:24,666 going into the department, 655 00:33:24,666 --> 00:33:27,166 despite our views on civil rights, 656 00:33:27,166 --> 00:33:31,100 really appreciated how mean it was in the South 657 00:33:31,100 --> 00:33:32,966 and how dangerous it was. 658 00:33:32,966 --> 00:33:36,100 Bobby used to compare the discrimination against blacks 659 00:33:36,100 --> 00:33:39,233 to... to the "No Irish Wanted." 660 00:33:39,233 --> 00:33:43,100 And you know, that... that was a wrong... a wrong comparison-- 661 00:33:43,100 --> 00:33:45,900 one I think was actually resented by blacks, 662 00:33:45,900 --> 00:33:47,633 despite the fact that he meant it well. 663 00:33:47,633 --> 00:33:50,400 ROGER WILKINS: They didn't know black people. 664 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,233 They didn't know black pain. 665 00:33:52,233 --> 00:33:54,533 They were not comfortable with black people. 666 00:33:54,533 --> 00:34:00,033 So there was no reason to expect, 667 00:34:00,033 --> 00:34:02,200 I can say in retrospect, 668 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:06,566 them to be wise and passionate about this. 669 00:34:06,566 --> 00:34:11,000 WOFFORD: The president and the attorney general both realized 670 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,033 that the civil rights issue 671 00:34:13,033 --> 00:34:16,566 was the hot rail in American politics. 672 00:34:16,566 --> 00:34:19,866 They had won an election with, by 100,000 votes. 673 00:34:19,866 --> 00:34:24,433 They didn't really command a, a working majority in Congress. 674 00:34:24,433 --> 00:34:26,766 It was very narrow on any issue. 675 00:34:26,766 --> 00:34:28,833 The Southern Democrats defecting 676 00:34:28,833 --> 00:34:33,600 would have meant the loss of, of any legislative agenda. 677 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:36,400 ♪ ♪ 678 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,500 NARRATOR: As the Freedom Riders traveled deeper into Alabama, 679 00:34:39,500 --> 00:34:43,666 Bobby, fearing more violence, was determined to stop them. 680 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,233 "Tell them," he told the special deputy for civil rights, 681 00:34:49,233 --> 00:34:51,233 "to call it off!" 682 00:34:51,233 --> 00:34:52,500 WOFFORD: He got on the phone 683 00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:55,900 and said, "Stop those Freedom Riders. 684 00:34:55,900 --> 00:34:58,533 "The president's about to go to Vienna to meet Khrushchev. 685 00:34:58,533 --> 00:34:59,966 "It's embarrassing us before the world. 686 00:34:59,966 --> 00:35:01,066 Stop it!" 687 00:35:01,066 --> 00:35:03,966 They were under way. 688 00:35:03,966 --> 00:35:07,133 They were not a stoppable group. 689 00:35:07,133 --> 00:35:08,666 WILKINS: Black people in the South 690 00:35:08,666 --> 00:35:12,300 had gotten the sense of their efficacy 691 00:35:12,300 --> 00:35:14,600 as people and as citizens. 692 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,300 And to have Bob Kennedy's Justice Department 693 00:35:18,300 --> 00:35:19,533 tell them what to do 694 00:35:19,533 --> 00:35:22,200 would have been taking a major step backward. 695 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:23,600 Who are you going to listen to? 696 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,066 Are you going to listen to the black people of the South, 697 00:35:25,066 --> 00:35:27,233 or are you going to listen to the kid from Massachusetts? 698 00:35:27,233 --> 00:35:28,800 Well, that's an easy answer. 699 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,266 WOFFORD: Bob was angry 700 00:35:31,266 --> 00:35:34,366 that they were upsetting everything by doing this. 701 00:35:34,366 --> 00:35:36,166 He wanted the civil rights movement 702 00:35:36,166 --> 00:35:38,333 to focus on winning the right to vote, 703 00:35:38,333 --> 00:35:42,033 and he didn't like his more stately agenda being upset. 704 00:35:42,033 --> 00:35:45,800 But, once it was upset, then Bobby went into action. 705 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,333 NARRATOR: Desperate to find a way to protect the riders, 706 00:35:49,333 --> 00:35:53,333 frantically improvising, Bobby sent his aide John Seigenthaler 707 00:35:53,333 --> 00:35:56,866 to meet with Alabama Governor John Patterson. 708 00:35:56,866 --> 00:35:58,233 SEIGENTHALER: I go in and sit down, 709 00:35:58,233 --> 00:36:00,266 and I say, "I'm from the attorney general. 710 00:36:00,266 --> 00:36:04,200 These people have to be given safe conduct." 711 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,966 He says, "We can't protect them. 712 00:36:07,966 --> 00:36:10,533 "I am telling you, it is impossible. 713 00:36:10,533 --> 00:36:13,233 "All the people we've got in this state upset about this-- 714 00:36:13,233 --> 00:36:14,800 "I mean, of course people are violent. 715 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:16,633 "These people are coming here asking for a fight, 716 00:36:16,633 --> 00:36:18,033 and they're going to get a fight." 717 00:36:18,033 --> 00:36:22,366 JOHN LEWIS: That evening, we stayed in the waiting room 718 00:36:22,366 --> 00:36:26,566 at the Greyhound bus station in Birmingham all night. 719 00:36:26,566 --> 00:36:28,900 We kept hearing rumors that Robert Kennedy was trying 720 00:36:28,900 --> 00:36:31,966 to negotiate a way for us to leave Birmingham. 721 00:36:31,966 --> 00:36:34,966 He kept saying to people, we had a right to travel. 722 00:36:34,966 --> 00:36:38,200 I said, "Governor, look. 723 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:42,500 "If you can't protect them, we don't have any choice. 724 00:36:42,500 --> 00:36:44,100 "Either we've got to have marshals come in 725 00:36:44,100 --> 00:36:45,233 "and protect them, 726 00:36:45,233 --> 00:36:46,433 "or troops come in and protect them. 727 00:36:46,433 --> 00:36:48,533 That's the last thing you want, the last thing," 728 00:36:48,533 --> 00:36:51,333 and he banged the table, he said, 729 00:36:51,333 --> 00:36:53,666 "If marshals or troops come into Alabama, 730 00:36:53,666 --> 00:36:55,333 blood will run in the streets." 731 00:36:55,333 --> 00:36:58,433 ♪ ♪ 732 00:36:58,433 --> 00:37:01,333 NARRATOR: Seigenthaler and Patterson struck a deal. 733 00:37:01,333 --> 00:37:04,166 The Freedom Riders would have state protection. 734 00:37:05,633 --> 00:37:09,166 As they headed toward the Alabama capital in Montgomery, 735 00:37:09,166 --> 00:37:14,333 Bobby believed that they would be given safe passage. 736 00:37:14,333 --> 00:37:20,666 JOHN LEWIS: It was so strange; it was eerie, frightening. 737 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,800 It was so quiet, so peaceful. 738 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,866 And the moment we arrived at the bus station, 739 00:37:30,866 --> 00:37:35,400 the very moment we started down the steps off of that bus, 740 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:37,100 a mob came out of nowhere, 741 00:37:37,100 --> 00:37:40,466 and they beat and beat the reporters, 742 00:37:40,466 --> 00:37:43,033 and you saw blood everywhere. 743 00:37:43,033 --> 00:37:46,800 And then they turned on us. 744 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,200 I was hit in the head by a member of the mob 745 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:51,333 with a wooden crate. 746 00:37:51,333 --> 00:37:57,533 And my seatmate was... beaten so bad, 747 00:37:57,533 --> 00:37:59,833 and I found myself laying in a pool of blood. 748 00:38:02,366 --> 00:38:05,000 SEIGENTHALER: And as I pulled up to the bus station, 749 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,566 you could hear the screams. 750 00:38:07,566 --> 00:38:09,333 I just leaped out of the car. 751 00:38:09,333 --> 00:38:12,966 And at that moment, they wheeled me around and said... 752 00:38:12,966 --> 00:38:15,900 Two guys, and said, 753 00:38:15,900 --> 00:38:17,333 "What do you think you're doing?" 754 00:38:17,333 --> 00:38:20,800 I said-- magic words: "Get back. 755 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,333 I'm with the federal government." 756 00:38:23,333 --> 00:38:24,766 And as I turned back, 757 00:38:24,766 --> 00:38:27,933 they hit me with a pipe, right here. 758 00:38:27,933 --> 00:38:31,233 JOHN LEWIS: Robert Kennedy became educated 759 00:38:31,233 --> 00:38:33,433 in a real hurry. 760 00:38:33,433 --> 00:38:36,133 And I'll tell you the thing that sealed it for him, 761 00:38:36,133 --> 00:38:37,766 perhaps more than anything else-- 762 00:38:37,766 --> 00:38:42,333 after John Seigenthaler was beaten, 763 00:38:42,333 --> 00:38:43,866 someone that he knew. 764 00:38:43,866 --> 00:38:45,266 I think everything he thought 765 00:38:45,266 --> 00:38:48,466 the administration of justice and law enforcement 766 00:38:48,466 --> 00:38:49,833 was supposed to be about 767 00:38:49,833 --> 00:38:53,200 had been violated-- that it was an outrage, 768 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:57,066 that it was a stain on law enforcement to let that happen. 769 00:38:57,066 --> 00:38:59,900 ♪ ♪ 770 00:38:59,900 --> 00:39:02,100 NARRATOR: Frustrated by Southern officials, 771 00:39:02,100 --> 00:39:04,933 Bobby ordered the Interstate Commerce Commission 772 00:39:04,933 --> 00:39:07,366 to enforce the ban on segregation 773 00:39:07,366 --> 00:39:10,966 in public transportation. 774 00:39:10,966 --> 00:39:13,233 All of those signs that said 775 00:39:13,233 --> 00:39:17,333 "White Waiting," "Colored Waiting," "White Men," 776 00:39:17,333 --> 00:39:19,900 "Colored Men," "White Women," "Colored Women"-- 777 00:39:19,900 --> 00:39:22,366 those signs came tumbling down. 778 00:39:24,566 --> 00:39:28,766 NEWFIELD: He began to understand civil rights in stages. 779 00:39:28,766 --> 00:39:33,466 Very few people who are in great positions of power 780 00:39:33,466 --> 00:39:38,033 actually go through real interior change, 781 00:39:38,033 --> 00:39:41,800 but Robert Kennedy really did change, 782 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:46,700 and that change, I think, began around civil rights. 783 00:39:49,866 --> 00:39:53,766 ♪ ♪ 784 00:39:53,766 --> 00:39:55,633 NARRATOR: While civil rights protests 785 00:39:55,633 --> 00:39:57,800 and demonstrations continued, 786 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:02,166 the Kennedy administration was faced with yet another crisis. 787 00:40:05,266 --> 00:40:07,966 On October 16, 1962, 788 00:40:07,966 --> 00:40:10,666 the president learned that the Soviet Union 789 00:40:10,666 --> 00:40:13,466 was deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba 790 00:40:13,466 --> 00:40:17,166 capable of vaporizing American cities along the East Coast 791 00:40:17,166 --> 00:40:19,766 within minutes. 792 00:40:19,766 --> 00:40:21,866 ARTHUR SCHLESINGER: It is the most dangerous moment 793 00:40:21,866 --> 00:40:23,866 in all human history. 794 00:40:23,866 --> 00:40:28,866 Never before had two contending powers possessed between them 795 00:40:28,866 --> 00:40:32,200 the technical capacity to blow up the world. 796 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:34,666 NARRATOR: As the president's advisers 797 00:40:34,666 --> 00:40:36,966 debated the American response, 798 00:40:36,966 --> 00:40:39,666 Bobby's first instinct was to lash out, 799 00:40:39,666 --> 00:40:42,433 pressing for air strikes to destroy the bases-- 800 00:40:42,433 --> 00:40:45,433 even for an invasion of the island itself. 801 00:40:45,433 --> 00:40:48,300 THOMAS: On the first day, when they discover the missiles, 802 00:40:48,300 --> 00:40:53,266 all Bobby wants to do is stage a provocation and bomb Cuba. 803 00:40:53,266 --> 00:40:55,400 I mean, he's a complete and total hawk. 804 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:57,466 But this is the significant part. 805 00:40:57,466 --> 00:40:58,933 He changes his mind. 806 00:40:58,933 --> 00:41:02,900 NARRATOR: After hours and hours of intense debate, 807 00:41:02,900 --> 00:41:05,733 Bobby began to reconsider. 808 00:41:05,733 --> 00:41:07,966 "We've talked for 15 years about the Russians 809 00:41:07,966 --> 00:41:10,766 making the first strike against us," he said, 810 00:41:10,766 --> 00:41:12,600 "and we'd never do that. 811 00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:16,000 "Now to do that to a small country... 812 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,333 It's a hell of a burden to carry." 813 00:41:18,333 --> 00:41:19,500 SHESOL: It's Robert Kennedy 814 00:41:19,500 --> 00:41:21,700 who makes the powerful moral argument 815 00:41:21,700 --> 00:41:25,966 that to invade Cuba would be to wage a Pearl Harbor in reverse, 816 00:41:25,966 --> 00:41:28,066 that America simply didn't do this. 817 00:41:28,066 --> 00:41:30,533 We simply didn't wage pre-emptive attacks. 818 00:41:30,533 --> 00:41:31,966 We didn't strike without warning. 819 00:41:31,966 --> 00:41:34,066 And this argument didn't carry the day, 820 00:41:34,066 --> 00:41:35,766 but it was an important argument, 821 00:41:35,766 --> 00:41:38,833 and it started to affect and slow down this rush to war. 822 00:41:38,833 --> 00:41:41,033 NARRATOR: "I was very much surprised 823 00:41:41,033 --> 00:41:42,833 by Bobby's performance," 824 00:41:42,833 --> 00:41:45,666 Undersecretary of State George Ball said. 825 00:41:45,666 --> 00:41:47,200 "I always had a feeling that Bobby had 826 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:50,400 "a much too simplistic position toward things. 827 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:52,066 "But he behaved quite differently 828 00:41:52,066 --> 00:41:54,166 during the Cuban missile crisis." 