Rfk Opening Speech

RFK Opening Speech: A Rhetorical Masterclass and Its Enduring Legacy

Introduction:

On March 16, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy delivered a speech that transcended the political landscape, resonating deeply with audiences then and continuing to inspire reflection today. This isn't just a historical artifact; it’s a powerful lesson in rhetoric, emotional intelligence, and the art of connecting with an audience on a profound level. This post will delve into the key elements of RFK's opening speech at the Indianapolis Memorial Coliseum, exploring its historical context, rhetorical devices, and lasting impact on political communication and societal understanding. We’ll analyze its structure, dissect its impactful phrasing, and examine why it remains relevant in our modern world. Get ready to dissect a truly remarkable piece of oratory.

1. The Historical Context: A Nation in Mourning and Turmoil

RFK's speech wasn't delivered in a vacuum. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. just days prior had plunged the nation into grief and unrest. Cities erupted in riots, fueled by decades of racial injustice and simmering anger. The mood was volatile, characterized by fear, uncertainty, and a profound sense of loss. Understanding this backdrop is crucial to appreciating the significance of RFK's words. He didn't just address a crowd; he addressed a nation grappling with trauma and questioning its future. He spoke to a collective wound, aiming to heal, to unite, and to offer a path forward. The speech's power comes directly from its ability to acknowledge this shared pain and offer a message of hope amidst despair.

2. The Power of Empathy: Connecting with the Audience on an Emotional Level

RFK didn't begin with policy or political maneuvering. He began with empathy. He acknowledged the raw emotion in the room, the disbelief, the anger, and the sadness. His own grief was palpable, adding authenticity to his message. He didn't shy away from the brutal reality of King's assassination; instead, he used it as a springboard to connect with the audience on a deeply human level. This empathetic approach immediately disarmed any potential skepticism and fostered a sense of shared experience, making his subsequent message of peace and reconciliation all the more impactful. His honesty and vulnerability established immediate trust and allowed him to lead his audience towards a more hopeful future.

3. Rhetorical Devices: A Masterclass in Persuasion

RFK’s speech is a masterclass in rhetorical strategy. He skillfully employed various devices to enhance his message's impact. Anaphora, the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive clauses, is prevalent, creating a rhythmic and memorable effect. He used powerful imagery, vividly painting pictures of King's legacy and the challenges facing the nation. His use of antithesis, presenting contrasting ideas, highlighted the urgency for change and the need to overcome division. Metaphors and similes helped to convey complex ideas in a clear and engaging manner, making his message accessible to a broad audience. The careful construction of his sentences, coupled with his delivery, created a powerful emotional experience for the listeners.

4. The Message of Hope and Reconciliation: A Call to Unity

Despite the overwhelming grief and anger, RFK's speech was ultimately a message of hope. He didn't shy away from the difficult truths of racial injustice, but he emphasized the power of unity and nonviolent resistance. He invoked the legacy of King, urging his audience to channel their grief into positive action. He called for a rejection of violence and hatred, promoting instead a vision of a more just and equitable society. This call to action, grounded in empathy and a shared sense of purpose, was profoundly impactful, offering a beacon of hope in a time of immense darkness. The speech transcended the immediate context and resonated with the universal human desire for peace and understanding.

5. The Enduring Legacy: A Speech That Continues to Inspire

RFK's opening speech in Indianapolis continues to resonate with audiences today. Its themes of empathy, hope, and the pursuit of justice remain incredibly relevant. The speech serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of addressing social and political divides with compassion and understanding. It exemplifies the power of rhetoric to inspire change and to unite people in the face of adversity. Its impact is evident in countless speeches and political movements that have followed, demonstrating its enduring legacy as a landmark moment in the history of public speaking and political discourse. It’s a testament to the power of words to not only reflect but also shape our world.

Article Outline:

Title: The Enduring Power of RFK's Indianapolis Speech: A Rhetorical Analysis

Introduction: Brief overview of the speech, its historical context, and the aim of the article.
Chapter 1: The Historical Context: Detailed examination of the events leading up to the speech, the national mood, and the significance of King's assassination.
Chapter 2: Rhetorical Analysis: In-depth exploration of the rhetorical devices employed, including examples from the speech itself.
Chapter 3: The Message of Hope and Reconciliation: Close examination of the key themes and their impact.
Chapter 4: The Lasting Legacy: Discussion of the speech's continued relevance and influence on subsequent political movements and speeches.
Conclusion: Summary of key findings and reflection on the enduring power of RFK's words.

Detailed Explanation of Each Point in the Outline:

Each chapter in the proposed outline would delve deeper into the aspects briefly touched upon in the initial blog post. For example, the "Rhetorical Analysis" chapter would meticulously examine specific instances of anaphora, metaphors, and other devices, providing detailed textual evidence and explanations of their effect on the audience. Similarly, the "Message of Hope and Reconciliation" chapter would dissect the specific calls to action and analyze the way RFK used language to inspire hope and unity. The historical context chapter would delve into the social and political landscape of 1968 in greater detail. The article would incorporate scholarly sources and citations to support its analysis and claims. The conclusion would reiterate the central argument of the piece – that RFK's speech is a timeless masterpiece of rhetoric and social commentary – and offer concluding thoughts on its ongoing relevance.

FAQs:

1. What was the main purpose of RFK's speech? To address the nation's grief following MLK's assassination and offer a message of hope and reconciliation.
2. What rhetorical devices did RFK use? Anaphora, antithesis, metaphor, simile, vivid imagery, and emotional appeals.
3. How did the speech impact the nation? It provided a sense of unity and hope during a time of immense turmoil and unrest.
4. What is the lasting legacy of the speech? It continues to inspire and serve as a model of effective and empathetic political communication.
5. How did RFK connect with his audience emotionally? Through sharing his own grief and acknowledging the pain of the listeners.
6. What key themes are present in the speech? Grief, hope, reconciliation, justice, and nonviolent resistance.
7. Why is this speech still relevant today? Its message of unity and empathy remains crucial in addressing contemporary social and political divides.
8. Where can I find the full text of the speech? Numerous online resources provide the full transcript.
9. What was the overall tone of the speech? Somber yet hopeful, acknowledging the pain while offering a path toward a better future.

