"[26] During a speech he gave in California, Kennedy said, "I think that if I get beaten in any primary, I am not a very viable candidate."
Hamill's letter reminded Robert Kennedy that he had an "obligation of staying true to whatever it was that put those pictures on those walls.
Humphrey had entered the race after Johnson's withdrawal, but Kennedy and McCarthy remained the main challengers to the policies of the Johnson administration.
[27][28], Kennedy argued for legislation, which would reform flagrant tax loopholes.
On June 3, in what Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. dubbed a "final dash around the state", RFK traveled to San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Long Beach.
"[97] Prior to RFK's announcement of his intentions to run, close friend Arthur Schlesinger wrote in a journal that he'd never seen Kennedy "so torn about anythingI think that he cannot bear the thought of consigning the country to four more years of LBJ, without having done something to avert this.
His political advisors had been pressuring him to make a decision, fearing Kennedy was running out of time to announce his candidacy. [clarification needed][61], Ten days ahead of the primary, RFK recognized the uphill battle he faced in winning the primary: "This state is like one giant suburb.
But what has McCarthy ever done for the ghettos or for the poor?
In his speech, Kennedy apologized for early mistakes and attacked President Johnson's Vietnam policy saying, "I was involved in many of the early decisions on Vietnam, decisions which helped set us on our present path.
Dooley, p. 134. When asked about his intentions for the primary, LBJ replied: "Stay out of it".
Kennedy replied to the medical students, who were poised to enter lucrative careers, "From you.
[78], Kennedy had been a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. [110] According to Dominic Sandbrook, Kennedy's entry into the primary caused a shift in McCarthy's campaignMcCarthy was forced to further develop his own platform, instead of merely being antagonistic to the Johnson administration's policies. 
[108] Prior to entering the race, RFK worried McCarthy lacked a platform, as the latter had rarely spoken about domestic issues.
[30] [25][bettersourceneeded] He argued that rising crime rates could be countered with more job and educational opportunities.
[126] When Richard Nixon heard that RFK had announced his candidacy, Nixon reportedly said, "We've just seen some very terrible forces unleashed. "[4] At a breakfast with reporters at the National Press Club on January 30, 1968, Kennedy once again indicated that he had no plans to run, but a few weeks later he had changed his mind about entering the race.
[59] Mills wrote the following about RFK's calls for unity amongst Americans: "As far as Oregonians were concerned, America had not fallen apart.
[4] On March 12, when Johnson won an astonishingly narrow victory in the New Hampshire primary against McCarthy, who polled 42 percent of the vote, Kennedy knew it would be unlikely that the Minnesota senator would agree to withdraw.
"[4][20] From Kansas, Kennedy went on to campaign in the Democratic primaries in Indiana, Washington, DC, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, and California.
Kennedy's campaign was especially active in Indiana, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, California, and Washington, D.C. Kennedy's campaign ended on June 6, 1968 when he was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, following his victory in the California Primary.
Following an upset in the New Hampshire Primary, Johnson announced on March 31 that he would not seek re-election.
"[127] However, Nixon was relieved by RFK's entry into the Democratic primaryhe believed the divisions created by RFK's candidacy would be an advantage for Republicans.
[40] Despite the concerns of his advisors, Kennedy traveled to Indianapolis the following day and filed to run in the Indiana primary. [51][52] With this victory in Indiana, Kennedy's campaign gained momentum going into the Nebraska primary. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I'm obliged to do all I can. He supported a peace settlement between North and South Vietnam.
[107] In comments to Henry Ford II and Gregory Peck, LBJ concluded that RFK won his June debate with McCarthy. Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy, eulogized him with the words: "My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.
[24], Kennedy supported laws that would reduce casual firearm purchases. At the Indiana Statehouse, Kennedy told a cheering crowd that the state was important to his campaign: "If we can win in Indiana, we can win in every other state, and win when we go to the convention in August. Savage wrote that Daley was worried about an RFK Presidency because he had, as Attorney General, prosecuted Democratic machine politicians in several states.
[4] At Kansas State, Kennedy drew a "record-setting crowd of 14,500 students" for his Landon Lecture. They need to tell me off. [91] In the California primary, 95% of voting Hispanics supported RFK and he won 100% in several precincts. [5], In early February 1968, after the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, Kennedy received an anguished letter from writer Pete Hamill, noting that poor people in the Watts area of Los Angeles had hung pictures of Kennedy's brother, President John F. Kennedy, in their homes.
[38] The following day, CBS polls showed Kennedy leading McCarthy by seven points. Clarke wrote that Kennedy was conveying he had a moral obligation to do everything in his power to prevent a prolonging of the policies he opposed. Schmitt observed that "It was the allure of Kennedy as a bare knuckles advocate for their interests that led some of these same white voters to support the insurgent candidacy of George Wallace in the fall of 1968.
[8] En route to California, Kennedy told his aide, Peter Edelman, that he had decided to run and had to "figure out how to get McCarthy out of it. During that speech he said, "I don't think that we have to shoot each other, to beat each other, to curse each other and criticize each other, I think that we can do better in this country.
[62], On May 26, RFK was campaigning in Portland, accompanied by his wife Ethel and astronaut John Glenn. Harris and Gallup polls released in August 1966 showed RFK being favored over President Johnson for the nomination by 2% among Democrats and 14% by independents.
[105] Shesol wrote that Kennedy moved to a praising tone of Johnson, crediting Johnson with fulfillment of "the policies of thirty years" during an April 1 appearance in New Jersey. He withdrew from the election during a televised speech, where he also announced a partial halt to the bombing of Vietnam and proposed peace negotiations with the North Vietnamese.
This strategy had worked for John F. Kennedy in 1960, when he beat Hubert Humphrey in the West Virginia democratic primary.