829 00:41:54,166 --> 00:41:58,500 ♪ ♪ 830 00:41:58,500 --> 00:42:01,000 The crisis lasted 13 days, 831 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,066 until the Russians finally agreed to withdraw the missiles 832 00:42:04,066 --> 00:42:06,600 in exchange for a public American pledge 833 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:08,700 not to invade Cuba 834 00:42:08,700 --> 00:42:13,000 and a secret promise to withdraw American missiles from Turkey. 835 00:42:15,833 --> 00:42:21,033 Bobby had hardly slept, rarely gone home. 836 00:42:21,033 --> 00:42:24,733 An aide who walked into his office remarked, 837 00:42:24,733 --> 00:42:27,333 "Something is different in here." 838 00:42:27,333 --> 00:42:31,966 Bobby replied, "I'm older." 839 00:42:34,666 --> 00:42:37,433 ♪ ♪ 840 00:42:41,433 --> 00:42:43,833 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: The thing that is hurting us most 841 00:42:43,833 --> 00:42:46,933 is the continued existence of segregation and discrimination, 842 00:42:46,933 --> 00:42:50,766 and we think we are rendering a great service to our nation, 843 00:42:50,766 --> 00:42:53,600 for this is not a struggle for ourselves alone; 844 00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:56,233 it is a struggle to save the soul of America. 845 00:42:56,233 --> 00:42:58,100 NARRATOR: While the Kennedys 846 00:42:58,100 --> 00:43:00,233 were confronting the Soviet Union, 847 00:43:00,233 --> 00:43:04,366 the civil rights movement had not gone away. 848 00:43:04,366 --> 00:43:08,433 Bobby was determined to help, but on his own terms. 849 00:43:08,433 --> 00:43:12,833 He was growing increasingly exasperated with the man 850 00:43:12,833 --> 00:43:15,266 who was emerging as the movement's 851 00:43:15,266 --> 00:43:17,866 most conspicuous and inspiring leader, 852 00:43:17,866 --> 00:43:20,100 Martin Luther King. 853 00:43:20,100 --> 00:43:23,066 WOFFORD: Tension between King and Bob Kennedy was inevitable. 854 00:43:23,066 --> 00:43:27,366 Here was an uncontrollable force, a moral force, 855 00:43:27,366 --> 00:43:34,433 a person who was as much his own man as Robert Kennedy was. 856 00:43:34,433 --> 00:43:37,400 Bob liked to, you know, control his agenda. 857 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,633 And King's business was to, you know, 858 00:43:39,633 --> 00:43:41,666 overthrow people's agendas. 859 00:43:41,666 --> 00:43:45,033 King, I think, worried about Bobby. 860 00:43:45,033 --> 00:43:48,700 He worried that he wasn't morally committed enough. 861 00:43:48,700 --> 00:43:51,333 He didn't sense the passion in Bobby. 862 00:43:51,333 --> 00:43:53,100 On the other hand, he had great hope 863 00:43:53,100 --> 00:43:55,933 that Bobby's readiness to use power 864 00:43:55,933 --> 00:43:57,700 would be turned to civil rights. 865 00:43:57,700 --> 00:43:59,900 He had hope, but he worried. 866 00:44:02,833 --> 00:44:04,933 NARRATOR: On May 3, 1963, 867 00:44:04,933 --> 00:44:09,500 King sent nonviolent protesters into the streets of Birmingham 868 00:44:09,500 --> 00:44:13,700 to boycott the city's segregated businesses. 869 00:44:13,700 --> 00:44:15,533 (screaming) 870 00:44:15,533 --> 00:44:18,066 NARRATOR: As the Birmingham police 871 00:44:18,066 --> 00:44:19,966 used high-pressure hoses to disperse them, 872 00:44:19,966 --> 00:44:24,300 Bobby watched it all on television. 873 00:44:27,300 --> 00:44:30,166 Many of the protesters were children. 874 00:44:34,066 --> 00:44:36,666 He was furious-- 875 00:44:36,666 --> 00:44:38,766 caught between a civil rights movement 876 00:44:38,766 --> 00:44:40,600 that refused to back down 877 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:44,133 and the violent antagonism of the South. 878 00:44:44,133 --> 00:44:47,200 ANTHONY LEWIS: That a police chief would set 879 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:48,866 police dogs and fire hoses on people 880 00:44:48,866 --> 00:44:53,400 for demanding to be treated fairly in a department store, 881 00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:56,333 that was bound to hit at his moral core. 882 00:44:56,333 --> 00:45:02,000 The events entirely transformed Robert Kennedy. 883 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:04,700 He started out thinking that it would be better 884 00:45:04,700 --> 00:45:06,200 if people would calm down, 885 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:11,533 slow down, and let gradual improvement take place. 886 00:45:11,533 --> 00:45:14,300 Bobby learned that you couldn't wait, 887 00:45:14,300 --> 00:45:16,566 and that black people were entitled 888 00:45:16,566 --> 00:45:18,700 to the most elementary rights now. 889 00:45:18,700 --> 00:45:22,533 NARRATOR: That summer, Bobby urged his brother 890 00:45:22,533 --> 00:45:25,033 to put a civil rights bill before Congress 891 00:45:25,033 --> 00:45:26,800 that would put an end to segregation 892 00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,000 in public accommodations. 893 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:32,333 But the president and his advisers hesitated. 894 00:45:32,333 --> 00:45:34,033 KATZENBACH: If you put civil rights legislation 895 00:45:34,033 --> 00:45:35,266 before Congress, 896 00:45:35,266 --> 00:45:36,666 it was going to tie up the Congress 897 00:45:36,666 --> 00:45:38,466 for the best part of the next year. 898 00:45:38,466 --> 00:45:41,300 And that meant that whatever other programs you had 899 00:45:41,300 --> 00:45:44,100 were going to be put on a back burner. 900 00:45:44,100 --> 00:45:47,500 But Bobby convinced his brother that not only was it right, 901 00:45:47,500 --> 00:45:50,233 but for the first time, it was possible, 902 00:45:50,233 --> 00:45:53,500 and that the president really has to take leadership 903 00:45:53,500 --> 00:45:55,333 on a moral issue. 904 00:45:55,333 --> 00:45:59,433 We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. 905 00:45:59,433 --> 00:46:01,166 It is as old as the scriptures 906 00:46:01,166 --> 00:46:04,766 and is as clear as the American Constitution. 907 00:46:04,766 --> 00:46:06,666 The heart of the question is 908 00:46:06,666 --> 00:46:09,333 whether all Americans are to be afforded 909 00:46:09,333 --> 00:46:12,900 equal rights and equal opportunities, 910 00:46:12,900 --> 00:46:15,600 whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans 911 00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:17,500 as we want to be treated. 912 00:46:17,500 --> 00:46:18,900 JOHN LEWIS: It was probably the first time 913 00:46:18,900 --> 00:46:21,866 in the history of our country 914 00:46:21,866 --> 00:46:23,666 that an American president would say 915 00:46:23,666 --> 00:46:26,000 that the question of civil rights, 916 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,233 the question of race, 917 00:46:28,233 --> 00:46:30,266 was a moral issue. 918 00:46:30,266 --> 00:46:33,666 And he had the encouragement of Robert Kennedy 919 00:46:33,666 --> 00:46:37,466 to push him in this direction. 920 00:46:37,466 --> 00:46:42,033 Robert Kennedy was learning-- he was growing. 921 00:46:42,033 --> 00:46:46,933 He said to me, "John, I now understand. 922 00:46:46,933 --> 00:46:50,200 The young people have educated me." 923 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:52,900 And you could see it, you could feel it. 924 00:46:52,900 --> 00:46:57,300 And Robert Kennedy during that period became so convinced, 925 00:46:57,300 --> 00:46:58,766 not just as a politician, 926 00:46:58,766 --> 00:47:00,333 not just as the attorney general, 927 00:47:00,333 --> 00:47:02,266 but as a human being, 928 00:47:02,266 --> 00:47:05,200 that it was time for there to be some major steps 929 00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:07,833 to end racial discrimination in America. 930 00:47:07,833 --> 00:47:11,200 NARRATOR: While Bobby increasingly empathized 931 00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:13,033 with the civil rights movement, 932 00:47:13,033 --> 00:47:17,033 that fall, he authorized a wiretap on Martin Luther King 933 00:47:17,033 --> 00:47:18,633 at the request 934 00:47:18,633 --> 00:47:21,333 of one of the most powerful figures in Washington. 935 00:47:21,333 --> 00:47:26,333 FBI director J. Edgar Hoover hated King, 936 00:47:26,333 --> 00:47:28,800 insisted that King was a communist threat, 937 00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:31,133 and placed him under close surveillance. 938 00:47:31,133 --> 00:47:34,700 Bobby acquiesced. 939 00:47:34,700 --> 00:47:37,333 If there were communists in the civil rights movement, 940 00:47:37,333 --> 00:47:39,400 he wanted to know about it. 941 00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:41,833 But there was another reason: 942 00:47:41,833 --> 00:47:44,033 Bobby was afraid of Hoover, 943 00:47:44,033 --> 00:47:47,300 not for himself, but for his brother. 944 00:47:47,300 --> 00:47:49,266 STEEL: Jack was a promiscuous guy 945 00:47:49,266 --> 00:47:50,766 who took great pleasure 946 00:47:50,766 --> 00:47:55,166 in having a lot of women around him, 947 00:47:55,166 --> 00:47:58,466 and he was careless about this after he became president, 948 00:47:58,466 --> 00:48:00,000 almost to the point of recklessness. 949 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:04,000 THOMAS: Bobby knew that Hoover was a blackmail artist. 950 00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:08,266 He knew that Hoover had files on his brother. 951 00:48:08,266 --> 00:48:10,700 Hoover had heard that Bobby wanted to fire him. 952 00:48:10,700 --> 00:48:12,133 And he had wanted to use 953 00:48:12,133 --> 00:48:15,200 President Kennedy's sexual habits 954 00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:17,733 to essentially blackmail the administration 955 00:48:17,733 --> 00:48:19,033 to make sure that he kept his job. 956 00:48:19,033 --> 00:48:21,700 WOFFORD: There's no question Bob regretted 957 00:48:21,700 --> 00:48:24,966 that he had authorized the wiretapping of King, 958 00:48:24,966 --> 00:48:28,966 but Hoover was somebody that everybody was intimidated by. 959 00:48:28,966 --> 00:48:33,766 If Hoover ever released any of the information he had, 960 00:48:33,766 --> 00:48:35,966 allowed it to be known, 961 00:48:35,966 --> 00:48:38,366 what would happen to the Kennedy presidency? 962 00:48:38,366 --> 00:48:40,833 ♪ ♪ 963 00:48:45,366 --> 00:48:48,200 NARRATOR: On November 20, 1963, 964 00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:50,766 Bobby celebrated his 38th birthday 965 00:48:50,766 --> 00:48:54,800 at a party at Hickory Hill. 966 00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:05,233 The president stopped by to wish him well. 967 00:49:05,233 --> 00:49:09,800 He was about to leave for a political trip to Dallas. 968 00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:12,366 He said he was looking forward to it. 969 00:49:14,533 --> 00:49:17,600 Already the brothers were thinking about the next election 970 00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:22,466 and the opportunities a second term would give them. 971 00:49:22,466 --> 00:49:25,133 Three years of intense collaboration 972 00:49:25,133 --> 00:49:27,333 had bound them so closely together, 973 00:49:27,333 --> 00:49:31,533 each seemed to know what the other was thinking. 974 00:49:31,533 --> 00:49:33,466 SCHLESINGER: No sooner did one of them begin a sentence 975 00:49:33,466 --> 00:49:35,966 than the other knew what he was saying. 976 00:49:35,966 --> 00:49:39,066 They understood each other so well 977 00:49:39,066 --> 00:49:41,733 that they talked in a kind of shorthand. 978 00:49:44,866 --> 00:49:46,466 RICHARD GOODWIN: Well, everybody was having a good time. 979 00:49:46,466 --> 00:49:49,133 It was a birthday party, and the president stopped by. 980 00:49:49,133 --> 00:49:51,300 The motorcade came up, 981 00:49:51,300 --> 00:49:52,766 and he came in and shook hands. 982 00:49:52,766 --> 00:49:54,400 He didn't stay very long, as I remember. 983 00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:58,800 Then he was off to Dallas, I guess, the next day. 984 00:50:01,500 --> 00:50:04,600 NARRATOR: Bobby would never see his brother again. 985 00:50:07,566 --> 00:50:12,033 On the afternoon of November 22, 1963, 986 00:50:12,033 --> 00:50:15,766 Robert Kennedy received a phone call from J. Edgar Hoover. 987 00:50:18,166 --> 00:50:20,666 "I have news for you," Hoover said. 988 00:50:20,666 --> 00:50:22,700 "The president's been shot." 989 00:50:25,733 --> 00:50:29,833 30 minutes later, the phone rang again. 990 00:50:29,833 --> 00:50:34,333 Bobby's brother was dead. 991 00:50:38,733 --> 00:50:42,200 ♪ ♪ 992 00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:56,533 NARRATOR: On November 24, 1963, 993 00:50:56,533 --> 00:50:59,500 while the nation mourned a president, 994 00:50:59,500 --> 00:51:01,600 Robert Kennedy grieved for a brother 995 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:04,100 to whom he had been devoted. 996 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,833 SEIGENTHALER: It was a physical blow to him, 997 00:51:08,833 --> 00:51:10,933 that loss of his brother-- 998 00:51:10,933 --> 00:51:14,800 an emotional blow, intellectual blow, 999 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:17,100 but it took a physical toll on him. 1000 00:51:17,100 --> 00:51:19,033 He was physically in pain. 1001 00:51:22,366 --> 00:51:27,200 ADAM WALINSKY: The enormous sadness and ache, 1002 00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:29,733 it was there all the time. 1003 00:51:29,733 --> 00:51:31,200 I never knew him 1004 00:51:31,200 --> 00:51:34,800 when he wasn't in a kind of mourning for President Kennedy. 