Related Articles:

1. Robert F. Kennedy's Life and Legacy: A comprehensive biography exploring his life, career, and impact on American politics.
2. The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.: A detailed account of the events surrounding King's death and its impact.
3. The Civil Rights Movement and its Impact: An overview of the movement's key events, leaders, and lasting influence.
4. The Rhetoric of Hope: Analyzing Inspirational Speeches: An analysis of effective rhetorical strategies in inspiring speeches.
5. Nonviolent Resistance: Strategies and Effectiveness: An exploration of nonviolent resistance as a means of social change.
6. The Power of Empathy in Political Communication: A study on the use of empathy in successful political rhetoric.
7. Comparing RFK and MLK's Rhetorical Styles: A comparative analysis of their speaking styles and approaches.
8. The 1968 Election and its Significance: A review of the historical context of the 1968 presidential election.
9. Analyzing the Impact of Grief and Trauma on Social Movements: An examination of how collective trauma shapes social movements and responses.

rfk opening speech: American Values Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., 2018-05-15 With rich detail, compelling honesty, and a storyteller’s gift, RFK Jr. describes his life growing up Kennedy in a tumultuous time in history that eerily echoes the issues of nuclear confrontation, religion, race, and inequality that we confront today. “With emotion and striking detail, RFK Jr. recalls both the private joys and very public pain of his childhood.”— Independent Catholic News In this powerful book that combines the best aspects of memoir and political history, the third child of Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of JFK takes us on an intimate journey through his life, including watershed moments in the history of our nation. Stories of his grandparents Joseph and Rose set the stage for their nine remarkable children, among them three U.S. senators—Teddy, Bobby, and Jack—one of whom went on to become attorney general, and the other, the president of the United States. We meet Allen Dulles and J. Edgar Hoover, two men whose agencies posed the principal threats to American democracy and values. We live through the Cuban Missile Crisis, when insubordinate spies and belligerent generals in the Pentagon and Moscow brought the world to the cliff edge of nuclear war. At Hickory Hill in Virginia, where RFK Jr. grew up, we encounter the celebrities who gathered at the second most famous address in Washington, members of what would later become known as America’s Camelot. Through his father’s role as attorney general we get an insider’s look as growing tensions over civil rights led to pitched battles in the streets and 16,000 federal troops were called in to enforce desegregation at Ole Miss. We see growing pressure to fight wars in Southeast Asia to stop communism. We relive the assassination of JFK, RFK’s run for the presidency that was cut short by his own death, and the aftermath of those murders on the Kennedy family. RFK Jr. also shares his own experiences, not just with historical events and the movers who shaped them but also with his mother and father, with his own struggles with addiction, and with the ways he eventually made peace with both his Kennedy legacy and his own demons. A lyrically written book that provides insight, hope, and steady wisdom for Americans as they wrestle, as never before, with questions about America’s role in history and the world and what it means to be American.
rfk opening speech: RFK Robert F. Kennedy, 2018-05-01 An inspiring collection of Robert Francis Kennedy’s most famous speeches accompanied by commentary from notable historians and public figures. Twenty-five years after Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, RFK: His Words for Our Times, a celebration of Kennedy’s life and legacy, was published to enormous acclaim. Now this classic volume has been thoroughly edited and updated. Through his own words we get a direct and intimate perspective on Kennedy’s views on civil rights, social justice, the war in Vietnam, foreign policy, the desirability of peace, the need to eliminate poverty, and the role of hope in American politics. Here, too, is evidence of the impact of those he knew and worked with, including his brother John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Cesar Chavez, among others. The tightly curated collection also includes commentary about RFK’s legacy from major historians and public figures, among them Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Eric Garcetti, William Manchester, Elie Wiesel, and Desmond Tutu. Assembled with the full cooperation of the Kennedy family, RFK: His Words for Our Times is a potent reminder of Robert Kennedy’s ability to imagine a greater America—a faith and vision we could use today. “Themes include civil rights, mistrust of large government, citizen participation in local government, eliminating poverty, and ending the Vietnam War. The speeches demonstrate Kennedy’s skill at connecting with large, enthusiastic audiences with promises of hope and equality.” —Library Journal “A blueprint for the future.” —Vital Speeches
rfk opening speech: Profiles in Courage John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1992
rfk opening speech: Justice Rising Patricia Sullivan, 2021-06-08 A leading civil rights historian places Robert Kennedy for the first time at the center of the movement for racial justice of the 1960sÑand shows how many of todayÕs issues can be traced back to that pivotal time. History, race, and politics converged in the 1960s in ways that indelibly changed America. In Justice Rising, a landmark reconsideration of Robert KennedyÕs life and legacy, Patricia Sullivan draws on government files, personal papers, and oral interviews to reveal how he grasped the moment to emerge as a transformational leader. When protests broke out across the South, the young attorney general confronted escalating demands for racial justice. What began as a political problem soon became a moral one. In the face of vehement pushback from Southern Democrats bent on massive resistance, he put the weight of the federal government behind school desegregation and voter registration. Bobby KennedyÕs youthful energy, moral vision, and capacity to lead created a momentum for change. He helped shape the 1964 Civil Rights Act but knew no law would end racism. When the Watts uprising brought calls for more aggressive policing, he pushed back, pointing to the root causes of urban unrest: entrenched poverty, substandard schools, and few job opportunities. RFK strongly opposed the military buildup in Vietnam, but nothing was more important to him than Òthe revolution within our gates, the struggle of the American Negro for full equality and full freedom.Ó On the night of Martin Luther KingÕs assassination, KennedyÕs anguished appeal captured the hopes of a turbulent decade: ÒIn this difficult time for the United States it is perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in.Ó It is a question that remains urgent and unanswered.