1005 00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:39,200 ♪ ♪ 1006 00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:40,666 CHARLES SPALDING: I was with Bobby, 1007 00:51:40,666 --> 00:51:41,700 and I talked with him for a while 1008 00:51:41,700 --> 00:51:43,900 and it came time to go to bed, 1009 00:51:43,900 --> 00:51:45,366 so I closed the door and I waited outside, 1010 00:51:45,366 --> 00:51:48,500 and I heard him just sobbing, 1011 00:51:48,500 --> 00:51:54,066 and he was saying, "Why, why, God, why?" 1012 00:52:05,166 --> 00:52:12,600 STEEL: I think that Bobby found himself bereft, alone, 1013 00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:19,066 and the inheritor of not only a family ambition, 1014 00:52:19,066 --> 00:52:21,666 but a national myth. 1015 00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:31,200 ♪ ♪ 1016 00:52:31,200 --> 00:52:36,733 When Jack died, Bobby was truly at a loss. 1017 00:52:36,733 --> 00:52:39,966 He was deprived not only of a brother he loved, 1018 00:52:39,966 --> 00:52:43,700 but, in a sense, of his own identity, 1019 00:52:43,700 --> 00:52:45,733 because to be the helper, 1020 00:52:45,733 --> 00:52:47,933 and be the servant, and be the henchman 1021 00:52:47,933 --> 00:52:50,200 could no longer be his identity. 1022 00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:52,800 He had to forge some kind of identity for himself. 1023 00:52:54,933 --> 00:52:58,400 NARRATOR: He didn't know who he was or what he stood for 1024 00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:01,166 or what he was capable of. 1025 00:53:01,166 --> 00:53:04,700 His brother's legacy was his to bear. 1026 00:53:04,700 --> 00:53:09,533 Now he would have to struggle to create a legacy of his own. 1027 00:53:09,533 --> 00:53:10,633 (fire) 1028 00:53:13,500 --> 00:53:14,466 (fire) 1029 00:53:18,933 --> 00:53:21,900 ♪ ♪ 1030 00:53:29,166 --> 00:53:32,966 (crowd applauding) 1031 00:53:32,966 --> 00:53:35,700 It would have been difficult for Robert Kennedy 1032 00:53:35,700 --> 00:53:39,300 to watch any man take his brother's place, 1033 00:53:39,300 --> 00:53:42,466 but watching Lyndon Johnson was next to impossible. 1034 00:53:44,066 --> 00:53:47,066 All I have 1035 00:53:47,066 --> 00:53:49,266 I would have given gladly 1036 00:53:49,266 --> 00:53:52,966 not to be standing here today. 1037 00:53:52,966 --> 00:53:55,833 NARRATOR: The two men now rarely spoke of one another 1038 00:53:55,833 --> 00:53:57,633 without contempt. 1039 00:53:57,633 --> 00:54:03,966 Bobby described LBJ as "mean, bitter, vicious." 1040 00:54:03,966 --> 00:54:07,100 LBJ called Bobby "a snot-nosed kid" 1041 00:54:07,100 --> 00:54:09,533 and "a grandstanding little runt." 1042 00:54:09,533 --> 00:54:13,166 SHESOL: Johnson had particular contempt for the fact 1043 00:54:13,166 --> 00:54:15,833 that Robert Kennedy had never run for office, 1044 00:54:15,833 --> 00:54:17,333 he had never been elected to anything. 1045 00:54:17,333 --> 00:54:19,366 And he saw him as a child of privilege, 1046 00:54:19,366 --> 00:54:23,866 as someone who had never really earned the offices that he held. 1047 00:54:23,866 --> 00:54:27,533 Whereas Lyndon Johnson had had to fight for it on his own 1048 00:54:27,533 --> 00:54:28,933 and earned it in his own right. 1049 00:54:28,933 --> 00:54:32,833 NARRATOR: LBJ moved quickly to assume the mantle 1050 00:54:32,833 --> 00:54:34,933 of the fallen president. 1051 00:54:34,933 --> 00:54:38,533 He convinced a reluctant Robert Kennedy, 1052 00:54:38,533 --> 00:54:40,733 along with the rest of John Kennedy's Cabinet, 1053 00:54:40,733 --> 00:54:42,233 to stay on, 1054 00:54:42,233 --> 00:54:44,100 then swiftly began to push 1055 00:54:44,100 --> 00:54:46,933 JFK's sputtering legislative program 1056 00:54:46,933 --> 00:54:49,133 through Congress. 1057 00:54:49,133 --> 00:54:50,566 My fellow Americans, 1058 00:54:50,566 --> 00:54:55,633 I am about to sign into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 1059 00:54:55,633 --> 00:54:58,733 SHESOL: The Kennedy legislative program 1060 00:54:58,733 --> 00:55:01,466 was sitting on the Hill and not doing much of anything 1061 00:55:01,466 --> 00:55:03,400 by the time of John Kennedy's assassination. 1062 00:55:03,400 --> 00:55:06,933 Lyndon Johnson picks it up, infuses it with energy, 1063 00:55:06,933 --> 00:55:09,900 gives it new meaning and new strength, 1064 00:55:09,900 --> 00:55:11,066 and drives it through the Congress 1065 00:55:11,066 --> 00:55:12,466 like only Lyndon Johnson can. 1066 00:55:12,466 --> 00:55:18,033 This administration today, here and now, 1067 00:55:18,033 --> 00:55:22,766 declares unconditional war on poverty in America. 1068 00:55:22,766 --> 00:55:25,266 (applause) 1069 00:55:25,266 --> 00:55:27,666 SHESOL: One might expect Robert Kennedy to be pleased 1070 00:55:27,666 --> 00:55:29,266 about the success of the Kennedy agenda. 1071 00:55:29,266 --> 00:55:33,300 But it was hard to be pleased with what LBJ was doing 1072 00:55:33,300 --> 00:55:35,733 when it was LBJ doing it, and not his brother. 1073 00:55:35,733 --> 00:55:39,033 SHESOL: He thinks of Johnson as a usurper, 1074 00:55:39,033 --> 00:55:41,166 he thinks of Johnson as illegitimate, 1075 00:55:41,166 --> 00:55:43,366 and it's painful for him 1076 00:55:43,366 --> 00:55:46,600 to watch Johnson take these pieces of his brother's legacy, 1077 00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:51,000 and take ownership of his brother's legacy. 1078 00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:53,033 It no longer belongs to his brother. 1079 00:55:53,033 --> 00:55:55,800 It no longer belongs to him. 1080 00:55:55,800 --> 00:55:58,400 It belongs to Lyndon Johnson. 1081 00:56:00,233 --> 00:56:03,533 NARRATOR: While LBJ dominated the nation's politics, 1082 00:56:03,533 --> 00:56:06,633 Bobby remained inconsolable. 1083 00:56:06,633 --> 00:56:10,233 He was a haunted man, forever dwelling on his loss, 1084 00:56:10,233 --> 00:56:11,966 as if cultivating the pain 1085 00:56:11,966 --> 00:56:15,166 helped keep his brother's memory alive. 1086 00:56:15,166 --> 00:56:18,700 He took to wearing his brother's old jacket, 1087 00:56:18,700 --> 00:56:21,033 although he often forgot it somewhere, 1088 00:56:21,033 --> 00:56:24,600 as if the jacket was at once a connection to his brother, 1089 00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:26,333 and a kind of burden 1090 00:56:26,333 --> 00:56:29,033 he desperately wanted to leave behind. 1091 00:56:29,033 --> 00:56:31,066 SEIGENTHALER: Pain was etched on his face. 1092 00:56:31,066 --> 00:56:33,433 He told me he couldn't sleep, he'd lost weight. 1093 00:56:33,433 --> 00:56:34,733 He asked me how he looked. 1094 00:56:34,733 --> 00:56:35,733 I said, "You look like hell." 1095 00:56:35,733 --> 00:56:37,066 And he did. 1096 00:56:37,066 --> 00:56:41,566 STEEL: He'd become-- as in the Robert Frost poem 1097 00:56:41,566 --> 00:56:43,800 that his brother also often loved to quote-- 1098 00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:45,500 acquainted with the night. 1099 00:56:45,500 --> 00:56:49,833 ♪ ♪ 1100 00:56:49,833 --> 00:56:52,033 NARRATOR: He and the president's widow 1101 00:56:52,033 --> 00:56:55,633 often visited John Kennedy's grave-- 1102 00:56:55,633 --> 00:56:59,133 their shared sorrow drawing them closer together. 1103 00:57:01,100 --> 00:57:04,033 When his faith in the Catholic Church 1104 00:57:04,033 --> 00:57:06,600 could not alone sustain him, 1105 00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:08,700 it was Jacqueline Kennedy who suggested 1106 00:57:08,700 --> 00:57:13,066 he read the tragic dramas of the ancient Greeks. 1107 00:57:15,600 --> 00:57:20,700 "In agony, learn wisdom," he read in Aeschylus. 1108 00:57:20,700 --> 00:57:23,700 "Injustice is the nature of things." 1109 00:57:25,800 --> 00:57:28,400 STEEL: Grief humanized him. 1110 00:57:28,400 --> 00:57:30,566 I think it took him away from a life 1111 00:57:30,566 --> 00:57:35,133 dedicated to power and will and ambition 1112 00:57:35,133 --> 00:57:38,633 toward a... 1113 00:57:38,633 --> 00:57:44,100 a deeper identification with people who suffered. 1114 00:57:44,100 --> 00:57:48,833 NARRATOR: Slowly, Bobby emerged from his despair, 1115 00:57:48,833 --> 00:57:52,266 reconnecting to the everyday world through politics 1116 00:57:52,266 --> 00:57:55,900 and his need to carry forth the legacy of his brother. 1117 00:57:59,100 --> 00:58:02,433 Over the past few weeks, many leading members 1118 00:58:02,433 --> 00:58:05,033 of the Democratic and the Liberal parties 1119 00:58:05,033 --> 00:58:06,966 here in the state of New York 1120 00:58:06,966 --> 00:58:09,366 have talked to me about being a candidate 1121 00:58:09,366 --> 00:58:11,333 for the United States Senate... 1122 00:58:11,333 --> 00:58:14,200 NARRATOR: On August 22, 1964, 1123 00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:15,733 still wearing the black tie 1124 00:58:15,733 --> 00:58:18,100 he had worn since his brother's death, 1125 00:58:18,100 --> 00:58:20,766 Robert Kennedy announced that for the first time, 1126 00:58:20,766 --> 00:58:23,366 he would run for political office. 1127 00:58:23,366 --> 00:58:27,800 I shall resign from the Cabinet to campaign for election. 1128 00:58:27,800 --> 00:58:29,900 I shall devote all of my effort 1129 00:58:29,900 --> 00:58:32,566 and all of whatever talents that I possess 1130 00:58:32,566 --> 00:58:34,800 to the state of New York. 1131 00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:36,100 This I pledge. 1132 00:58:36,100 --> 00:58:38,833 (crowds cheering) 1133 00:58:38,833 --> 00:58:41,100 NEWFIELD: It is the biggest transition of his life, 1134 00:58:41,100 --> 00:58:44,166 to go from the shadows to the stage. 1135 00:58:44,166 --> 00:58:47,233 And he had a fear: "What if I lose? 1136 00:58:47,233 --> 00:58:49,466 "What if I let my brother down? 1137 00:58:49,466 --> 00:58:51,400 "What if I let my family down? 1138 00:58:51,400 --> 00:58:53,300 "What if I've made the wrong decision? 1139 00:58:53,300 --> 00:58:55,333 What if I'm not ready to run for the Senate?" 1140 00:58:55,333 --> 00:59:01,066 He was still a wounded animal, half a zombie. 1141 00:59:01,066 --> 00:59:05,166 He wasn't ready to, to face the voters. 1142 00:59:05,166 --> 00:59:07,000 MAN: The former attorney general of the United States 1143 00:59:07,000 --> 00:59:09,433 and candidate for United States Senate from New York, 1144 00:59:09,433 --> 00:59:11,566 Robert F. Kennedy. 1145 00:59:11,566 --> 00:59:12,933 (cheers and applause) 1146 00:59:12,933 --> 00:59:14,900 NEWFIELD: He was still hurting and suffering. 1147 00:59:17,566 --> 00:59:20,933 NARRATOR: Although voters turned out in large numbers, 1148 00:59:20,933 --> 00:59:25,100 Bobby found it hard to accept their enthusiasm. 1149 00:59:25,100 --> 00:59:28,300 "They're cheering him," he said. 1150 00:59:28,300 --> 00:59:30,133 "They're for him." 1151 00:59:30,133 --> 00:59:33,666 He didn't want to trade on being his brother's brother. 1152 00:59:33,666 --> 00:59:35,166 He didn't think that was right. 1153 00:59:35,166 --> 00:59:39,900 At the same time, he didn't really have a series of things 1154 00:59:39,900 --> 00:59:42,033 that "I, Robert Kennedy, will do 1155 00:59:42,033 --> 00:59:43,733 as the senator from the state of New York." 1156 00:59:43,733 --> 00:59:46,233 REPORTER: What about this tour of the Fulton Fish Market? 1157 00:59:46,233 --> 00:59:47,433 What are your impressions? 1158 00:59:47,433 --> 00:59:51,133 Well, they have a lot of fish in the, uh... 1159 00:59:51,133 --> 00:59:52,733 And it just didn't work very well. 1160 00:59:52,733 --> 00:59:56,766 I am very pleased and happy 1161 00:59:56,766 --> 01:00:02,000 to have the opportunity to speak with all of you this morning. 1162 01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:04,833 NARRATOR: He quickly fell behind in the polls. 1163 01:00:04,833 --> 01:00:09,133 He was struggling to define himself and what he stood for. 1164 01:00:09,133 --> 01:00:14,733 I, uh... join, uh... Senator Rob, Bob Brownstein 1165 01:00:14,733 --> 01:00:17,000 and Congressman Multer... 1166 01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:18,700 SHESOL: He has spoken for his brother, 1167 01:00:18,700 --> 01:00:19,933 on behalf of his brother, 1168 01:00:19,933 --> 01:00:22,000 for most of his political life. 1169 01:00:22,000 --> 01:00:24,433 Suddenly he's a figure in his own right, 1170 01:00:24,433 --> 01:00:25,933 but he can really only see himself 1171 01:00:25,933 --> 01:00:27,900 as fulfilling his brother's legacy, 1172 01:00:27,900 --> 01:00:29,700 doing what his brother would do 1173 01:00:29,700 --> 01:00:31,433 if only his brother were still with us. 1174 01:00:31,433 --> 01:00:35,166 I think we started something three-and-a-half years ago. 1175 01:00:35,166 --> 01:00:37,266 I think it was started January 1961, 1176 01:00:37,266 --> 01:00:38,766 and I think this election 1177 01:00:38,766 --> 01:00:40,533 is whether we're going to keep it going. 1178 01:00:40,533 --> 01:00:41,800 (crowd cheers) 1179 01:00:41,800 --> 01:00:44,333 NEWFIELD: He quoted his brother almost obsessively. 1180 01:00:44,333 --> 01:00:47,266 He... had a lot of the hand gestures of his brother. 1181 01:00:47,266 --> 01:00:49,566 And it was easy to believe for a minute, 1182 01:00:49,566 --> 01:00:51,233 and you didn't have to close your eyes to do it, 1183 01:00:51,233 --> 01:00:53,966 that John Kennedy was still with us. 1184 01:00:53,966 --> 01:00:55,666 And if we want to continue that effort, 1185 01:00:55,666 --> 01:00:57,966 then we have to elect a Democratic administration. 1186 01:00:57,966 --> 01:00:59,766 (cheers and applause) 1187 01:00:59,766 --> 01:01:01,900 NARRATOR: Bobby was at war with himself, 1188 01:01:01,900 --> 01:01:03,800 his need to emulate his brother 1189 01:01:03,800 --> 01:01:07,400 battling with his desire to find his own voice. 1190 01:01:07,400 --> 01:01:08,966 ♪ ♪ 1191 01:01:08,966 --> 01:01:10,700 KENNEDY: I think that this election's important, 1192 01:01:10,700 --> 01:01:12,833 because I think there's a lot that needs to be done. 1193 01:01:12,833 --> 01:01:15,533 ...an intolerable situation, and it has to be changed. 