rfk opening speech: Bobby Kennedy Chris Matthews, 2017-10-31 In Chris Matthews’s New York Times bestselling portrait of Robert F. Kennedy, “Readers witness the evolution of Kennedy’s soul. Through tragedy after tragedy we find the man humanized” (Associated Press). With his bestselling biography Jack Kennedy, Chris Matthews profiled of one of America’s most beloved Presidents and the patriotic spirit that defined him. Now, with Bobby Kennedy, Matthews provides “insight into [Bobby’s] spirit and what drove him to greatness” (New York Journal of Books) in his gripping, in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at one of the great figures of the American twentieth century. Overlooked by his father, and overshadowed by his war-hero brother, Bobby Kennedy was a perpetual underdog. When he had the chance to become a naval officer like his older brother, Bobby turned it down, choosing instead to join the Navy as a common sailor. It was a life-changing experience that led him to connect with voters from all walks of life: young and old, black and white, rich and poor. They were the people who turned out for him in his 1968 campaign. RFK would prove himself to be the rarest of politicians—both a pragmatist who knew how to get the job done and an unwavering idealist who could inspire millions. Drawing on extensive research and interviews, Matthews pulls back the curtain on the private world of Robert Francis Kennedy. Matthew illuminates the important moments of his life: from his early years and his start in politics, to his crucial role as attorney general in his brother’s administration and, finally, his tragic run for president. This definitive book brings Bobby Kennedy to life like never before.
rfk opening speech: Let the Word Go Forth John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1991-10-05 Collected in one illuminating volume, the writings and speeches of John F. Kennedy reveal the man and president who inspired a generation. Here are the words that propelled a nation and moved the world, offering an important portrayal of the 35th president's entire career. Photographs throughout.
rfk opening speech: The Kennedy Assassination--24 Hours After Steven M Gillon, 2009-10-06 Riding in an open-topped convertible through Dallas on November 22, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson heard a sudden explosive sound at 12:30 PM. The Secret Service sped him away to safety, but not until 1:20 PM did he learn that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Sworn in next to a bloodstained Jackie Kennedy at 2:40 PM, Johnson worked feverishly until 3:00 in the morning, agonizing about the future of both his nation and his party. Unbeknownst to him, his actions had already determined the tragic outcome of his presidency. In November 22, 1963, historian Steven Gillon tells the story of how Johnson consolidated power in the twenty-four hours following the assassination. Based on scrupulous research and new archival sources, this gripping narrative sheds new and surprising light on one of the most written-about events of the twentieth century.
rfk opening speech: Robert Kennedy Evan Thomas, 2013-02-05 He was Good Bobby, who, as his brother Ted eulogized him, saw wrong and tried to right it . . . saw suffering and tried to heal it. And Bad Bobby, the ruthless and manipulative bully of countless conspiracy theories. Thomas's unvarnished but sympathetic and fair-minded portrayal is packed with new details about Kennedy's early life and his behind-the-scenes machinations, including new revelations about the 1960 and 1968 presidential campaigns, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and his long struggles with J. Edgar Hoover and Lyndon Johnson.
rfk opening speech: Delta Epiphany Ellen B. Meacham, 2018-04-02 In April 1967, a year before his run for president, Senator Robert F. Kennedy knelt in a crumbling shack in Mississippi trying to coax a response from a listless child. The toddler sat picking at dried rice and beans spilled over the dirt floor as Kennedy, former US attorney general and brother to a president, touched the boy's distended stomach and stroked his face and hair. After several minutes with little response, the senator walked out the back door, wiping away tears. In Delta Epiphany: Robert F. Kennedy in Mississippi, Ellen B. Meacham tells the story of Kennedy's visit to the Delta, while also examining the forces of history, economics, and politics that shaped the lives of the children he met in Mississippi in 1967 and the decades that followed. The book includes thirty-seven powerful photographs, a dozen published here for the first time. Kennedy's visit to the Mississippi Delta as part of a Senate subcommittee investigation of poverty programs lasted only a few hours, but Kennedy, the people he encountered, Mississippi, and the nation felt the impact of that journey for much longer. His visit and its aftermath crystallized many of the domestic issues that later moved Kennedy toward his candidacy for the presidency. Upon his return to Washington, Kennedy immediately began seeking ways to help the children he met on his visit; however, his efforts were frustrated by institutional obstacles and blocked by powerful men who were indifferent and, at times, hostile to the plight of poor black children. Sadly, we know what happened to Kennedy, but this book also introduces us to three of the children he met on his visit, including the baby on the floor, and finishes their stories. Kennedy talked about what he had seen in Mississippi for the remaining fourteen months of his life. His vision for America was shaped by the plight of the hungry children he encountered there.
rfk opening speech: Framed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 2016-07-12 The New York Times bestseller – now in paperback, with a new afterword “A must-read for those who care about justice and integrity in our public institutions.” —Alan M. Dershowitz, Esq. The Definitive Story of One of the Most Infamous Murders of the Twentieth Century and the Heartbreaking Miscarriage of Justice That Followed On Halloween, 1975, fifteen-year-old Martha Moxley’s body was found brutally murdered outside her home in swanky Greenwich, Connecticut. Twenty-seven years after her death, the State of Connecticut spent some $25 million to convict her friend and neighbor, Michael Skakel, of the murder. The trial ignited a media firestorm that transfixed the nation. Now Skakel’s cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., solves the baffling whodunit and clears Michael Skakel’s name. In this revised edition, which includes developments following the Connecticut Supreme Court decision, Kennedy chronicles how Skakel was railroaded amidst a media frenzy and a colorful cast of characters—from a crooked cop and a narcissistic defense attorney to a parade of perjuring witnesses.
rfk opening speech: The Promise and the Dream David Margolick, 2018-04-03 “A fascinating, elegiac account” of the bond between two of the Civil Rights Era’s most important leaders—from the journalist and author of Strange Fruit (Chicago Tribune). With vision and political savvy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy set the United States on a path toward fulfilling its promise of liberty and justice for all. In The Promise and the Dream, Margolick examines their unique bond, both in life and in their tragic assassinations, just sixty-two days apart in 1968. Through original interviews, oral histories, FBI files, and previously untapped contemporaneous accounts, Margolick offers a revealing portrait of these two men and the mutual assistance, awkwardness, antagonism, and admiration that existed between them. MLK and RFK cut distinct but converging paths toward lasting change. Even when they weren’t interacting directly, they monitored and learned from one another. Their joint story, a story each man took pains to hide during their lives, is not just gripping history but a window into the challenges we continue to face in America. Complemented by award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley’s foreword and more than eighty revealing photos by the foremost photojournalists of the period, The Promise and the Dream offers a compelling look at one of the most consequential but misunderstood relationships in our nation’s history.
rfk opening speech: JFK, Conservative Ira Stoll, 2013 For the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy comes a sure-to-be-controversial argument that by virtually any standard, JFK was far more conservative than liberal.
rfk opening speech: Crimes Against Nature Robert Francis Kennedy, 2004-08-03 A case study of the link between money and political power charges the Bush administration with compromising mainstream America through its proposed changes to environmental laws.