1194 01:01:15,533 --> 01:01:18,400 If I'm elected to the United States Senate, 1195 01:01:18,400 --> 01:01:20,366 I intend to fight for that. 1196 01:01:20,366 --> 01:01:21,500 NARRATOR: Despite the cheering crowds, 1197 01:01:21,500 --> 01:01:23,366 as the campaign wound down, 1198 01:01:23,366 --> 01:01:25,766 the election remained too close to call. 1199 01:01:25,766 --> 01:01:29,500 ♪ ♪ 1200 01:01:29,500 --> 01:01:31,433 Much to Kennedy's chagrin, 1201 01:01:31,433 --> 01:01:34,566 there was only one man who could help him. 1202 01:01:34,566 --> 01:01:37,200 The United States 1203 01:01:37,200 --> 01:01:44,733 needs a young, dynamic, compassionate, fighting liberal 1204 01:01:44,733 --> 01:01:47,200 representing New York in the United States Senate-- 1205 01:01:47,200 --> 01:01:48,200 Bob Kennedy. 1206 01:01:48,200 --> 01:01:50,866 (cheers and applause) 1207 01:01:50,866 --> 01:01:52,866 EDELMAN: It had to stick in RFK's craw 1208 01:01:52,866 --> 01:01:55,366 to have to accept anything from Lyndon Johnson. 1209 01:01:57,566 --> 01:02:00,166 NARRATOR: Bobby had trouble hiding his distaste, 1210 01:02:00,166 --> 01:02:01,800 but he was a pragmatist. 1211 01:02:01,800 --> 01:02:05,533 LBJ may have hated Bobby, 1212 01:02:05,533 --> 01:02:09,366 but he wanted a Democrat in the Senate. 1213 01:02:09,366 --> 01:02:11,533 (crowds cheering) 1214 01:02:11,533 --> 01:02:13,900 When all the votes were counted, 1215 01:02:13,900 --> 01:02:17,100 LBJ had helped put Bobby over the top. 1216 01:02:17,100 --> 01:02:19,833 KENNEDY: For all of us who were elected on this day, 1217 01:02:19,833 --> 01:02:22,200 all of us now have a responsibility. 1218 01:02:22,200 --> 01:02:23,400 Our job has just begun. 1219 01:02:23,400 --> 01:02:27,166 ♪ ♪ 1220 01:02:27,166 --> 01:02:33,033 NARRATOR: But even victory could not relieve his melancholy. 1221 01:02:33,033 --> 01:02:36,733 "If my brother was alive," Bobby told a friend, 1222 01:02:36,733 --> 01:02:39,066 "I wouldn't be here. 1223 01:02:39,066 --> 01:02:41,133 I'd rather have it that way." 1224 01:02:43,333 --> 01:02:47,500 That night, Bobby called LBJ to thank him for his help. 1225 01:02:47,500 --> 01:02:49,366 JOHNSON (on phone): We got a lot to be thankful for, Bobby, 1226 01:02:49,366 --> 01:02:51,833 and give our love to Ethel, and, uh... 1227 01:02:51,833 --> 01:02:55,300 Let's... Let's stay as close together as he'd want us to. 1228 01:02:55,300 --> 01:02:57,533 KENNEDY: That'd be fine, that'd be fine, Mr. President. 1229 01:02:57,533 --> 01:02:58,633 Congratulations, sir. 1230 01:02:58,633 --> 01:02:59,766 JOHNSON: Tell all that staff of yours 1231 01:02:59,766 --> 01:03:02,133 that ain't nobody going to divide us, 1232 01:03:02,133 --> 01:03:03,600 and I'll tell mine the same way, and we'll... 1233 01:03:03,600 --> 01:03:04,600 KENNEDY: That's right. 1234 01:03:04,600 --> 01:03:05,600 JOHNSON: We'll move ahead, and... 1235 01:03:05,600 --> 01:03:06,933 I'm proud of you. 1236 01:03:06,933 --> 01:03:08,566 KENNEDY: Thanks very much, thanks for your help. 1237 01:03:08,566 --> 01:03:09,600 JOHNSON: Thank you for calling. 1238 01:03:09,600 --> 01:03:10,666 KENNEDY: It made a hell of a difference. 1239 01:03:10,666 --> 01:03:11,666 Thanks. 1240 01:03:11,666 --> 01:03:12,800 (phone disconnects) 1241 01:03:19,066 --> 01:03:22,466 NARRATOR: Bobby Kennedy was never cut out to be a senator. 1242 01:03:22,466 --> 01:03:24,533 He was used to making things happen, 1243 01:03:24,533 --> 01:03:27,633 and the Senate's glacial pace irritated him. 1244 01:03:27,633 --> 01:03:29,433 THOMAS: He was the second-most powerful man 1245 01:03:29,433 --> 01:03:31,266 in the most powerful country in the world, 1246 01:03:31,266 --> 01:03:32,800 and now he's a junior senator. 1247 01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:35,133 He can't even get a seat on the Foreign Relations Committee. 1248 01:03:35,133 --> 01:03:36,500 He used to run covert actions, 1249 01:03:36,500 --> 01:03:38,333 and now he can't even go to the hearings. 1250 01:03:38,333 --> 01:03:41,466 So he is a grumpy, cranky senator, 1251 01:03:41,466 --> 01:03:43,400 who won't sit through long-winded speeches 1252 01:03:43,400 --> 01:03:45,200 and is disrespectful of other senators. 1253 01:03:45,200 --> 01:03:47,733 He'll just get up and walk out. 1254 01:03:47,733 --> 01:03:49,433 NARRATOR: Bobby, a friend said, 1255 01:03:49,433 --> 01:03:53,866 felt impotent, frustrated, floundering. 1256 01:03:53,866 --> 01:03:56,900 He escaped the Senate chambers as often as he could, 1257 01:03:56,900 --> 01:04:00,066 channeling his restless energies elsewhere. 1258 01:04:00,066 --> 01:04:02,566 ♪ ♪ 1259 01:04:02,566 --> 01:04:04,766 Two months after taking his seat in the Senate, 1260 01:04:04,766 --> 01:04:09,433 he set out to scale a 14,000- foot mountain in Canada, 1261 01:04:09,433 --> 01:04:12,366 recently named Mount Kennedy after his brother. 1262 01:04:12,366 --> 01:04:17,100 No one had ever made it to the top before. 1263 01:04:17,100 --> 01:04:21,166 And Robert Kennedy had never climbed a mountain before. 1264 01:04:21,166 --> 01:04:23,166 THOMAS: Bobby hated heights. 1265 01:04:23,166 --> 01:04:24,666 He was afraid of heights. 1266 01:04:24,666 --> 01:04:25,966 He didn't train for it, really. 1267 01:04:25,966 --> 01:04:28,100 I mean, he joked that, as Ethel said, 1268 01:04:28,100 --> 01:04:29,500 that he trained for it 1269 01:04:29,500 --> 01:04:30,800 by running up and down the stairs yelling, "Help." 1270 01:04:32,866 --> 01:04:35,433 NARRATOR: He was nearly 40 years old. 1271 01:04:35,433 --> 01:04:39,700 Now, roped between two veteran climbers, 1272 01:04:39,700 --> 01:04:41,766 Bobby forced his way forward, 1273 01:04:41,766 --> 01:04:45,766 urging the others to increase the pace. 1274 01:04:47,866 --> 01:04:51,366 NEWFIELD: I think Robert Kennedy had a reckless streak in him. 1275 01:04:51,366 --> 01:04:54,800 He was a ferocious competitor 1276 01:04:54,800 --> 01:04:57,833 and with a tremendous amount of aggression and will. 1277 01:04:57,833 --> 01:05:01,333 ♪ ♪ 1278 01:05:12,300 --> 01:05:13,766 NARRATOR: After two days of climbing, 1279 01:05:13,766 --> 01:05:17,133 nearing the top, Bobby moved ahead 1280 01:05:17,133 --> 01:05:21,800 and reached the summit alone. 1281 01:05:21,800 --> 01:05:25,133 ♪ ♪ 1282 01:05:25,133 --> 01:05:28,933 Kneeling down, he wedged his brother's inaugural address 1283 01:05:28,933 --> 01:05:30,200 into the snow. 1284 01:05:36,366 --> 01:05:41,000 For a moment, he stared off into the distance. 1285 01:05:41,000 --> 01:05:45,600 "I didn't really enjoy any part of it," he said later. 1286 01:05:47,833 --> 01:05:49,766 It was a daring exploit, 1287 01:05:49,766 --> 01:05:54,866 and a media sensation that would have delighted any politician. 1288 01:05:54,866 --> 01:05:59,133 But American politics were about to take a darker turn. 1289 01:05:59,133 --> 01:06:00,766 Bombs had begun to fall 1290 01:06:00,766 --> 01:06:04,733 on a small impoverished country in Southeast Asia. 1291 01:06:04,733 --> 01:06:08,933 (explosions booming, bombs whistling) 1292 01:06:08,933 --> 01:06:11,733 ♪ ♪ 1293 01:06:11,733 --> 01:06:15,166 Lyndon Johnson began bombing North Vietnam 1294 01:06:15,166 --> 01:06:19,700 in February 1965. 1295 01:06:21,800 --> 01:06:24,666 He had inherited the war from Bobby's brother. 1296 01:06:24,666 --> 01:06:28,966 Now he was escalating it. 1297 01:06:28,966 --> 01:06:30,666 (helicopter rotors spinning) 1298 01:06:30,666 --> 01:06:33,433 With Vietnam divided into a communist North 1299 01:06:33,433 --> 01:06:35,666 and an American-supported South, 1300 01:06:35,666 --> 01:06:38,600 LBJ hoped that massive air assaults 1301 01:06:38,600 --> 01:06:41,933 would force the North Vietnamese to abandon their efforts 1302 01:06:41,933 --> 01:06:43,566 to reunite the country. 1303 01:06:47,000 --> 01:06:49,133 But the North Vietnamese resisted. 1304 01:06:51,900 --> 01:06:54,133 For the next three years, 1305 01:06:54,133 --> 01:06:57,933 Robert Kennedy's fate would be increasingly bound 1306 01:06:57,933 --> 01:07:01,966 to the outcome of a war on the other side of the world. 1307 01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:06,966 Bobby had been committed to the war 1308 01:07:06,966 --> 01:07:09,200 when his brother was president. 1309 01:07:09,200 --> 01:07:11,166 Now that LBJ was in the White House, 1310 01:07:11,166 --> 01:07:14,000 he continued to support its objectives. 1311 01:07:15,400 --> 01:07:17,866 "The loss of Vietnam," he told an aide, 1312 01:07:17,866 --> 01:07:20,833 would mean "the loss of all of Southeast Asia 1313 01:07:20,833 --> 01:07:21,933 "and have profound effects 1314 01:07:21,933 --> 01:07:25,000 on our position throughout the world." 1315 01:07:25,000 --> 01:07:26,633 THOMAS: Bobby is a Cold Warrior. 1316 01:07:26,633 --> 01:07:29,300 He shares the worldview that communism is a threat, 1317 01:07:29,300 --> 01:07:32,066 and it's advancing, and that you have to contain it, 1318 01:07:32,066 --> 01:07:33,933 so he doesn't question the underlying assumptions 1319 01:07:33,933 --> 01:07:35,300 of the Vietnam War. 1320 01:07:35,300 --> 01:07:37,366 He embraces them and endorses them. 1321 01:07:37,366 --> 01:07:39,966 ♪ ♪ 1322 01:07:45,433 --> 01:07:47,333 (explosions booming) 1323 01:07:47,333 --> 01:07:50,000 SHESOL: But Robert Kennedy is deeply uneasy 1324 01:07:50,000 --> 01:07:52,800 about Johnson's escalation of the war, 1325 01:07:52,800 --> 01:07:55,266 really from the very beginning. 1326 01:07:57,333 --> 01:08:00,300 He speaks to Johnson privately, on the telephone-- 1327 01:08:00,300 --> 01:08:01,766 conversations that were recorded. 1328 01:08:01,766 --> 01:08:04,400 KENNEDY (on phone): I have not been involved intimately 1329 01:08:04,400 --> 01:08:07,333 with, uh, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, 1330 01:08:07,333 --> 01:08:10,466 but I would think that that war will never be won militarily; 1331 01:08:10,466 --> 01:08:13,966 that where it's going to be won, really, is a political war. 1332 01:08:13,966 --> 01:08:17,166 Military action obviously will have to be taken, 1333 01:08:17,166 --> 01:08:20,666 but unless the political action is taken concurrently, 1334 01:08:20,666 --> 01:08:23,766 in my judgment, I just don't think it can be successful. 1335 01:08:23,766 --> 01:08:27,066 JOHNSON: I think that, uh... 1336 01:08:27,066 --> 01:08:28,366 that's good thinking 1337 01:08:28,366 --> 01:08:30,733 and that's not any different 1338 01:08:30,733 --> 01:08:33,366 from the way I have felt about it. 1339 01:08:33,366 --> 01:08:34,566 SHESOL: Johnson says 1340 01:08:34,566 --> 01:08:37,200 that he agrees with Bobby Kennedy completely. 1341 01:08:37,200 --> 01:08:38,566 And this is the sort of thing 1342 01:08:38,566 --> 01:08:40,900 that Johnson probably believes when he's saying it, 1343 01:08:40,900 --> 01:08:43,566 but it is not the course of U.S. policy. 1344 01:08:43,566 --> 01:08:46,033 ♪ ♪ 1345 01:08:46,033 --> 01:08:48,666 NARRATOR: All through the spring of 1965, 1346 01:08:48,666 --> 01:08:52,500 Johnson continued to up the ante. 1347 01:08:52,500 --> 01:08:56,900 He had already sent 75,000 American soldiers to Vietnam. 1348 01:08:59,500 --> 01:09:03,833 That July, he sent 50,000 more. 1349 01:09:03,833 --> 01:09:06,266 As the war drifted out of control, 1350 01:09:06,266 --> 01:09:10,066 Bobby began to tentatively air his doubts in public. 1351 01:09:10,066 --> 01:09:12,233 May I ask you the direct question: 1352 01:09:12,233 --> 01:09:15,233 Do support fully his present policy on Vietnam? 1353 01:09:18,233 --> 01:09:19,633 Well, I support basic... 1354 01:09:19,633 --> 01:09:22,700 I basically support the policy, Mr. Spivak. 1355 01:09:22,700 --> 01:09:25,700 I have some reservations about whether we're doing enough 1356 01:09:25,700 --> 01:09:28,100 in the economic and the political field, 1357 01:09:28,100 --> 01:09:31,866 and I also have felt for some period of time 1358 01:09:31,866 --> 01:09:35,200 that a major effort had to be undertaken 1359 01:09:35,200 --> 01:09:36,733 in the diplomatic field. 1360 01:09:36,733 --> 01:09:39,166 SHESOL: Robert Kennedy believes that America needs 1361 01:09:39,166 --> 01:09:42,300 to bring Ho Chi Minh to the table to negotiate. 1362 01:09:42,300 --> 01:09:44,733 Johnson, meanwhile, is taking the opposite course, 1363 01:09:44,733 --> 01:09:47,900 which is to escalate, to try to bomb Ho into submission. 1364 01:09:47,900 --> 01:09:54,200 NARRATOR: For the rest of 1966, Bobby said little about the war. 1365 01:09:54,200 --> 01:09:58,133 Instead, he turned his attention to problems at home. 1366 01:09:58,133 --> 01:10:02,200 He would begin to speak out on behalf of the dispossessed, 1367 01:10:02,200 --> 01:10:04,233 and as he reached out to them, 1368 01:10:04,233 --> 01:10:07,766 he would transform his sense of himself. 1369 01:10:07,766 --> 01:10:11,833 (sirens wailing) 1370 01:10:15,700 --> 01:10:19,566 In the summer of 1965, 1371 01:10:19,566 --> 01:10:22,000 riots in Watts, 1372 01:10:22,000 --> 01:10:24,333 a poor African-American section of Los Angeles, 1373 01:10:24,333 --> 01:10:29,433 left 34 people dead and more than 1,000 injured. 1374 01:10:29,433 --> 01:10:32,533 Bobby was shaken. 1375 01:10:32,533 --> 01:10:34,733 WALINSKY: He bumped into some reporter, 1376 01:10:34,733 --> 01:10:36,466 who asked him what he thought 1377 01:10:36,466 --> 01:10:38,500 about, you know, "Should these Negroes"-- 1378 01:10:38,500 --> 01:10:40,000 as we called them then-- 1379 01:10:40,000 --> 01:10:42,033 "be obeying the law?" 1380 01:10:42,033 --> 01:10:44,266 And he said, "Well," he said, "I don't know." 1381 01:10:44,266 --> 01:10:46,200 He said, "What did the law ever do for the Negro?" 1382 01:10:46,200 --> 01:10:49,900 I don't think that it's possible in our society 1383 01:10:49,900 --> 01:10:51,133 and with our government 1384 01:10:51,133 --> 01:10:54,700 to tolerate lawlessness and disorder and violence. 