rfk opening speech: Bobby Kennedy Larry Tye, 2017-05-09 “A multilayered, inspiring portrait of RFK . . . [the] most in-depth look at an extraordinary figure whose transformational story shaped America.”—Joe Scarborough, The Washington Post NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Soon to be a Hulu original series starring Chris Pine. Larry Tye appears on CNN’s American Dynasties: The Kennedys. “We are in Larry Tye’s debt for bringing back to life the young presidential candidate who . . . almost half a century ago, instilled hope for the future in angry, fearful Americans.”—David Nasaw, The New York Times Book Review Bare-knuckle operative, cynical White House insider, romantic visionary—Robert F. Kennedy was all of these things at one time or another, and each of these aspects of his personality emerges in the pages of this powerful and perceptive biography. History remembers RFK as a racial healer, a tribune for the poor, and the last progressive knight of a bygone era of American politics. But Kennedy’s enshrinement in the liberal pantheon was actually the final stage of a journey that began with his service as counsel to the red-baiting senator Joseph McCarthy. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to capture the full arc of his subject’s life. Tye draws on unpublished memoirs, unreleased government files, and fifty-eight boxes of papers that had been under lock and key for forty years. He conducted hundreds of interviews with RFK intimates, many of whom have never spoken publicly, including Bobby’s widow, Ethel, and his sister, Jean. Tye’s determination to sift through the tangle of often contradictory opinions means that Bobby Kennedy will stand as the definitive biography about the most complex and controversial member of the Kennedy family. Praise for Bobby Kennedy “A compelling story of how idealism can be cultivated and liberalism learned . . . Tye does an exemplary job of capturing not just the chronology of Bobby’s life, but also the sense of him as a person.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “Captures RFK’s rise and fall with straightforward prose bolstered by impressive research.”—USA Today “[Tye] has a keen gift for narrative storytelling and an ability to depict his subject with almost novelistic emotional detail.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “Nuanced and thorough . . . [RFK’s] vision echoes through the decades.”—The Economist
rfk opening speech: What Truth Sounds Like Michael Eric Dyson, 2018-06-05 Named a 2018 Notable Work of Nonfiction by The Washington Post NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Winner, The 2018 Southern Book Prize NAMED A BEST/MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2018 BY: Chicago Tribune • Time • Publisher's Weekly A stunning follow up to New York Times bestseller Tears We Cannot Stop The Washington Post: Passionately written. Chris Matthews, MSNBC: A beautifully written book. Shaun King: “I kid you not–I think it’s the most important book I’ve read all year...” Harry Belafonte: “Dyson has finally written the book I always wanted to read...a tour de force.” Joy-Ann Reid: A work of searing prose and seminal brilliance... Dyson takes that once in a lifetime conversation between black excellence and pain and the white heroic narrative, and drives it right into the heart of our current politics and culture, leaving the reader reeling and reckoning. Robin D. G. Kelley: “Dyson masterfully refracts our present racial conflagration... he reminds us that Black artists and intellectuals bear an awesome responsibility to speak truth to power. President Barack Obama: Everybody who speaks after Michael Eric Dyson pales in comparison.” In 2015 BLM activist Julius Jones confronted Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with an urgent query: “What in your heart has changed that’s going to change the direction of this country?” “I don’t believe you just change hearts,” she protested. “I believe you change laws.” The fraught conflict between conscience and politics – between morality and power – in addressing race hardly began with Clinton. An electrifying and traumatic encounter in the sixties crystallized these furious disputes. In 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy sought out James Baldwin to explain the rage that threatened to engulf black America. Baldwin brought along some friends, including playwright Lorraine Hansberry, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and a valiant activist, Jerome Smith. It was Smith’s relentless, unfiltered fury that set Kennedy on his heels, reducing him to sullen silence. Kennedy walked away from the nearly three-hour meeting angry – that the black folk assembled didn’t understand politics, and that they weren’t as easy to talk to as Martin Luther King. But especially that they were more interested in witness than policy. But Kennedy’s anger quickly gave way to empathy, especially for Smith. “I guess if I were in his shoes...I might feel differently about this country.” Kennedy set about changing policy – the meeting having transformed his thinking in fundamental ways. There was more: every big argument about race that persists to this day got a hearing in that room. Smith declaring that he’d never fight for his country given its racist tendencies, and Kennedy being appalled at such lack of patriotism, tracks the disdain for black dissent in our own time. His belief that black folk were ungrateful for the Kennedys’ efforts to make things better shows up in our day as the charge that black folk wallow in the politics of ingratitude and victimhood. The contributions of black queer folk to racial progress still cause a stir. BLM has been accused of harboring a covert queer agenda. The immigrant experience, like that of Kennedy – versus the racial experience of Baldwin – is a cudgel to excoriate black folk for lacking hustle and ingenuity. The questioning of whether folk who are interracially partnered can authentically communicate black interests persists. And we grapple still with the responsibility of black intellectuals and artists to bring about social change. What Truth Sounds Like exists at the tense intersection of the conflict between politics and prophecy – of whether we embrace political resolution or moral redemption to fix our fractured racial landscape. The future of race and democracy hang in the balance.
rfk opening speech: JFK and the Unspeakable James W. Douglass, 2010-10-19 THE ACCLAIMED BOOK, NOW IN PAPERBACK, with a reading group guide and a new afterword by the author. At the height of the Cold War, JFK risked committing the greatest crime in human history: starting a nuclear war. Horrified by the specter of nuclear annihilation, Kennedy gradually turned away from his long-held Cold Warrior beliefs and toward a policy of lasting peace. But to the military and intelligence agencies in the United States, who were committed to winning the Cold War at any cost, Kennedy’s change of heart was a direct threat to their power and influence. Once these dark Unspeakable forces recognized that Kennedy’s interests were in direct opposition to their own, they tagged him as a dangerous traitor, plotted his assassination, and orchestrated the subsequent cover-up. Douglass takes readers into the Oval Office during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, along on the strange journey of Lee Harvey Oswald and his shadowy handlers, and to the winding road in Dallas where an ambush awaited the President’s motorcade. As Douglass convincingly documents, at every step along the way these forces of the Unspeakable were present, moving people like pawns on a chessboard to promote a dangerous and deadly agenda.
rfk opening speech: The Revolution of Robert Kennedy John R. Bohrer, 2017-06-06 A groundbreaking account of how Robert F. Kennedy transformed horror into hope between 1963 and 1966, with style and substance that has shaped American politics ever since. On November 22nd, 1963, Bobby Kennedy received a phone call that altered his life forever. The president, his brother, had been shot. JFK would not survive. In The Revolution of Robert Kennedy, journalist John R. Bohrer focuses in intimate and revealing detail on Bobby Kennedy's life during the three years following JFK's assassination. Torn between mourning the past and plotting his future, Bobby was placed in a sudden competition with his political enemy, Lyndon Johnson, for control of the Democratic Party. No longer the president's closest advisor, Bobby struggled to find his place within the Johnson administration, eventually deciding to leave his Cabinet post to run for the U.S. Senate, and establish an independent identity. Those overlooked years of change, from hardline Attorney General to champion of the common man, helped him develop the themes of his eventual presidential campaign. The Revolution of Robert Kennedy follows him on the journey from memorializing his brother's legacy to defining his own. John R. Bohrer's rich, insightful portrait of Robert Kennedy is biography at its best--inviting readers into the mind and heart of one of America's great leaders.
rfk opening speech: To Seek a Newer World JR ROBERT F. SLOAN KENNEDY (SAM.), Robert F Kennedy, 2017-05-06 These essays by Robert F. Kennedy, which grew out of speeches, travel and his experience as Attorney General and a United States Senator, pose a simple question for America and consequently for the free world, in the 60s and 70s: Are you willing to dare? Today's challenges are awesome in scope and baffling in complexity. A military coup in Brazil may effect the entire hemisphere and endanger the Alliance for Progress. Riots and decay in the American cities pose the dangers of war in the streets, and a permanent alienation of black and white America. Vietnam raises the possibility of recurrent draining conflict, with a huge and unknown China beyond. And overall loom the new weapons of war, threatening at every moment to destroy all they were designed to defend. But for all the problems, says the author, our fortunes need not and cannot be surrendered to an inscrutable fate. The question posed is not to America's resources, not to their ability, but to their commitment and character. This is the question Robert Kennedy repeatedly addresses in To Seek a Newer World. As a major architect of positions and policies at home and abroad since 1961, he is candid in assessing his countries shortcomings and mistakes. Yet his call for a new ordering of national priorities is a hopeful one - to match American heritage and power with a new effort and will - to seek a newer world for the United States and for the community of man.
rfk opening speech: To Move the World Jeffrey D. Sachs, 2013-06-04 An inspiring look at the historic foreign policy triumph of John F. Kennedy’s presidency—the crusade for world peace that consumed his final year in office—by the New York Times bestselling author of The Price of Civilization, Common Wealth, and The End of Poverty The last great campaign of John F. Kennedy’s life was not the battle for reelection he did not live to wage, but the struggle for a sustainable peace with the Soviet Union. To Move the World recalls the extraordinary days from October 1962 to September 1963, when JFK marshaled the power of oratory and his remarkable political skills to establish more peaceful relations with the Soviet Union and a dramatic slowdown in the proliferation of nuclear arms. Kennedy and his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, led their nations during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the two superpowers came eyeball to eyeball at the nuclear abyss. This near-death experience shook both leaders deeply. Jeffrey D. Sachs shows how Kennedy emerged from the Missile crisis with the determination and prodigious skills to forge a new and less threatening direction for the world. Together, he and Khrushchev would pull the world away from the nuclear precipice, charting a path for future peacemakers to follow. During his final year in office, Kennedy gave a series of speeches in which he pushed back against the momentum of the Cold War to persuade the world that peace with the Soviets was possible. The oratorical high point came on June 10, 1963, when Kennedy delivered the most important foreign policy speech of the modern presidency. He argued against the prevailing pessimism that viewed humanity as doomed by forces beyond its control. Mankind, argued Kennedy, could bring a new peace into reality through a bold vision combined with concrete and practical measures. Achieving the first of those measures in the summer of 1963, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, required more than just speechmaking, however. Kennedy had to use his great gifts of persuasion on multiple fronts—with fractious allies, hawkish Republican congressmen, dubious members of his own administration, and the American and world public—to persuade a skeptical world that cooperation between the superpowers was realistic and necessary. Sachs shows how Kennedy campaigned for his vision and opened the eyes of the American people and the world to the possibilities of peace. Featuring the full text of JFK’s speeches from this period, as well as striking photographs, To Move the World gives us a startlingly fresh perspective on Kennedy’s presidency and a model for strong leadership and problem solving in our time. Praise for To Move the World “Rife with lessons for the current administration . . . We cannot know how many more steps might have been taken under Kennedy’s leadership, but To Move the World urges us to continue on the journey.”—Chicago Tribune “The messages in these four speeches seem all too pertinent today.”—Publishers Weekly
rfk opening speech: Make Gentle the Life of this World Robert F. Kennedy, 1998 Maxwell Taylor Kennedy read through his father Robert F. Kennedy's speeches, letters, personal journal or daybook, and books about RFK in which his father was quoted to assemble this collection of RFK's ideas.
rfk opening speech: The Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln, 2009-08-27 The Address was delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg. In just over two minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as a new birth of freedom that would bring true equality to all of its citizens, and that would also create a unified nation in which states' rights were no longer dominant. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
rfk opening speech: The Man Who Killed Kennedy Roger Stone, 2014-09-02 We appreciate Roger Stone, he is one tough cookie. - President Trump The sensational New York Times bestseller, now in paperback. Find out how and why LBJ had JFK assassinated. The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ hit the New York Times bestseller list the week of the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Consummate political insider Roger Stone makes a compelling case that Lyndon Baines Johnson had the motive, means, and opportunity to orchestrate the murder of JFK. Stone maps out the case that LBJ blackmailed his way on the ticket in 1960 and was being dumped in 1964 to face prosecution for corruption at the hands of his nemesis attorney Robert Kennedy. Stone uses fingerprint evidence and testimony to prove JFK was shot by a long-time LBJ hit man—not Lee Harvey Oswald. President Johnson would use power from his personal connections in Texas, from the criminal underworld, and from the United States government to escape an untimely end in politics and to seize even greater power. President Johnson, the thirty-sixth president of the United States, was the driving force behind a conspiracy to murder President Kennedy on November 22, 1963. In The Man Who Killed Kennedy, you will find out how and why he did it. Legendary political operative and strategist Roger Stone has gathered documents and uses his firsthand knowledge to construct the ultimate tome to prove that LBJ was not only involved in JFK’s assassination, but was in fact the mastermind. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