1385 01:10:54,700 --> 01:10:55,966 But at the same time, 1386 01:10:55,966 --> 01:10:58,600 I think that we've got to make more progress 1387 01:10:58,600 --> 01:11:00,500 than we have in the past, 1388 01:11:00,500 --> 01:11:03,266 be more effective with the programs that we've instituted, 1389 01:11:03,266 --> 01:11:10,033 have some imagination to try to deal with the lack of hope 1390 01:11:10,033 --> 01:11:12,366 that exists in many of these communities. 1391 01:11:12,366 --> 01:11:18,233 ♪ ♪ 1392 01:11:18,233 --> 01:11:19,800 NARRATOR: In a neighborhood in Brooklyn 1393 01:11:19,800 --> 01:11:21,566 called Bedford-Stuyvesant, 1394 01:11:21,566 --> 01:11:23,866 Bobby Kennedy meant to show the nation 1395 01:11:23,866 --> 01:11:26,000 what could be done about poverty. 1396 01:11:29,266 --> 01:11:32,200 NEWFIELD: Bedford-Stuyvesant has got tremendous problems 1397 01:11:32,200 --> 01:11:36,766 of unemployment, drugs, slum housing, 1398 01:11:36,766 --> 01:11:39,333 and Robert Kennedy was an activist. 1399 01:11:39,333 --> 01:11:42,800 He wanted to do something about it. 1400 01:11:42,800 --> 01:11:45,333 He felt it was cheap grace to just make a speech 1401 01:11:45,333 --> 01:11:49,700 and deplore poverty or racism and not do something about it. 1402 01:11:49,700 --> 01:11:53,400 EDELMAN: And so he gets involved with the community leadership, 1403 01:11:53,400 --> 01:11:57,966 and they plan together an initiative that will be, 1404 01:11:57,966 --> 01:11:59,366 not only about housing in the neighborhood, 1405 01:11:59,366 --> 01:12:02,833 but about jobs and about public safety 1406 01:12:02,833 --> 01:12:05,833 and about really trying to build a community there. 1407 01:12:05,833 --> 01:12:08,866 What we brought together for the first time, really, 1408 01:12:08,866 --> 01:12:11,266 is the city, private foundations, 1409 01:12:11,266 --> 01:12:12,566 the federal government, 1410 01:12:12,566 --> 01:12:17,033 and I think most significant, the private sector. 1411 01:12:17,033 --> 01:12:20,033 WALINSKY: When he went to the businesspeople, he didn't say, 1412 01:12:20,033 --> 01:12:23,200 "I want you to give money, I want charity," 1413 01:12:23,200 --> 01:12:26,433 because that's too easy-- that just buys off. 1414 01:12:26,433 --> 01:12:31,000 What he did was, he said, "I want investment here. 1415 01:12:31,000 --> 01:12:32,733 "I want you to run business here. 1416 01:12:32,733 --> 01:12:34,166 "I want you to hire people. 1417 01:12:34,166 --> 01:12:36,233 I want you to make things here." 1418 01:12:36,233 --> 01:12:38,300 To have any success in Bedford-Stuyvesant 1419 01:12:38,300 --> 01:12:39,666 is going to require the initiative 1420 01:12:39,666 --> 01:12:41,233 and the imagination and the courage 1421 01:12:41,233 --> 01:12:43,833 of the people who live in the community. 1422 01:12:43,833 --> 01:12:45,933 The programs are going to have to be developed 1423 01:12:45,933 --> 01:12:47,766 by the people who live in the community. 1424 01:12:47,766 --> 01:12:51,766 WALINSKY: He believed the core of any program had to be 1425 01:12:51,766 --> 01:12:55,366 work and self-help and self-mastery. 1426 01:12:55,366 --> 01:12:58,933 People had to have the wherewithal 1427 01:12:58,933 --> 01:13:00,700 not to be defined by others, 1428 01:13:00,700 --> 01:13:03,333 but to be able to define themselves. 1429 01:13:03,333 --> 01:13:05,300 America's a very rich country. 1430 01:13:05,300 --> 01:13:07,633 We could just hand out incomes. 1431 01:13:07,633 --> 01:13:11,133 What he said was, was that that would be profoundly destructive. 1432 01:13:11,133 --> 01:13:15,133 He hated welfare, but thought jobs were the solution, 1433 01:13:15,133 --> 01:13:17,433 not just throwing people off the rolls. 1434 01:13:19,933 --> 01:13:23,633 He had this empathy, seeing it from the point of view 1435 01:13:23,633 --> 01:13:26,300 of what it was like to be a black child 1436 01:13:26,300 --> 01:13:27,566 in a desperate situation, 1437 01:13:27,566 --> 01:13:30,000 with no jobs and no chance of college 1438 01:13:30,000 --> 01:13:35,700 and broken family and drugs and gangs all around. 1439 01:13:37,233 --> 01:13:39,666 I grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and I'll never forget 1440 01:13:39,666 --> 01:13:42,833 one of the days we're going around Bed-Stuy, he said to me, 1441 01:13:42,833 --> 01:13:44,933 "I envy the fact you grew up in poverty, 1442 01:13:44,933 --> 01:13:48,166 and you grew up with black friends." 1443 01:13:48,166 --> 01:13:51,100 And I said, "Well, what would've happened to you, 1444 01:13:51,100 --> 01:13:54,366 if you had grown up on this block, instead of me?" 1445 01:13:54,366 --> 01:13:57,233 And he looks up and down the block at all... all of this, 1446 01:13:57,233 --> 01:14:01,100 you know, poverty and drug addiction and alcoholism, 1447 01:14:01,100 --> 01:14:03,900 and he says, "If I grew up here, I would've either become 1448 01:14:03,900 --> 01:14:07,266 a juvenile delinquent or a revolutionary." 1449 01:14:08,633 --> 01:14:10,066 NARRATOR: Robert Kennedy had begun 1450 01:14:10,066 --> 01:14:14,466 to reach beyond the guarded politics of his brother. 1451 01:14:14,466 --> 01:14:18,066 John Kennedy had always moved slowly, with caution. 1452 01:14:18,066 --> 01:14:24,066 Now, Bobby was throwing caution to the wind. 1453 01:14:24,066 --> 01:14:26,700 (chanting) 1454 01:14:28,666 --> 01:14:31,133 In March 1966, Kennedy flew to California, 1455 01:14:31,133 --> 01:14:33,200 where his Senate subcommittee 1456 01:14:33,200 --> 01:14:35,866 was investigating the causes of a strike 1457 01:14:35,866 --> 01:14:37,733 by migrant grape pickers. 1458 01:14:37,733 --> 01:14:39,966 (man talking indistinctly) 1459 01:14:39,966 --> 01:14:42,100 EDELMAN: Robert Kennedy walks into the hearings, 1460 01:14:42,100 --> 01:14:45,233 and the witness is this sheriff 1461 01:14:45,233 --> 01:14:48,100 who is explaining to the committee 1462 01:14:48,100 --> 01:14:51,433 how it is that he's arresting these demonstrators 1463 01:14:51,433 --> 01:14:53,900 who are legally picketing. 1464 01:14:53,900 --> 01:14:55,200 If I have reason to believe 1465 01:14:55,200 --> 01:14:57,366 that there's going to be a riot started, 1466 01:14:57,366 --> 01:14:59,866 and somebody tells me that there's going to be trouble 1467 01:14:59,866 --> 01:15:01,300 if you don't stop them, 1468 01:15:01,300 --> 01:15:02,733 then it's my duty to stop them. 1469 01:15:02,733 --> 01:15:04,000 KENNEDY: And you go out and arrest them? 1470 01:15:04,000 --> 01:15:05,300 Well, absolutely. 1471 01:15:05,300 --> 01:15:06,333 How can you go arrest somebody 1472 01:15:06,333 --> 01:15:08,100 if they haven't violated the law? 1473 01:15:08,100 --> 01:15:09,733 SHERIFF: They're ready to violate the law. 1474 01:15:09,733 --> 01:15:10,733 In other words... 1475 01:15:10,733 --> 01:15:12,500 (crowd clamoring) 1476 01:15:12,500 --> 01:15:14,733 Just like these labor people out here, 1477 01:15:14,733 --> 01:15:16,833 if they ask their attorney, "What shall we do?" 1478 01:15:16,833 --> 01:15:17,833 KENNEDY: Could I suggest 1479 01:15:17,833 --> 01:15:19,466 in the luncheon period of time 1480 01:15:19,466 --> 01:15:21,333 that the sheriff and the district attorney 1481 01:15:21,333 --> 01:15:23,500 read the Constitution of the United States? 1482 01:15:23,500 --> 01:15:25,666 (cheers and applause) 1483 01:15:29,033 --> 01:15:31,666 NARRATOR: Bobby declared his support for the grape strike, 1484 01:15:31,666 --> 01:15:34,533 even joined a picket line. 1485 01:15:34,533 --> 01:15:38,166 He was discovering there were causes he believed in, 1486 01:15:38,166 --> 01:15:40,733 people he could fight for. 1487 01:15:40,733 --> 01:15:43,100 NEWFIELD: Kennedy took things personally. 1488 01:15:43,100 --> 01:15:45,600 He saw somebody hurting, and he hurt. 1489 01:15:45,600 --> 01:15:49,266 He was so intense, so personal 1490 01:15:49,266 --> 01:15:53,133 about somebody else's pain or injustice, 1491 01:15:53,133 --> 01:15:54,633 and that's what made him 1492 01:15:54,633 --> 01:15:56,766 a totally different kind of senator. 1493 01:15:56,766 --> 01:16:02,666 ♪ ♪ 1494 01:16:05,733 --> 01:16:08,900 NARRATOR: By the beginning of 1967, 1495 01:16:08,900 --> 01:16:13,433 almost 400,000 Americans were fighting in Vietnam. 1496 01:16:18,100 --> 01:16:20,433 More than 9,000 had been killed, 1497 01:16:20,433 --> 01:16:24,266 more than 60,000 wounded. 1498 01:16:26,566 --> 01:16:29,033 As the carnage continued, 1499 01:16:29,033 --> 01:16:32,633 senators and congressmen from Lyndon Johnson's own party 1500 01:16:32,633 --> 01:16:36,133 began to speak out against the war, 1501 01:16:36,133 --> 01:16:40,333 but Bobby Kennedy still hesitated. 1502 01:16:40,333 --> 01:16:42,100 NEWFIELD: It took Kennedy a long time 1503 01:16:42,100 --> 01:16:45,800 to decide he was going to oppose the Vietnam War. 1504 01:16:45,800 --> 01:16:50,333 It was an agonizing process of indecision. 1505 01:16:50,333 --> 01:16:54,966 He values courage above all other human qualities, 1506 01:16:54,966 --> 01:16:57,733 and he realizes he's not displaying courage, 1507 01:16:57,733 --> 01:17:00,366 he's not displaying leadership. 1508 01:17:00,366 --> 01:17:04,033 But he was conflicted. 1509 01:17:08,666 --> 01:17:11,433 NARRATOR: Not until February 1967 1510 01:17:11,433 --> 01:17:14,200 would Kennedy break decisively with the president, 1511 01:17:14,200 --> 01:17:17,633 after a bitter confrontation in the White House. 1512 01:17:17,633 --> 01:17:19,900 SHESOL: Robert Kennedy takes a trip to Europe 1513 01:17:19,900 --> 01:17:21,533 in January of 1967, 1514 01:17:21,533 --> 01:17:25,066 and he comes back to find that there's a report in "Newsweek" 1515 01:17:25,066 --> 01:17:27,900 that he has received an important "peace feeler"-- 1516 01:17:27,900 --> 01:17:29,733 as it was called-- from the Vietnamese; 1517 01:17:29,733 --> 01:17:33,033 that they are trying to send a plan for peace through him. 1518 01:17:33,033 --> 01:17:35,300 Now, there's no truth to this whatsoever, 1519 01:17:35,300 --> 01:17:36,533 but there it is in "Newsweek." 1520 01:17:36,533 --> 01:17:38,800 KATZENBACH: And LBJ called 1521 01:17:38,800 --> 01:17:40,966 and asked if we both could come to the White House, 1522 01:17:40,966 --> 01:17:42,300 which we did. 1523 01:17:42,300 --> 01:17:44,033 Johnson was in a foul mood. 1524 01:17:44,033 --> 01:17:45,766 And he was embarrassed by it. 1525 01:17:45,766 --> 01:17:48,233 And he was... he was always prepared to think 1526 01:17:48,233 --> 01:17:50,166 that anything that he was embarrassed by 1527 01:17:50,166 --> 01:17:52,066 was something that Bobby had done. 1528 01:17:52,066 --> 01:17:56,233 LBJ was just terrible. 1529 01:17:56,233 --> 01:17:59,300 He was mean and nasty to Bobby. 1530 01:17:59,300 --> 01:18:02,466 And Bobby was saying, "I had nothing to do with this. 1531 01:18:02,466 --> 01:18:05,633 I don't know of any peace feelers that were made." 1532 01:18:05,633 --> 01:18:07,700 And Johnson believed none of it. 1533 01:18:07,700 --> 01:18:10,200 And Bobby was just livid. 1534 01:18:10,200 --> 01:18:11,800 He was so mad. 1535 01:18:11,800 --> 01:18:14,100 And Bobby comes back to his office 1536 01:18:14,100 --> 01:18:16,700 and says, "The president's unhinged." 1537 01:18:16,700 --> 01:18:20,500 I mean, he was abusive and maybe just not mentally stable. 1538 01:18:20,500 --> 01:18:23,300 He told his aides that he would never again have anything to do 1539 01:18:23,300 --> 01:18:24,566 with Lyndon Johnson, 1540 01:18:24,566 --> 01:18:27,166 that the way he had been treated was so inexcusable 1541 01:18:27,166 --> 01:18:30,366 that he could simply never have any real dealings with the man 1542 01:18:30,366 --> 01:18:31,600 past that point. 1543 01:18:31,600 --> 01:18:35,700 NARRATOR: A month later, Bobby rose in the Senate, 1544 01:18:35,700 --> 01:18:38,066 condemned the morality of the war, 1545 01:18:38,066 --> 01:18:42,166 and then admitted his own share of responsibility. 1546 01:18:42,166 --> 01:18:45,700 "I can testify," he said, "that if fault is to be found, 1547 01:18:45,700 --> 01:18:50,366 there is enough to go around for all, including myself." 1548 01:18:50,366 --> 01:18:53,766 SHESOL: He is the first politician, of either party, 1549 01:18:53,766 --> 01:18:56,700 to take responsibility for what's happening in Vietnam, 1550 01:18:56,700 --> 01:18:58,933 the first politician to accept blame, 1551 01:18:58,933 --> 01:19:02,933 which gives a moral strength to the argument that he's making. 1552 01:19:02,933 --> 01:19:05,633 Do we have a right here in the United States to say 1553 01:19:05,633 --> 01:19:08,300 that we're going to kill tens of thousands, 1554 01:19:08,300 --> 01:19:10,200 make millions of people-- as we have-- 1555 01:19:10,200 --> 01:19:11,966 millions of people refugees, 1556 01:19:11,966 --> 01:19:14,400 kill women and children-- as we have... 1557 01:19:14,400 --> 01:19:17,600 I very seriously question whether we have that right. 1558 01:19:17,600 --> 01:19:19,533 Now we're saying, "We're going to fight there 1559 01:19:19,533 --> 01:19:21,300 "so that we don't have to fight in Thailand, 1560 01:19:21,300 --> 01:19:22,600 "so that we don't have to fight 1561 01:19:22,600 --> 01:19:24,033 "on the West Coast of the United States, 1562 01:19:24,033 --> 01:19:26,466 so that they won't move across the Rockies." 1563 01:19:26,466 --> 01:19:28,933 But do we... our whole moral position, 1564 01:19:28,933 --> 01:19:31,266 it seems to me, changes tremendously. 1565 01:19:31,266 --> 01:19:33,066 SHESOL: Robert Kennedy in 1967 1566 01:19:33,066 --> 01:19:36,200 has come to question the basic assumptions of the war. 1567 01:19:36,200 --> 01:19:37,566 He has begun to question 1568 01:19:37,566 --> 01:19:40,166 whether we really do need to make a stand in Vietnam 1569 01:19:40,166 --> 01:19:42,333 to protect that region from communism. 