rfk opening speech: Congressional Record United States. Congress, 1968
rfk opening speech: A Lie Too Big to Fail Lisa Pease, 2018-12-18 In A Lie Too Big to Fail, longtime Kennedy researcher (of both JFK and RFK) Lisa Pease lays out, in meticulous detail, how witnesses with evidence of conspiracy were silenced by the Los Angeles Police Department; how evidence was deliberately altered and, in some instances, destroyed; and how the justice system and the media failed to present the truth of the case to the public. Pease reveals how the trial was essentially a sham, and how the prosecution did not dare to follow where the evidence led. A Lie Too Big to Fail asserts the idea that a government can never investigate itself in a crime of this magnitude. Was the convicted Sirhan Sirhan a willing participant? Or was he a mind-controlled assassin? It has fallen to independent researchers like Pease to lay out the evidence in a clear and concise manner, allowing readers to form their theories about this event. Pease places the history of this event in the context of the era and provides shocking overlaps between other high-profile murders and attempted murders of the time. Lisa Pease goes further than anyone else in proving who likely planned the assassination, who the assassination team members were, and why Kennedy was deemed such a threat that he had to be taken out before he became President of the United States.
rfk opening speech: Camelot's End Jon Ward, 2019-01-22 From a strange, dark chapter in American political history comes the captivating story of Ted Kennedy's 1980 campaign for president against the incumbent Jimmy Carter, told in full for the first time. The Carter presidency was on life support. The Democrats, desperate to keep power and yearning to resurrect former glory, turned to Kennedy. And so, 1980 became a civil war. It was the last time an American president received a serious reelection challenge from inside his own party, the last contested convention, and the last all-out floor fight, where political combatants fought in real time to decide who would be the nominee. It was the last gasp of an outdated system, an insider's game that old Kennedy hands thought they had mastered, and the year that marked the unraveling of the Democratic Party as America had known it. Camelot's End details the incredible drama of Kennedy's challenge -- what led to it, how it unfolded, and its lasting effects -- with cinematic sweep. It is a story about what happened to the Democratic Party when the country's long string of successes, luck, and global dominance following World War II ran its course, and how, on a quest to recapture the magic of JFK, Democrats plunged themselves into an intra-party civil war. And, at its heart, Camelot's End is the tale of two extraordinary and deeply flawed men: Teddy Kennedy, one of the nation's greatest lawmakers, a man of flaws and of great character; and Jimmy Carter, a politically tenacious but frequently underestimated trailblazer. Comprehensive and nuanced, featuring new interviews with major party leaders and behind-the-scenes revelations from the time, Camelot's End presents both Kennedy and Carter in a new light, and takes readers deep inside a dark chapter in American political history.
rfk opening speech: RFK and MLK Philip A. Goduti, Jr., 2017-06-23 Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., lived parallel lives. Their leadership helped millions of Americans recover from the assassination of John F. Kennedy and inspired hope for a more peaceful and egalitarian society (which endured well after their own tragic deaths five years later). Their rhetoric addressed the pervasive issues of the era--poverty, war and civil rights--and encouraged young people and the disadvantaged throughout the United States and the world. This book examines the vision they shared through their speeches, writings and public appearances in the years of the cultural groundshift of 1963 through 1968.
rfk opening speech: Robert F. Kennedy in the Stream of History Terrence Edward Paupp, 2017-09-29 This assessment of the statesmanship, principles, and policies of Robert F. Kennedy places him in the stream of history, to assess what came before his time in political life, what happened during that time, and what happened to his legacy after his assassination. Terrence Edward Paupp evaluates the themes and issues RFK confronted, responded to, and for which he provided visionary solutions. Paupp first chronicles the influence of Franklin D. Roosevelt's legacy as a prologue to the New Frontier and Great Society. During Robert F. Kennedy's time in power-both in his brother's administration and on his own in the US Senate-he struggled with striking a balance between power and purpose. In the years after John F. Kennedy's assassination, RFK emphasized the need to unite power and purpose, national and international concerns, ideals and practice. Much of this has been ignored, Paupp argues, by what C. Wright Mills called the power elite. In assessing RFK's statesmanship, Paupp examines his commitments to human and civil rights, which linked themes and ideals within the US to those struggles taking place outside the country. Robert F. Kennedy brought zeal and passion to these problems by discussing the moral necessity of honouring human dignity while articulating practical solutions, policies, and programs to structural injustice. His legacy remains a beacon of light, intelligence, and hope in today's world.
rfk opening speech: The Negro Motorist Green Book Victor H. Green, The Negro Motorist Green Book was a groundbreaking guide that provided African American travelers with crucial information on safe places to stay, eat, and visit during the era of segregation in the United States. This essential resource, originally published from 1936 to 1966, offered a lifeline to black motorists navigating a deeply divided nation, helping them avoid the dangers and indignities of racism on the road. More than just a travel guide, The Negro Motorist Green Book stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and resistance in the face of oppression, offering a poignant glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of the African American experience in the 20th century.
rfk opening speech: CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys Patrick Nolan, 2015-11-10 “Readers who can’t get enough of speculation about the JFK and RFK assassinations should definitely give [CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys] a read . . .”—Booklist The US Central Intelligence Agency is no stranger to conspiracy and allegations of corruption. Across the globe, violent coups have been orchestrated, high-profile targets kidnapped, and world leaders dispatched at the hands of CIA agents. During the 1960s, on domestic soil, the methods used to protect their interests and themselves at the expense of the American people were no less ruthless. In CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys, Patrick Nolan fearlessly investigates the CIA’s involvement in the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy—why the brothers needed to die and how rogue intelligence agents orchestrated history’s most infamous conspiracy. Nolan furthers the research of leading forensic scientists, historians, and scholars who agree that serious unanswered questions remain regarding the assassinations of John F. Kennedy fifty years ago and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. He revisits and refutes what is currently known about Lee Harvey Oswald and Sirhan Bishara Sirhan and offers readers a compelling profile of the CIA’s Richard Helms, an amoral master of clandestine operations with a chip on his shoulder. Bolstered by a foreword from Dr. Henry C. Lee, one of the world’s foremost forensic authorities, CIA Rogues and the Killing of the Kennedys is an unmatched effort in forensic research and detective work. Nolan has made a significant contribution to the literature on that fateful day in Dallas as well as shed light on that dark night at the Ambassador Hotel. Readers interested in conspiracy, the Kennedy family, or American history will find this book invaluable. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
rfk opening speech: All This Marvelous Potential Matthew Algeo, 2021-10-05 In the winter of 1967-68, Robert F. Kennedy, then a US Senator from New York, ventured deep into the heart of Appalachia on what was dubbed a poverty tour. He toured a strip mine, visited one-room schoolhouses and dilapidated homes, and held a public hearing in a ramshackle high school gymnasium. As acting chairman of a Senate subcommittee on poverty, RFK went to eastern Kentucky to gauge the progress of the War on Poverty. He was deeply disillusioned by what he found. Kennedy learned that job training programs were useless, welfare programs proved insufficient, and jobs were scarce and getting scarcer. Before he'd even left the state, Kennedy had determined the War on Poverty was a failure--and he blamed Lyndon Johnson. Robert Kennedy wasn't merely on a fact-finding mission, however; he was considering challenging Johnson for the Democratic presidential nomination, but he needed support from rural white voters to win it. His trip to eastern Kentucky was an opportunity to test his antiwar and antipoverty message with hardscrabble whites. Kennedy encountered deep resentment in the mountains, and a special disdain for establishment politicians. We can't eat your fancy promises, read a large banner that greeted Kennedy at one stop. A month after his visit, RFK officially announced he was challenging Johnson for the Democratic nomination. Four months after his visit, he was murdered. He was 42. All This Marvelous Potential meticulously retraces RFK's tour of eastern Kentucky, visiting the places he visited and meeting with the people he met with. The similarities between then and now are astonishing: vicious, divisive politics; bitter racial strife; economic uncertainty; environmental alarm. Author Matthew Algeo explains how and why the region has changed since Robert Kennedy visited the area in 1968; how and why it hasn't; and why it matters--immensely--for the rest of the country. Kennedy, for all his faults--and there were many--was a politician who gave people hope, and he was unafraid to stand up to a president from his own party.
rfk opening speech: Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade Jeff Shesol, 1998-10-17 Mutual Contempt is at once a fascinating study in character and an illuminating meditation on the role character can play in shaping history.—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy loathed each other. Their antagonism, propelled by clashing personalities, contrasting views, and a deep, abiding animosity, would drive them to a bitterness so deep that even civil conversation was often impossible. Played out against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s, theirs was a monumental political battle that would shape federal policy, fracture the Democratic party, and have a lasting effect on the politics of our times. Drawing on previously unexamined recordings and documents, as well as memoirs, biographies, and scores of personal interviews, Jeff Shesol weaves the threads of this epic story into a compelling narrative that reflects the impact of LBJ and RFK's tumultuous relationship on politics, civil rights, the war on poverty, and the war in Vietnam. As Publishers Weekly noted, This is indispensable reading for both experts on the period and newcomers to the history of that decade. An exhaustive and fascinating history. . . . Shesol's grasp of the era's history is sure, his tale often entertaining, and his research awesome.—Russell Baker, New York Review of Books Thorough, provocative. . . . The story assumes the dimensions of a great drama played out on a stage too vast to comprehend.—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post (1997 Critic's Choice) This is the most gripping political book of recent years.—Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
rfk opening speech: The Death of a President William Manchester, 2013-10-08 William Manchester's epic and definitive account of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. As the world still reeled from the tragic and historic events of November 22, 1963, William Manchester set out, at the request of the Kennedy family, to create a detailed, authoritative record of the days immediately preceding and following President John F. Kennedy's death. Through hundreds of interviews, abundant travel and firsthand observation, and with unique access to the proceedings of the Warren Commission, Manchester conducted an exhaustive historical investigation, accumulating forty-five volumes of documents, exhibits, and transcribed tapes. His ultimate objective -- to set down as a whole the national and personal tragedy that was JFK's assassination -- is brilliantly achieved in this galvanizing narrative, a book universally acclaimed as a landmark work of modern history.
rfk opening speech: The Gospel According to RFK Robert F. Kennedy, 2004-06 MacAfee argues that Robert Kennedy's vision for America during the presidential election of 1968--issues of peace, justice, equality and responsibility--are as relevant today as they were then.
rfk opening speech: Robert F. Kennedy and the Shaping of Civil Rights, 1960-1964 Philip A. Goduti, Jr., 2012-11-20 From the 1960 John F. Kennedy presidential campaign to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the Department of Justice worked tirelessly to change the climate of civil rights in the nation. This book explores how the Kennedy brothers and leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis and James Meredith, among others, pushed for change at a critical time. Through an analysis of White House memoranda, speeches, telephone conversations and recorded discussions as well as secondary sources, this study explores Robert Kennedy's role in key events of the civil rights movement, which include the Freedom Rides in 1961, the Ole Miss crisis in 1962 and the Birmingham campaign and March on Washington in 1963. The combined efforts of the Kennedys and these leaders helped change the atmosphere in the nation to one of acceptance and opportunity for African Americans and other minorities.
rfk opening speech: Triggered Donald Trump Jr., 2019-11-05 This is the book that the leftist elites don't want you to read: Donald Trump, Jr., exposes all the tricks that the left uses to smear conservatives and push them out of the public square, from online shadow banning to rampant political correctness. In Triggered, Donald Trump, Jr. exposes all the tricks that the left uses to smear conservatives and push them out of the public square, from online shadow banning to fake accusations of hate speech. No topic is spared from political correctness. This is the book that the leftist elites don't want you to read! Trump, Jr. writes about the importance of fighting back and standing up for what you believe in. From his childhood summers in Communist Czechoslovakia that began his political thought process, to working on construction sites with his father, to the major achievements of President Trump's administration, Donald Trump, Jr. spares no details and delivers a book that focuses on success, perseverance, and determination.