1570 01:19:42,333 --> 01:19:43,633 He's come to question 1571 01:19:43,633 --> 01:19:45,966 whether our national security interest in Vietnam 1572 01:19:45,966 --> 01:19:49,200 is outweighed by the incredible human suffering 1573 01:19:49,200 --> 01:19:51,733 that we're inflicting by waging war in this country. 1574 01:19:51,733 --> 01:19:55,066 He's questioning the moral legitimacy of this war, 1575 01:19:55,066 --> 01:19:59,666 which is something that he hasn't done to this point. 1576 01:19:59,666 --> 01:20:01,300 He's confronted by new issues, 1577 01:20:01,300 --> 01:20:05,466 and he grows in order to be able to face these challenges. 1578 01:20:05,466 --> 01:20:07,366 He really learns from experience, 1579 01:20:07,366 --> 01:20:09,500 and he really becomes something much larger 1580 01:20:09,500 --> 01:20:12,700 than what he was when he began. 1581 01:20:12,700 --> 01:20:14,166 DALLEK: He becomes more and more thoughtful, 1582 01:20:14,166 --> 01:20:18,633 more and more philosophical, more and more ready to accept 1583 01:20:18,633 --> 01:20:21,666 that he does not have a monopoly on wisdom, 1584 01:20:21,666 --> 01:20:26,866 that maybe this war in Vietnam was a fundamental mistake, 1585 01:20:26,866 --> 01:20:29,866 and that maybe his brother would've gotten out. 1586 01:20:32,000 --> 01:20:33,600 ANTHONY LEWIS: Most people acquire certainties 1587 01:20:33,600 --> 01:20:34,666 as they grow older. 1588 01:20:34,666 --> 01:20:37,533 Bobby Kennedy discarded certainties. 1589 01:20:37,533 --> 01:20:38,800 He grew. 1590 01:20:38,800 --> 01:20:41,133 He started as this zealot, 1591 01:20:41,133 --> 01:20:44,333 and he ended up as this man very sympathetic 1592 01:20:44,333 --> 01:20:47,966 to those who were the despisèd and rejected of life. 1593 01:20:50,100 --> 01:20:52,500 NARRATOR: Robert Kennedy was now reaching out 1594 01:20:52,500 --> 01:20:55,933 to Americans everywhere who had been left behind. 1595 01:21:00,566 --> 01:21:04,733 He had fully awakened from his dark night of mourning. 1596 01:21:04,733 --> 01:21:08,600 The moral impulse to fight evil and do good 1597 01:21:08,600 --> 01:21:10,266 that had always been a part of him 1598 01:21:10,266 --> 01:21:12,766 was taking a new direction. 1599 01:21:12,766 --> 01:21:17,166 NEWFIELD: He wanted to know what life was like for someone else. 1600 01:21:17,166 --> 01:21:21,300 He would ask, "What do you feel, what do you think?" 1601 01:21:21,300 --> 01:21:27,966 He wanted to be inside the eyes of America's casualties. 1602 01:21:27,966 --> 01:21:32,066 He wanted to see the world the way they saw it. 1603 01:21:32,066 --> 01:21:36,366 ANTHONY LEWIS: People believed in his understanding 1604 01:21:36,366 --> 01:21:37,800 of their situation, 1605 01:21:37,800 --> 01:21:40,000 because he visibly was moved. 1606 01:21:40,000 --> 01:21:41,766 He was someone who responded 1607 01:21:41,766 --> 01:21:45,466 in the most graphic, human, emotional terms. 1608 01:21:45,466 --> 01:21:49,266 He was somebody who bled, 1609 01:21:49,266 --> 01:21:51,800 who was raw from the hurt done to others. 1610 01:21:51,800 --> 01:21:56,300 The hurt he felt from the assassination of his brother 1611 01:21:56,300 --> 01:21:58,433 gave him that empathy 1612 01:21:58,433 --> 01:22:01,533 for everyone else who hurt after that. 1613 01:22:01,533 --> 01:22:04,666 I think he did begin to change incrementally 1614 01:22:04,666 --> 01:22:08,866 while he was attorney general, before his brother was killed, 1615 01:22:08,866 --> 01:22:13,500 but I think that all grew dramatically 1616 01:22:13,500 --> 01:22:15,566 after his brother's murder, 1617 01:22:15,566 --> 01:22:19,933 because then he identified with every other victim. 1618 01:22:19,933 --> 01:22:25,133 Anyone who was a casualty in life, 1619 01:22:25,133 --> 01:22:30,100 he began to feel, was his brother. 1620 01:22:33,666 --> 01:22:35,200 PROTESTERS (chanting): Hey, hey, LBJ, 1621 01:22:35,200 --> 01:22:37,033 how many kids did you kill today? 1622 01:22:37,033 --> 01:22:40,966 Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today? 1623 01:22:40,966 --> 01:22:44,633 NARRATOR: By 1967, America was in turmoil. 1624 01:22:44,633 --> 01:22:46,533 PROTESTERS: Hey, hey, LBJ, 1625 01:22:46,533 --> 01:22:48,233 how many kids did you kill today? 1626 01:22:48,233 --> 01:22:50,533 NARRATOR: Protesters against the war in Vietnam 1627 01:22:50,533 --> 01:22:52,066 marched on Washington 1628 01:22:52,066 --> 01:22:54,866 and bitterly attacked the president. 1629 01:22:54,866 --> 01:22:58,200 With the election just one year away, 1630 01:22:58,200 --> 01:23:01,233 they were desperate for someone to challenge him. 1631 01:23:01,233 --> 01:23:04,933 Bobby Kennedy was besieged from all sides 1632 01:23:04,933 --> 01:23:07,433 by people urging him to take on Johnson. 1633 01:23:07,433 --> 01:23:12,133 But he hesitated, profoundly conflicted. 1634 01:23:12,133 --> 01:23:16,666 "If I run," Bobby said, "I will go a long way toward proving 1635 01:23:16,666 --> 01:23:18,900 "everything that everybody who doesn't like me 1636 01:23:18,900 --> 01:23:20,733 "has said about me: 1637 01:23:20,733 --> 01:23:23,633 "that I've never accepted Lyndon Johnson as president, 1638 01:23:23,633 --> 01:23:27,133 "that I'm just a selfish, ambitious little S.O.B. 1639 01:23:27,133 --> 01:23:30,233 that can't wait to get his hands on the White House." 1640 01:23:30,233 --> 01:23:33,733 He is absolutely tormented by this decision he has to make, 1641 01:23:33,733 --> 01:23:36,333 either to support Johnson or to run for president. 1642 01:23:36,333 --> 01:23:38,733 I said to him, "Don't run." 1643 01:23:38,733 --> 01:23:39,933 I said to him, 1644 01:23:39,933 --> 01:23:42,433 "You're not going to unseat Lyndon Johnson. 1645 01:23:42,433 --> 01:23:44,033 "He despises you. 1646 01:23:44,033 --> 01:23:46,966 "There's no way he's going to step aside if you get in. 1647 01:23:46,966 --> 01:23:50,033 He'd love to take you to the convention and beat you." 1648 01:23:50,033 --> 01:23:52,633 But he was caught in an emotional trap. 1649 01:23:52,633 --> 01:23:56,133 It was as if inexorable forces were pushing him 1650 01:23:56,133 --> 01:23:57,500 in the direction of running. 1651 01:23:57,500 --> 01:24:00,533 And everything he was about in life 1652 01:24:00,533 --> 01:24:02,900 was suddenly on the line. 1653 01:24:02,900 --> 01:24:06,300 ♪ ♪ 1654 01:24:06,300 --> 01:24:09,433 NEWFIELD: He was tortured about it. 1655 01:24:09,433 --> 01:24:10,833 I remember talking to him, 1656 01:24:10,833 --> 01:24:13,400 and he suddenly, this gusher came out 1657 01:24:13,400 --> 01:24:15,433 about his feelings about Johnson. 1658 01:24:15,433 --> 01:24:17,933 And he says, "I know he's president today 1659 01:24:17,933 --> 01:24:21,433 "because my brother appointed him... 1660 01:24:21,433 --> 01:24:23,100 "nominated him for vice president. 1661 01:24:23,100 --> 01:24:25,033 "I know my brother is implicated 1662 01:24:25,033 --> 01:24:27,166 "in the beginning of the Vietnam War. 1663 01:24:27,166 --> 01:24:29,600 "For me to run against Johnson, 1664 01:24:29,600 --> 01:24:32,933 I have to run against President Kennedy's judgment." 1665 01:24:32,933 --> 01:24:39,166 And that was agonizing, agonizing for Robert Kennedy, 1666 01:24:39,166 --> 01:24:41,166 because, in a way, it would have meant 1667 01:24:41,166 --> 01:24:44,733 running against the person he loved most in the world, 1668 01:24:44,733 --> 01:24:46,900 his brother. 1669 01:24:46,900 --> 01:24:48,166 PANELIST: Isn't it true 1670 01:24:48,166 --> 01:24:50,033 people who believe that you are the real alternative 1671 01:24:50,033 --> 01:24:51,033 to President Johnson 1672 01:24:51,033 --> 01:24:52,733 are going to bring pressure upon you 1673 01:24:52,733 --> 01:24:54,433 and increase their activities on your behalf? 1674 01:24:54,433 --> 01:24:57,666 I don't anticipate that that will occur. 1675 01:24:57,666 --> 01:25:00,833 But, uh... 1676 01:25:00,833 --> 01:25:03,100 I'm going to continue as I have said, 1677 01:25:03,100 --> 01:25:05,800 and I'm not a candidate for the Democratic nomination. 1678 01:25:05,800 --> 01:25:07,133 MARTIN AGRONSKY: Senator, I'm... 1679 01:25:07,133 --> 01:25:09,200 KENNEDY: No matter what I do, I'm in difficulty. 1680 01:25:09,200 --> 01:25:11,233 PANELIST: Well, I wasn't trying to get you... 1681 01:25:11,233 --> 01:25:13,533 No, I know you weren't, but isn't that... 1682 01:25:13,533 --> 01:25:16,566 But you say, "Isn't that what is going to happen?" 1683 01:25:16,566 --> 01:25:18,800 I suppose now all kinds of things can happen. 1684 01:25:18,800 --> 01:25:21,266 I don't know what I can do to prevent that 1685 01:25:21,266 --> 01:25:23,066 or what I should do that is any different, 1686 01:25:23,066 --> 01:25:26,766 other than to try to get off the earth in some way. 1687 01:25:26,766 --> 01:25:29,933 Senator, nobody wants you to get off the earth, obviously. 1688 01:25:29,933 --> 01:25:30,933 Nobody's trying to put you on the spot, really. 1689 01:25:30,933 --> 01:25:32,366 No? 1690 01:25:32,366 --> 01:25:34,433 AGRONSKY: Everyone appreciates the difficulty of your position. 1691 01:25:37,000 --> 01:25:38,766 NARRATOR: "The hottest places in hell," 1692 01:25:38,766 --> 01:25:41,233 Bobby liked to say, quoting Dante, 1693 01:25:41,233 --> 01:25:45,700 "are reserved for those who, in a time of great moral crisis, 1694 01:25:45,700 --> 01:25:49,033 maintain their neutrality." 1695 01:25:51,033 --> 01:25:54,333 While Bobby hesitated, another liberal Democrat, 1696 01:25:54,333 --> 01:25:56,433 Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy, 1697 01:25:56,433 --> 01:26:00,400 picked up the sword that Kennedy was still refusing to wield. 1698 01:26:00,400 --> 01:26:05,433 I intend to enter the Democratic primaries in four states... 1699 01:26:05,433 --> 01:26:07,966 NARRATOR: As McCarthy campaigned 1700 01:26:07,966 --> 01:26:09,833 through New Hampshire that winter, 1701 01:26:09,833 --> 01:26:12,400 Bobby watched with dismay and envy. 1702 01:26:12,400 --> 01:26:15,566 NEWFIELD: It hurt Kennedy that he was on the sidelines. 1703 01:26:15,566 --> 01:26:16,866 More and more college students 1704 01:26:16,866 --> 01:26:19,666 were not just going to McCarthy's campaign 1705 01:26:19,666 --> 01:26:21,466 but were starting to heckle him. 1706 01:26:21,466 --> 01:26:23,466 I mean, he spoke at Brooklyn College one day, 1707 01:26:23,466 --> 01:26:28,866 and there was a big sign, "RFK: hawk, dove, or chicken?" 1708 01:26:28,866 --> 01:26:31,566 And that was a razor in his heart. 1709 01:26:31,566 --> 01:26:34,033 He was really reeling around 1710 01:26:34,033 --> 01:26:36,366 about what's the right thing to do. 1711 01:26:36,366 --> 01:26:39,633 WALINSKY: But he did not see how it's practical to run. 1712 01:26:39,633 --> 01:26:47,433 He took a poll in New Hampshire in January of that year 1713 01:26:47,433 --> 01:26:51,466 that showed Johnson beating him there 67 to nine, 1714 01:26:51,466 --> 01:26:53,433 or something like that. 1715 01:26:53,433 --> 01:26:55,400 That was a pretty convincing argument. 1716 01:26:57,433 --> 01:27:00,533 NARRATOR: At the end of January 1968, 1717 01:27:00,533 --> 01:27:04,700 a miserable Robert Kennedy finally reached a decision. 1718 01:27:04,700 --> 01:27:07,400 He would not, he told the National Press Club, 1719 01:27:07,400 --> 01:27:10,200 oppose the president for the Democratic nomination 1720 01:27:10,200 --> 01:27:14,133 under any foreseeable circumstances. 1721 01:27:14,133 --> 01:27:16,133 (explosions booming) 1722 01:27:16,133 --> 01:27:18,033 (automatic gunfire rattling) 1723 01:27:21,133 --> 01:27:23,666 That very same day, 1724 01:27:23,666 --> 01:27:27,566 Vietnamese communists launched a series of attacks 1725 01:27:27,566 --> 01:27:31,433 that made him bitterly regret his decision. 1726 01:27:31,433 --> 01:27:35,333 REPORTER: 232 G.Is. killed and 900 wounded 1727 01:27:35,333 --> 01:27:38,266 in just over two days, the past two days-- 1728 01:27:38,266 --> 01:27:40,466 two of the worst we have known in Vietnam. 1729 01:27:40,466 --> 01:27:46,733 ♪ ♪ 1730 01:27:46,733 --> 01:27:48,233 NARRATOR: The widespread fighting 1731 01:27:48,233 --> 01:27:52,900 convinced many Americans that the war was far from over. 1732 01:27:56,100 --> 01:27:59,333 Frustrated with the seemingly endless fighting, 1733 01:27:59,333 --> 01:28:07,066 more and more turned away from Johnson to Eugene McCarthy. 1734 01:28:07,066 --> 01:28:08,800 WALTER CRONKITE: The big surprise 1735 01:28:08,800 --> 01:28:10,533 of the first primary of Campaign '68 1736 01:28:10,533 --> 01:28:14,533 has been the strength of Senator Eugene McCarthy. 1737 01:28:14,533 --> 01:28:16,466 The volume with which New Hampshire's voters 1738 01:28:16,466 --> 01:28:18,200 today endorsed his effort 1739 01:28:18,200 --> 01:28:19,700 signals trouble 1740 01:28:19,700 --> 01:28:22,533 for President Johnson's as-yet undeclared re-election bid. 1741 01:28:22,533 --> 01:28:25,033 The president and his advisers are most concerned 1742 01:28:25,033 --> 01:28:29,300 about what tonight's returns mean in terms of Bobby Kennedy. 1743 01:28:29,300 --> 01:28:32,266 Will Gene McCarthy's showing be enough to tempt Kennedy 1744 01:28:32,266 --> 01:28:34,866 into an open race for the Democratic nomination? 1745 01:28:34,866 --> 01:28:36,966 "We just don't know what Bobby will do," 1746 01:28:36,966 --> 01:28:39,233 one of the president's closest friends said tonight, 1747 01:28:39,233 --> 01:28:42,266 adding, "And until we do know, we'll be wary." 1748 01:28:42,266 --> 01:28:43,900 As I say, maybe I'll have something further to say 1749 01:28:43,900 --> 01:28:45,666 after I see the rest of the figures-- thank you. 1750 01:28:45,666 --> 01:28:47,933 REPORTER: Would you accept a draft, Senator? 