rfk opening speech: The Last Campaign Thurston Clarke, 2008-05-27 The definitive account of Robert Kennedy’s exhilarating and tragic 1968 campaign for president—a revelatory history that is especially resonant now After John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Robert Kennedy—formerly Jack’s no-holds-barred political warrior—almost lost hope. He was haunted by his brother’s murder, and by the nation’s seeming inabilities to solve its problems of race, poverty, and the war in Vietnam. Bobby sensed the country’s pain, and when he announced that he was running for president, the country united behind his hopes. Over the action-packed eighty-two days of his campaign, Americans were inspired by Kennedy’s promise to lead them toward a better time. And after an assassin’s bullet stopped this last great stirring public figure of the 1960s, crowds lined up along the country’s railroad tracks to say goodbye to Bobby. With new research, interviews, and an intimate sense of Kennedy, Thurston Clarke provides an absorbing historical narrative that goes right to the heart of America’s deepest despairs—and most fiercely held dreams—and tells us more than we had understood before about this complicated man and the heightened personal, racial, political, and national dramas of his times.
rfk opening speech: JFK Fredrik Logevall, 2020-09-08 A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A Pulitzer Prize–winning historian takes us as close as we have ever been to the real John F. Kennedy in this revelatory biography of the iconic, yet still elusive, thirty-fifth president. “An utterly incandescent study of one of the most consequential figures of the twentieth century.”—Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE • NAMED BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR BY The Times (London) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Sunday Times (London), New Statesman, The Daily Telegraph, Kirkus Reviews By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen, a booming American nation that he had steered through some of the most perilous diplomatic standoffs of the Cold War. Born in 1917 to a striving Irish American family that had become among Boston’s wealthiest, Kennedy knew political ambition from an early age, and his meteoric rise to become the youngest elected president cemented his status as one of the most mythologized figures in American history. And while hagiographic portrayals of his dazzling charisma, reports of his extramarital affairs, and disagreements over his political legacy have come and gone in the decades since his untimely death, these accounts all fail to capture the full person. Beckoned by this gap in our historical knowledge, Fredrik Logevall has spent much of the last decade searching for the “real” JFK. The result of this prodigious effort is a sweeping two-volume biography that properly contextualizes Kennedy amidst the roiling American Century. This volume spans the first thirty-nine years of JFK’s life—from birth through his decision to run for president—to reveal his early relationships, his formative experiences during World War II, his ideas, his writings, his political aspirations. In examining these pre–White House years, Logevall shows us a more serious, independently minded Kennedy than we’ve previously known, whose distinct international sensibility would prepare him to enter national politics at a critical moment in modern U.S. history. Along the way, Logevall tells the parallel story of America’s midcentury rise. As Kennedy comes of age, we see the charged debate between isolationists and interventionists in the years before Pearl Harbor; the tumult of the Second World War, through which the United States emerged as a global colossus; the outbreak and spread of the Cold War; the domestic politics of anti-Communism and the attendant scourge of McCarthyism; the growth of television’s influence on politics; and more. JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956 is a sweeping history of the United States in the middle decades of the twentieth century, as well as the clearest portrait we have of this enigmatic American icon.
rfk opening speech: RFK Jr. Jerry Oppenheimer, 2015-09-22 From New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer comes a sensational biography of the son of the legendary Senator and troubled standard bearer of America's most fabled political dynasty. Robert F. Kenned Jr. inherited his assassinated father's piercing blue eyes and Brahmin style, earning a reputation as the nation's foremost environmental activist and lawyer - the toxic avenger - battling corporate polluters. But in this, the most revelatory portrait ever of a Kennedy, Oppenheimer places Bobby Jr., leader of the third generation of America's royal family, under a journalistic microscope. Based on scores of exclusive, candid on-the-record interviews, public and private records, and correspondence, Jerry Oppenheimer paints a balanced, objective portrait of this virtually unaccounted-for scion of the Kennedy dynasty. Like his slain father, the iconic senator and presidential hopeful, RFK Jr. was destined for political greatness. Why it never happened is revealed in this first-ever biography of him.
rfk opening speech: Bad Blood Jeffrey K. Smith, 2010-11 The tumultuous decade of the 1960s began with promise and hope when John F. Kennedy (JFK) became the youngest elected President in American history. Kennedy's New Frontier promised youthful and dynamic leadership, heading into the latter half of the century. A thousand days into the Kennedy presidency, an assassin's bullets shattered the dreams of an idealistic generation. After the Kennedy assassination, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) was catapulted into the Oval Office, much to the chagrin of JFK's younger brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy. His idyllic life disrupted by fate, RFK viewed Johnson as a petty interloper, who had seized JFK's rightful place in history. Ever fearful that Robert Kennedy would attempt to regain the presidential throne, LBJ's paranoia ultimately compromised his judgment and contributed to his downfall. Bad Blood: Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, and the Tumultuous 1960s chronicles the personal and political feud between two powerful and controversial twentieth century icons.
rfk opening speech: Woke, Inc. Vivek Ramaswamy, 2021-08-17 AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! A young entrepreneur makes the case that politics has no place in business, and sets out a new vision for the future of American capitalism. There’s a new invisible force at work in our economic and cultural lives. It affects every advertisement we see and every product we buy, from our morning coffee to a new pair of shoes. “Stakeholder capitalism” makes rosy promises of a better, more diverse, environmentally-friendly world, but in reality this ideology championed by America’s business and political leaders robs us of our money, our voice, and our identity. Vivek Ramaswamy is a traitor to his class. He’s founded multibillion-dollar enterprises, led a biotech company as CEO, he became a hedge fund partner in his 20s, trained as a scientist at Harvard and a lawyer at Yale, and grew up the child of immigrants in a small town in Ohio. Now he takes us behind the scenes into corporate boardrooms and five-star conferences, into Ivy League classrooms and secretive nonprofits, to reveal the defining scam of our century. The modern woke-industrial complex divides us as a people. By mixing morality with consumerism, America’s elites prey on our innermost insecurities about who we really are. They sell us cheap social causes and skin-deep identities to satisfy our hunger for a cause and our search for meaning, at a moment when we as Americans lack both. This book not only rips back the curtain on the new corporatist agenda, it offers a better way forward. America’s elites may want to sort us into demographic boxes, but we don’t have to stay there. Woke, Inc. begins as a critique of stakeholder capitalism and ends with an exploration of what it means to be an American in 2021—a journey that begins with cynicism and ends with hope.