1751 01:28:47,933 --> 01:28:49,400 I don't think anybody's suggested that. 1752 01:28:49,400 --> 01:28:50,666 REPORTER: Well, I'm suggesting it now. 1753 01:28:50,666 --> 01:28:52,066 Would you accept it? 1754 01:28:52,066 --> 01:28:54,066 I don't think that's a practical matter. 1755 01:28:54,066 --> 01:28:55,900 REPORTER: Would you refuse it? 1756 01:28:55,900 --> 01:28:58,266 I just don't think... would you accept one? 1757 01:28:59,933 --> 01:29:02,033 SHESOL: He retreats into a deep funk. 1758 01:29:02,033 --> 01:29:03,800 He stops taking phone calls. 1759 01:29:03,800 --> 01:29:06,600 He paces around his office, he won't talk to his aides. 1760 01:29:06,600 --> 01:29:08,700 He goes back to Hickory Hill 1761 01:29:08,700 --> 01:29:11,700 and seems to disappear for several days. 1762 01:29:11,700 --> 01:29:13,366 What he's doing during this time-- 1763 01:29:13,366 --> 01:29:16,166 besides castigating himself for making such a mistake-- 1764 01:29:16,166 --> 01:29:18,133 is deciding that he's going to run for president. 1765 01:29:18,133 --> 01:29:21,333 And when he emerges, he comes out swinging. 1766 01:29:21,333 --> 01:29:25,033 I am announcing today my candidacy 1767 01:29:25,033 --> 01:29:28,600 for the presidency of the United States. 1768 01:29:28,600 --> 01:29:33,200 I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man, 1769 01:29:33,200 --> 01:29:36,300 but to propose new policies... 1770 01:29:36,300 --> 01:29:39,266 SCHLESINGER: Jackie Kennedy was much concerned 1771 01:29:39,266 --> 01:29:43,200 by Robert Kennedy's entry into the presidential contest. 1772 01:29:43,200 --> 01:29:46,033 She said, "I believe they're going to do 1773 01:29:46,033 --> 01:29:48,933 the same thing to him that they did to Jack." 1774 01:29:48,933 --> 01:29:55,466 ♪ ♪ 1775 01:29:58,266 --> 01:30:01,700 (cheering) 1776 01:30:04,366 --> 01:30:07,666 NARRATOR: Kennedy's campaign in the state primaries 1777 01:30:07,666 --> 01:30:11,766 was part politics, part crusade, part circus. 1778 01:30:13,733 --> 01:30:17,600 In 15 days, he stormed through 16 states, 1779 01:30:17,600 --> 01:30:21,166 tens of thousands of people screaming his name. 1780 01:30:21,166 --> 01:30:24,500 ALL (shouting): Bobby! Bobby! 1781 01:30:24,500 --> 01:30:29,066 TOWNSEND: My father was mobbed, wherever he went. 1782 01:30:29,066 --> 01:30:31,633 People were trying to touch him, trying to feel him, 1783 01:30:31,633 --> 01:30:33,866 taking off his cuff links, taking off his ties. 1784 01:30:33,866 --> 01:30:35,466 I'd like to announce 1785 01:30:35,466 --> 01:30:38,033 that somebody's taking off my shoe as I speak. 1786 01:30:38,033 --> 01:30:39,966 (crowd laughing) 1787 01:30:39,966 --> 01:30:43,800 WOFFORD: Bob was at his best in that campaign. 1788 01:30:43,800 --> 01:30:48,833 He touched people, he was speaking very directly to them. 1789 01:30:48,833 --> 01:30:51,633 It was very heart-to-heart. 1790 01:30:51,633 --> 01:30:55,633 He said he was doing it to save the soul of the country. 1791 01:30:55,633 --> 01:30:56,800 And I believed him. 1792 01:30:56,800 --> 01:30:59,366 We can return government to the people. 1793 01:30:59,366 --> 01:31:01,466 We can change this nation around. 1794 01:31:01,466 --> 01:31:04,733 We can make a new effort for peace in Vietnam. 1795 01:31:04,733 --> 01:31:08,500 We can improve the life and the quality of America 1796 01:31:08,500 --> 01:31:09,900 here in the United States. 1797 01:31:09,900 --> 01:31:11,866 I ask for your help. 1798 01:31:11,866 --> 01:31:14,133 Am I going to receive your help? 1799 01:31:14,133 --> 01:31:15,566 (crowd screaming) 1800 01:31:15,566 --> 01:31:17,733 THOMAS: When he first goes out on the stump, 1801 01:31:17,733 --> 01:31:19,300 people go crazy. 1802 01:31:19,300 --> 01:31:22,966 There's so much pent-up anger and frustration, 1803 01:31:22,966 --> 01:31:26,666 and it's explosive when Bobby goes out there. 1804 01:31:26,666 --> 01:31:29,233 He goes to the Midwest-- 1805 01:31:29,233 --> 01:31:31,800 you would think a bastion of conservatism-- 1806 01:31:31,800 --> 01:31:34,600 and he appears in the University of Kansas and Kansas State, 1807 01:31:34,600 --> 01:31:36,333 in these big field houses, 1808 01:31:36,333 --> 01:31:38,366 and it's like the roof is blown off. 1809 01:31:38,366 --> 01:31:43,900 (cheers and applause) 1810 01:31:43,900 --> 01:31:45,066 WALINSKY: We get there, 1811 01:31:45,066 --> 01:31:48,933 the place is just... not only is it packed, 1812 01:31:48,933 --> 01:31:51,000 not only is every seat packed, 1813 01:31:51,000 --> 01:31:54,166 the entire floor is wall-to-wall people. 1814 01:31:54,166 --> 01:31:57,033 And there are people sitting on the girders, 1815 01:31:57,033 --> 01:31:59,966 practically hanging from the ceiling, 1816 01:31:59,966 --> 01:32:03,566 and an unbelievable cacophony of noise. 1817 01:32:03,566 --> 01:32:06,933 (cheers) 1818 01:32:06,933 --> 01:32:10,533 NEWFIELD: 18,000 white farm kids 1819 01:32:10,533 --> 01:32:13,766 in this big basketball field house-- 1820 01:32:13,766 --> 01:32:17,500 he gives this powerful speech, 1821 01:32:17,500 --> 01:32:21,366 uh, against the war, all out, finally, like it's... 1822 01:32:21,366 --> 01:32:23,866 He's like a tiger let out of the cage. 1823 01:32:23,866 --> 01:32:28,200 Our country is in danger not just from foreign enemies, 1824 01:32:28,200 --> 01:32:31,166 but above all, from our own misguided policies. 1825 01:32:31,166 --> 01:32:35,033 This war must be ended, 1826 01:32:35,033 --> 01:32:37,933 and in my judgment, it can be ended. 1827 01:32:37,933 --> 01:32:39,933 And it does not involve giving up, 1828 01:32:39,933 --> 01:32:44,433 but it does involve not continuing to follow 1829 01:32:44,433 --> 01:32:46,566 the bankrupt policy that we're following 1830 01:32:46,566 --> 01:32:48,533 at the present time. 1831 01:32:48,533 --> 01:32:50,300 (applause) 1832 01:32:50,300 --> 01:32:53,166 WALINSKY: The stronger he gets, the louder the cheers. 1833 01:32:53,166 --> 01:32:54,300 And I remember 1834 01:32:54,300 --> 01:32:56,466 they had a photographer for "Look" magazine. 1835 01:32:56,466 --> 01:32:58,333 He looks over, and he yells at me, 1836 01:32:58,333 --> 01:32:59,900 he says, "This is Kansas! 1837 01:32:59,900 --> 01:33:00,966 "This is Kansas! 1838 01:33:00,966 --> 01:33:02,666 "(no audio) Kansas! 1839 01:33:02,666 --> 01:33:04,333 He's going all the (no audio) way!" 1840 01:33:04,333 --> 01:33:08,833 ♪ ♪ 1841 01:33:08,833 --> 01:33:12,633 NARRATOR: In spite of his wild popularity, 1842 01:33:12,633 --> 01:33:16,433 Bobby knew he was fighting an uphill battle. 1843 01:33:16,433 --> 01:33:19,633 The nomination was in the hands of the party bosses-- 1844 01:33:19,633 --> 01:33:22,066 mayors, governors, labor leaders-- 1845 01:33:22,066 --> 01:33:25,666 who would control the votes at the Democratic convention. 1846 01:33:25,666 --> 01:33:28,133 "I have to win through the people," 1847 01:33:28,133 --> 01:33:30,000 Kennedy told a reporter. 1848 01:33:30,000 --> 01:33:33,466 "Otherwise, I'm not going to win." 1849 01:33:33,466 --> 01:33:38,366 Then, on March 31, 1968, he was taken by surprise, 1850 01:33:38,366 --> 01:33:40,600 along with the rest of the nation. 1851 01:33:40,600 --> 01:33:47,333 I shall not seek, and I will not accept, 1852 01:33:47,333 --> 01:33:48,966 the nomination of my party 1853 01:33:48,966 --> 01:33:51,433 for another term as your president. 1854 01:33:51,433 --> 01:33:54,200 NARRATOR: With no warning, 1855 01:33:54,200 --> 01:33:57,166 a physically and emotionally exhausted president 1856 01:33:57,166 --> 01:34:00,300 had put an end to the contest with Robert Kennedy 1857 01:34:00,300 --> 01:34:04,200 just 15 days after it had begun. 1858 01:34:04,200 --> 01:34:05,966 "I wonder," Bobby said, 1859 01:34:05,966 --> 01:34:09,800 "if he would have done this if I hadn't come in." 1860 01:34:09,800 --> 01:34:14,066 (people talking indistinctly) 1861 01:34:14,066 --> 01:34:16,300 Four days later, Bobby flew to Indianapolis 1862 01:34:16,300 --> 01:34:20,066 for a campaign speech in a black neighborhood. 1863 01:34:20,066 --> 01:34:22,333 En route, a reporter had told him 1864 01:34:22,333 --> 01:34:25,733 that Martin Luther King had been murdered. 1865 01:34:25,733 --> 01:34:31,333 ♪ ♪ 1866 01:34:31,333 --> 01:34:33,266 JOHN LEWIS: We were trying to pull together people 1867 01:34:33,266 --> 01:34:35,800 for a mass rally for Bobby Kennedy, 1868 01:34:35,800 --> 01:34:38,000 but there were some people saying that evening 1869 01:34:38,000 --> 01:34:41,000 that maybe he shouldn't come. 1870 01:34:41,000 --> 01:34:43,633 Because maybe there would be violence. 1871 01:34:43,633 --> 01:34:46,700 WALINSKY: The police thought it was dangerous. 1872 01:34:46,700 --> 01:34:50,033 They didn't want us to go in there, but he went. 1873 01:34:50,033 --> 01:34:54,433 (crowd clamoring) 1874 01:34:54,433 --> 01:34:55,900 I scribbled something on a piece of paper, 1875 01:34:55,900 --> 01:34:57,266 because I knew he'd want to say something. 1876 01:34:57,266 --> 01:35:00,566 But he had figured out what he was going to say. 1877 01:35:00,566 --> 01:35:02,300 He had written it himself. 1878 01:35:02,300 --> 01:35:04,633 We brought them the news 1879 01:35:04,633 --> 01:35:07,233 that Martin Luther King had been shot. 1880 01:35:08,566 --> 01:35:12,133 I have some very sad news for all of you, 1881 01:35:12,133 --> 01:35:17,133 and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens 1882 01:35:17,133 --> 01:35:21,033 and people who love peace all over the world, 1883 01:35:21,033 --> 01:35:23,766 and that is that Martin Luther King 1884 01:35:23,766 --> 01:35:25,566 was shot and was killed tonight... 1885 01:35:25,566 --> 01:35:28,933 (crowd screams) 1886 01:35:28,933 --> 01:35:30,566 JOHN LEWIS: Most of the people hadn't even heard 1887 01:35:30,566 --> 01:35:32,233 that Dr. King had been shot, 1888 01:35:32,233 --> 01:35:33,866 and we were stunned. 1889 01:35:33,866 --> 01:35:36,900 And we all cried. 1890 01:35:36,900 --> 01:35:39,833 But that evening, Robert Kennedy spoke from his soul. 1891 01:35:39,833 --> 01:35:44,433 For those of you who are black 1892 01:35:44,433 --> 01:35:50,733 and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust, 1893 01:35:50,733 --> 01:35:54,533 of the injustice of such an act, 1894 01:35:54,533 --> 01:35:57,466 against all white people, 1895 01:35:57,466 --> 01:36:02,066 I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart 1896 01:36:02,066 --> 01:36:04,700 the same kind of feeling. 1897 01:36:04,700 --> 01:36:08,100 I had a member of my family killed, 1898 01:36:08,100 --> 01:36:11,666 but he was killed by a white man. 1899 01:36:11,666 --> 01:36:15,000 But we have to make an effort in the United States, 1900 01:36:15,000 --> 01:36:17,400 we have to make an effort to understand, 1901 01:36:17,400 --> 01:36:21,266 to go beyond these rather difficult times. 1902 01:36:21,266 --> 01:36:25,433 The words, they just rang, 1903 01:36:25,433 --> 01:36:28,566 they just chilled your body. 1904 01:36:28,566 --> 01:36:33,066 And he did it not in a loud, 1905 01:36:33,066 --> 01:36:35,666 but almost in a prayerful manner. 1906 01:36:35,666 --> 01:36:39,600 My favorite poet was Aeschylus. 1907 01:36:39,600 --> 01:36:41,166 And he once wrote... 1908 01:36:45,533 --> 01:36:49,966 "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget 1909 01:36:49,966 --> 01:36:53,433 "falls drop by drop upon the heart 1910 01:36:53,433 --> 01:36:58,766 "until, in our own despair, against our will, 1911 01:36:58,766 --> 01:37:02,400 comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." 1912 01:37:05,266 --> 01:37:09,866 "In our sleep, pain that cannot forget 1913 01:37:09,866 --> 01:37:14,033 "falls drop by drop upon the heart 1914 01:37:14,033 --> 01:37:17,766 "until, in our despair, against our will, 1915 01:37:17,766 --> 01:37:20,800 comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." 1916 01:37:22,833 --> 01:37:24,333 NARRATOR: There were riots 1917 01:37:24,333 --> 01:37:28,300 in more than 100 cities across America after King's death. 1918 01:37:28,300 --> 01:37:34,800 But that night, there was calm in Indianapolis. 1919 01:37:38,166 --> 01:37:40,900 ♪ Senator McCarthy is the one for me ♪ 1920 01:37:40,900 --> 01:37:44,433 ♪ And it's smart to vote for Eugene for the presidency ♪ 1921 01:37:44,433 --> 01:37:47,500 NARRATOR: There was no way that Eugene McCarthy 1922 01:37:47,500 --> 01:37:50,966 could inspire crowds the way Bobby Kennedy did, 1923 01:37:50,966 --> 01:37:52,900 but he didn't seem to care. 1924 01:37:52,900 --> 01:37:54,600 Yeah, be ready for us there-- how do you do? 1925 01:37:54,600 --> 01:37:56,000 NARRATOR: Cool and aloof, 1926 01:37:56,000 --> 01:37:59,733 he appealed to white middle- class opponents of the war, 1927 01:37:59,733 --> 01:38:01,500 especially college students, 1928 01:38:01,500 --> 01:38:06,300 scornful of Kennedy's late entry into the race. 1929 01:38:06,300 --> 01:38:09,600 THOMAS: Bobby Kennedy had a natural affinity for students, 1930 01:38:09,600 --> 01:38:12,500 and it pained him deeply when the best students 1931 01:38:12,500 --> 01:38:15,800 often signed up with Gene McCarthy. 1932 01:38:15,800 --> 01:38:19,200 NEWFIELD: Robert Kennedy loved the McCarthy kids. 1933 01:38:19,200 --> 01:38:21,000 He once said to me, 1934 01:38:21,000 --> 01:38:24,433 "It drives me crazy that Gene gets all the A students 1935 01:38:24,433 --> 01:38:26,066 and I get all the C students." 1936 01:38:26,066 --> 01:38:28,633 (applause) 1937 01:38:28,633 --> 01:38:30,633 NARRATOR: On election night, 1938 01:38:30,633 --> 01:38:33,666 Indiana voters gave Bobby the victory he wanted, 1939 01:38:33,666 --> 01:38:36,466 but not the knockout blow he needed. 1940 01:38:36,466 --> 01:38:39,266 GOODWIN: This was his first face-to-face primary 1941 01:38:39,266 --> 01:38:40,366 with McCarthy. 1942 01:38:40,366 --> 01:38:42,733 He had to win it, and he did win it. 1943 01:38:42,733 --> 01:38:45,800 But winning Indiana was just the first inning 1944 01:38:45,800 --> 01:38:46,966 of a nine-inning game. 1945 01:38:46,966 --> 01:38:49,366 ♪ ♪ 1946 01:38:49,366 --> 01:38:50,633 NARRATOR: A week later, 1947 01:38:50,633 --> 01:38:53,333 Bobby proved that he could appeal to farmers, 1948 01:38:53,333 --> 01:38:57,166 winning again, this time in Nebraska. 1949 01:38:57,166 --> 01:38:59,966 Oregon was next. 1950 01:38:59,966 --> 01:39:01,600 KENNEDY: The attention of the nation 1951 01:39:01,600 --> 01:39:03,333 is going to be focused on the state of Oregon. 1952 01:39:03,333 --> 01:39:04,766 You could very well determine 1953 01:39:04,766 --> 01:39:07,366 who's going to be the next president of the United States. 1954 01:39:07,366 --> 01:39:09,333 NARRATOR: But Oregon Democrats 1955 01:39:09,333 --> 01:39:12,066 were mostly comfortable white suburban voters. 1956 01:39:12,066 --> 01:39:15,933 They turned away from Bobby's campaign 1957 01:39:15,933 --> 01:39:20,700 with its focus on race and poverty. 1958 01:39:20,700 --> 01:39:25,666 For the first time ever, a Kennedy lost an election. 1959 01:39:25,666 --> 01:39:30,100 "Let's face it," Bobby told a reporter, 1960 01:39:30,100 --> 01:39:32,700 "I appeal best to people who have problems." 1961 01:39:32,700 --> 01:39:36,333 GOODWIN: He was devastated by that loss. 1962 01:39:36,333 --> 01:39:37,666 He said, "If only we could've moved a ghetto 1963 01:39:37,666 --> 01:39:39,033 "up here for a day, 1964 01:39:39,033 --> 01:39:39,966 we could've won this election." 1965 01:39:42,833 --> 01:39:45,266 THOMAS: It was not going to be the victory march 1966 01:39:45,266 --> 01:39:47,166 that he had hoped for. 1967 01:39:47,166 --> 01:39:51,000 He had to win California-- he just absolutely had to win. 1968 01:39:51,000 --> 01:39:54,933 (cheering) 1969 01:39:54,933 --> 01:39:57,733 ♪ ♪ 1970 01:39:57,733 --> 01:40:01,300 NARRATOR: California was pure mayhem. 1971 01:40:01,300 --> 01:40:06,033 (people talking excitedly) 1972 01:40:06,033 --> 01:40:11,666 JOHN LEWIS: People treated him like he was some rock star. 1973 01:40:11,666 --> 01:40:16,700 It was young people, it was blacks, white, Hispanic-- 1974 01:40:16,700 --> 01:40:18,066 just pulling for him. 1975 01:40:18,066 --> 01:40:22,433 NEWFIELD: It was the most emotional adulation 1976 01:40:22,433 --> 01:40:24,033 I've ever seen in politics, 1977 01:40:24,033 --> 01:40:28,033 particularly in the black and Mexican areas. 1978 01:40:28,033 --> 01:40:30,266 (cheers and applause) 1979 01:40:30,266 --> 01:40:31,933 The Sunday before the primary, 1980 01:40:31,933 --> 01:40:34,800 he invited me to ride in his car 1981 01:40:34,800 --> 01:40:38,300 going through Watts in East L.A. 1982 01:40:38,300 --> 01:40:41,833 He said to me, "I want you to see what I see." 1983 01:40:41,833 --> 01:40:44,166 (clamoring) 1984 01:40:44,166 --> 01:40:47,766 And I see this ecstasy 1985 01:40:47,766 --> 01:40:50,833 in the eyes of blacks and Mexican-Americans. 1986 01:40:50,833 --> 01:40:54,800 ♪ ♪ 1987 01:41:00,366 --> 01:41:02,033 KENNEDY: If we make the effort, 1988 01:41:02,033 --> 01:41:05,566 if we have that love and friendship and understanding 1989 01:41:05,566 --> 01:41:07,366 for our fellow citizens, 1990 01:41:07,366 --> 01:41:09,100 we will have a new America. 1991 01:41:09,100 --> 01:41:12,333 And you here in Watts, you here in Los Angeles, 1992 01:41:12,333 --> 01:41:13,466 and in California-- 1993 01:41:13,466 --> 01:41:15,300 you will have made it possible, 1994 01:41:15,300 --> 01:41:17,166 and I will work with all of you. 1995 01:41:17,166 --> 01:41:18,166 Give me your help! 1996 01:41:18,166 --> 01:41:19,166 Give me your help! 1997 01:41:19,166 --> 01:41:20,766 Thank you. 1998 01:41:20,766 --> 01:41:22,466 NARRATOR: Not since Abraham Lincoln 1999 01:41:22,466 --> 01:41:24,933 had a white politician 2000 01:41:24,933 --> 01:41:27,233 been so embraced by people of color. 2001 01:41:27,233 --> 01:41:30,133 "These are my people," he told an aide. 2002 01:41:30,133 --> 01:41:33,566 "These are my people." 2003 01:41:36,866 --> 01:41:39,066 On the final day of the campaign, 2004 01:41:39,066 --> 01:41:40,700 Bobby and Ethel rode slowly 2005 01:41:40,700 --> 01:41:43,133 through San Francisco's Chinatown. 2006 01:41:43,133 --> 01:41:46,766 As usual, there were no armed bodyguards 2007 01:41:46,766 --> 01:41:48,800 or Secret Service agents. 2008 01:41:48,800 --> 01:41:52,533 "You've just got to give yourself to the people 2009 01:41:52,533 --> 01:41:54,100 and to trust them," Bobby said, 2010 01:41:54,100 --> 01:41:57,833 "and from then on, either luck is with you or it isn't." 2011 01:42:02,766 --> 01:42:07,166 (firecrackers popping) 2012 01:42:07,166 --> 01:42:11,500 What sounded like shots turned out to be Chinese firecrackers. 2013 01:42:11,500 --> 01:42:15,600 Bobby flinched, then went right on campaigning. 2014 01:42:15,600 --> 01:42:18,500 NEWFIELD: Robert Kennedy was fearless 2015 01:42:18,500 --> 01:42:20,700 to the cusp of reckless, 2016 01:42:20,700 --> 01:42:22,800 and I think there was some daring 2017 01:42:22,800 --> 01:42:26,400 of death and fate in... in what he did. 2018 01:42:26,400 --> 01:42:29,500 CROWD (chanting): RFK! RFK! 2019 01:42:29,500 --> 01:42:32,500 RFK! RFK! RFK! 2020 01:42:32,500 --> 01:42:37,100 NARRATOR: On election night, there was only good news. 2021 01:42:37,100 --> 01:42:39,800 Bobby got the victory he needed, 2022 01:42:39,800 --> 01:42:44,033 with blacks and Hispanics voting for him in overwhelming numbers. 2023 01:42:44,033 --> 01:42:47,633 The 1,500 volunteers jamming the ballroom 2024 01:42:47,633 --> 01:42:50,900 of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles 2025 01:42:50,900 --> 01:42:53,566 were ecstatic as they waited for Bobby to appear. 2026 01:42:53,566 --> 01:42:55,866 It's a lot of people there. 2027 01:42:55,866 --> 01:42:57,066 There are a lot of people. 2028 01:42:57,066 --> 01:43:00,500 (chanting and cheers) 2029 01:43:00,500 --> 01:43:02,233 WALINSKY: And everybody, you know, 2030 01:43:02,233 --> 01:43:04,133 really having a wonderful time 2031 01:43:04,133 --> 01:43:06,466 and getting ready for a terrific party 2032 01:43:06,466 --> 01:43:08,800 that was going to take place later. 2033 01:43:11,700 --> 01:43:14,833 This was really his win-- hadn't been done by staff, 2034 01:43:14,833 --> 01:43:17,066 hadn't been done by all these people around him. 2035 01:43:17,066 --> 01:43:18,066 He did it. 2036 01:43:18,066 --> 01:43:20,066 NEWFIELD: He had liberated himself 2037 01:43:20,066 --> 01:43:22,666 from leaning on his brother's myth. 2038 01:43:22,666 --> 01:43:25,600 He had found that inner voice. 2039 01:43:25,600 --> 01:43:27,433 (wild cheers and applause) 2040 01:43:27,433 --> 01:43:29,433 NARRATOR: "I feel now for the first time," 2041 01:43:29,433 --> 01:43:31,066 Bobby told an aide, 2042 01:43:31,066 --> 01:43:34,433 "that I've shaken off the shadow of my brother." 2043 01:43:34,433 --> 01:43:39,066 ♪ ♪ 2044 01:43:39,066 --> 01:43:41,400 KENNEDY: Thank you very much. 2045 01:43:41,400 --> 01:43:43,033 JOHN LEWIS: We watched him speaking 2046 01:43:43,033 --> 01:43:45,633 from the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel, 2047 01:43:45,633 --> 01:43:48,466 and we all was feeling very, very good. 2048 01:43:48,466 --> 01:43:50,033 What I think is quite clear 2049 01:43:50,033 --> 01:43:54,300 is... is that we can work together, in the last analysis, 2050 01:43:54,300 --> 01:43:56,500 and that what has been going on within the United States 2051 01:43:56,500 --> 01:43:58,966 over the period of the last three years-- 2052 01:43:58,966 --> 01:44:00,966 the divisions, the violence, 2053 01:44:00,966 --> 01:44:03,766 the disenchantment with our society, 2054 01:44:03,766 --> 01:44:05,733 the divisions, whether it's between blacks and whites, 2055 01:44:05,733 --> 01:44:07,800 between the poor and the more affluent, 2056 01:44:07,800 --> 01:44:10,500 or between age groups or on the war in Vietnam, 2057 01:44:10,500 --> 01:44:11,966 that we can start to work together. 2058 01:44:11,966 --> 01:44:14,400 We are a great country and a selfish country 2059 01:44:14,400 --> 01:44:15,833 and a compassionate country, 2060 01:44:15,833 --> 01:44:18,600 and I intend to make that my basis for running 2061 01:44:18,600 --> 01:44:20,333 over the period of the next few months. 2062 01:44:20,333 --> 01:44:23,800 (cheers and applause) 2063 01:44:23,800 --> 01:44:25,033 So, uh... 2064 01:44:25,033 --> 01:44:27,133 my thanks to all of you, 2065 01:44:27,133 --> 01:44:29,233 and now it's on to Chicago, and let's win there. 2066 01:44:29,233 --> 01:44:30,133 Thank you very much. 2067 01:44:30,133 --> 01:44:31,233 (cheers and applause) 2068 01:44:38,300 --> 01:44:42,100 CROWD (chanting): RFK! RFK! RFK! 2069 01:44:42,100 --> 01:44:46,533 (chanting continues) 2070 01:44:48,600 --> 01:44:52,366 NEWFIELD: I left the suite on the fifth floor 2071 01:44:52,366 --> 01:44:54,566 during RFK's acceptance speech 2072 01:44:54,566 --> 01:45:00,366 and got into the ballroom just as he was leaving the podium. 2073 01:45:00,366 --> 01:45:03,766 And he goes into... into the kitchen area, 2074 01:45:03,766 --> 01:45:11,033 and then I hear the... this moan, this cry, screams. 2075 01:45:11,033 --> 01:45:14,566 (murmuring) 2076 01:45:14,566 --> 01:45:15,966 (screaming) 2077 01:45:19,133 --> 01:45:22,066 NARRATOR: As Bobby had reached out to shake the hands 2078 01:45:22,066 --> 01:45:24,833 of the men and women who worked in the kitchen, 2079 01:45:24,833 --> 01:45:32,133 24-year-old Sirhan Sirhan fired a bullet into his brain. 2080 01:45:32,133 --> 01:45:36,433 ♪ ♪ 2081 01:45:39,833 --> 01:45:42,433 NEWFIELD: All delirium broke loose, 2082 01:45:42,433 --> 01:45:44,900 and I realized that he had been shot. 2083 01:45:44,900 --> 01:45:47,833 And the people just went nuts. 2084 01:45:51,000 --> 01:45:56,333 I saw people punch the walls, 2085 01:45:56,333 --> 01:45:58,566 lie on the ground and weep. 2086 01:45:58,566 --> 01:46:02,400 John Lewis and I just hugged each other and sobbed. 2087 01:46:02,400 --> 01:46:06,733 Dr. King, two months earlier, and now Robert Kennedy. 2088 01:46:06,733 --> 01:46:07,900 It was just too much. 2089 01:46:12,500 --> 01:46:17,433 NARRATOR: On June 6, 1968, Bobby died. 2090 01:46:20,633 --> 01:46:24,233 Like his brother less than five years before, 2091 01:46:24,233 --> 01:46:28,566 Robert Kennedy passed on into legend. 2092 01:46:36,366 --> 01:46:39,066 Two days after Bobby's death, 2093 01:46:39,066 --> 01:46:43,200 his body was carried to Washington's Arlington Cemetery 2094 01:46:43,200 --> 01:46:46,500 accompanied by family and friends. 2095 01:46:46,500 --> 01:46:49,300 ♪ ♪ 2096 01:46:49,300 --> 01:46:52,500 SEIGENTHALER: It was like... 2097 01:46:52,500 --> 01:46:55,366 it was like an Irish wake. 2098 01:46:55,366 --> 01:46:57,600 Everybody was in pain. 2099 01:46:57,600 --> 01:47:01,933 Everybody was numb, in shock. 2100 01:47:01,933 --> 01:47:06,766 Just one... 2101 01:47:06,766 --> 01:47:08,933 Just one long cortege of grief, 2102 01:47:08,933 --> 01:47:10,900 hour after hour after hour. 2103 01:47:10,900 --> 01:47:13,933 ♪ ♪ 2104 01:47:19,833 --> 01:47:22,200 JOHN LEWIS: And all along the way, 2105 01:47:22,200 --> 01:47:24,566 you saw these unbelievable crowds carrying signs 2106 01:47:24,566 --> 01:47:26,566 saying, "We love you, Bobby," "Good-bye, Bobby." 2107 01:47:36,233 --> 01:47:39,600 EDELMAN: You saw white faces and black faces and Latino 2108 01:47:39,600 --> 01:47:43,000 and... and all the diversity of America. 2109 01:47:43,000 --> 01:47:45,066 It was all there on the side of the tracks 2110 01:47:45,066 --> 01:47:46,866 as the train went back to Washington. 2111 01:47:55,700 --> 01:47:57,133 KATZENBACH: It was quite remarkable, really, 2112 01:47:57,133 --> 01:48:01,600 what Bobby Kennedy suddenly meant to the American people. 2113 01:48:01,600 --> 01:48:03,800 And I say "suddenly" because it... it had happened 2114 01:48:03,800 --> 01:48:06,633 in just a couple of years, really. 2115 01:48:06,633 --> 01:48:08,200 I mean, it would've been laughable 2116 01:48:08,200 --> 01:48:13,533 to think of Bobby Kennedy as a presidential candidate in 1961, 2117 01:48:13,533 --> 01:48:16,666 and it certainly wasn't laughable in 1968. 2118 01:48:16,666 --> 01:48:22,700 ♪ ♪ 2119 01:48:22,700 --> 01:48:26,633 JOHN LEWIS: He had the capacity to open up himself. 2120 01:48:26,633 --> 01:48:29,300 We saw him grow. 2121 01:48:29,300 --> 01:48:30,900 We saw him change. 2122 01:48:38,500 --> 01:48:41,933 NEWFIELD: He was 42 when he was killed. 2123 01:48:41,933 --> 01:48:43,133 We'll never know, 2124 01:48:43,133 --> 01:48:45,900 would he really have gotten us out of Vietnam? 2125 01:48:45,900 --> 01:48:50,300 Would he have really dealt with poverty and racism? 2126 01:48:50,300 --> 01:48:51,900 But he was cheated out of his chance 2127 01:48:51,900 --> 01:48:55,166 to... to test his ideas and his values. 2128 01:48:57,933 --> 01:48:59,300 WALINSKY: It seems to me 2129 01:48:59,300 --> 01:49:03,733 that what we're doing when we mourn Robert Kennedy 2130 01:49:03,733 --> 01:49:08,366 is mourning... 2131 01:49:08,366 --> 01:49:11,600 our own lost possibilities. 2132 01:49:11,600 --> 01:49:19,000 ♪ ♪ 2133 01:49:24,833 --> 01:49:27,966 NARRATOR: 30 yards from his brother's grave, 2134 01:49:27,966 --> 01:49:31,066 Robert Kennedy was laid to rest. 2135 01:49:38,233 --> 01:49:42,466 Carved on the marble gravestone are the words from Aeschylus 2136 01:49:42,466 --> 01:49:46,500 that he could recite from memory: 2137 01:49:46,500 --> 01:49:50,200 "He who learns must suffer. 2138 01:49:50,200 --> 01:49:54,166 "And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget 2139 01:49:54,166 --> 01:49:58,100 "falls drop by drop upon the heart, 2140 01:49:58,100 --> 01:50:02,833 "and in our own despair, against our will, 2141 01:50:02,833 --> 01:50:11,066 comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God." 2142 01:50:15,200 --> 01:50:21,433 ♪ ♪