Marshall Ganz had arranged for Kennedy to speak to farmworkers after his victory speech in the California primary. [131] Ted and his sisters Jean Kennedy Smith and Patricia Kennedy Lawford were in the entourage of the Kennedy campaign at the Ambassador Hotel after RFK won the California primary. [4], On March 31, President Johnson stunned the nation by dropping out of the presidential race.
"[11] Kennedy made this announcement from the same spot in the Senate Caucus Room where John F. Kennedy had announced his presidential candidacy in January 1960. [79] During the campaign, there were signs in black neighborhoods that read "Kennedy white but alright / The one before, he opened the door.
[35] McCarthy rebuked RFK's proposals about fixing cities during a late May speech at University of California, Davis.
[45] Kennedy's Indiana campaign resumed on April 10.
[33] Another April poll in Indiana, the Oliver Quayle survey, showed Kennedy with a three-to-one lead over McCarthy and the state's governor Roger D. Branigin; Schmitt noted the poll featured a large portion of respondents refuting the label that RFK was not trustworthy along with being "too tough and ruthless. [90] RFK visited Delano during the campaign to display an endorsement for the grape strike, prompting Chavez to convince the United Farm Workers to begin voter turnout and registration campaigns.
I appeal best to people who have problems. [9] Kennedy agreed to McCarthy's request to delay an announcement of his intentions until after the New Hampshire primary.
Ted did lend his support once Kennedy entered the race. According to Kennedy's advisor, Martin, the campaign gained momentum with Kennedy's visits to central and southern Indiana on April 22 and 23, which included a memorable whistle-stop railroad trip aboard the Wabash Cannonball. [116], Two days after RFK announced his candidacy, Vice President Humphrey said that RFK had supported the JFK administration's policies on the Vietnam conflict. Senator Eugene McCarthy had announced his intention to run against Johnson for the Democratic nomination on November 30, 1967.
[46], Kennedy's campaign advisor John Bartlow Martin urged the candidate to speak out against violence and rioting, emphasize his "law enforcement experience" as former U.S. Attorney General, and promote the idea that the federal government and the private sector should work together to solve domestic issues. "[86] RFK won 90% of the black vote in the California primary.
Following the shooting, Kennedy was rushed to Central Receiving Hospital and then transferred to The Good Samaritan Hospital, where he died early in the morning on June 6. While in Philadelphia, he called Johnson's withdrawal an "act of leadership and sacrifice".
[70][clarification needed]. The McCarthy campaign responded with charges that Kennedy illegally taped Martin Luther King, Jr. as United States Attorney General.
If it had been George McGovern who had run in New Hampshire, I wouldn't have gotten into it. [61] Kennedy realized that losing the Oregon primary would pose a risk to his credibility and began what Dary G. Richardson dubbed an "Olympian-like pace".
"[32], The day Kennedy announced his entry into the primary, McCarthy reversed his decision to not enter the Indiana primary; he didn't want to help RFK's chances of winning any primaries.
"[34] An internal memo released during the Indiana primary showed that Kennedy-backing voters had favorable opinions of Wallace.
"[84], Kennedy endeared himself to farmworkers through his support of the Delano grape strike and subsequent communications with Cesar Chavez, who told students in California that Kennedy was the candidate for farmworkers.
The Robert F. Kennedy presidential campaign began on March 16, 1968, when Robert Francis Kennedy, a United States Senator from New York, mounted an unlikely challenge to incumbent Democratic United States President Lyndon B. Johnson.
[81] His performance was strongest in cities with the largest black populations.
[14] With Kennedy joining the race, liberal Democrats thought that votes among supporters of the anti-war movement would now be split between McCarthy and Kennedy.
In his speech at Ball State, Kennedy suggested that the 1968 election would "determine the direction that the United States is going to move" and that the American people should "examine everything. [68], On June 1, during the final days of the California campaign, Kennedy and McCarthy met for a televised debate. "[60] The Kennedy campaign circulated material on McCarthy's record; McCarthy had voted against a minimum wage law and repeal of the poll tax in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. [103], RFK was at his apartment in the United Nations Plaza the night President Johnson announced his withdrawal from the primary, though unlike his supporters he was not optimistic about the news.
[82] When McCarthy revealed that Kennedy had agreed to limited surveillance of Dr. King back in 1963, blacks in California considered switching their support to McCarthy.
I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man, but to propose new policies.
[91] Roger A. Bruns wrote the following about Kennedy's assassination: "For the country and especially for the farm workers community, the killing of Robert Kennedy was a profoundly tragic loss.
[12][13] McCarthy supporters angrily denounced Kennedy as an opportunist.
"[114] Kennedy tied with Nixon in polls conducted in the latter part of 1967. "[22][23], Kennedy did not support an immediate withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Vietnam or an immediate end to the war.
[35] A May 26 Associated Press poll showed RFK behind Humphrey among Pennsylvania national convention delegates, 1 to 27.
[4], Kennedy delivered his first campaign speech on March 18 at Kansas State University, where he had previously agreed to give a lecture honoring former Kansas governor and Republican Alfred Landon.
[37] Larry Tye later said: "By the time of his death in June 1968, Bobby was the most trusted white man in black America.
[75][76], Kennedy's body was returned to New York City, where he lay in repose at St. Patrick's Cathedral for several days before the Requiem Mass was held there on June 8.
[citation needed], Campaigning vigorously in Nebraska, Kennedy hoped for a big win to give him momentum going into the California primary, in which McCarthy held a strong presence.
On February 29, 1968, the Kerner Commission issued a report on the racial unrest that had affected American cities during the previous summer. "[133], California, South Dakota, and New Jersey primaries, On September 14, 2009, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution to rename the Senate Caucus Room in the.
[73] Under the plurality voting system, Kennedy, despite having received only a plurality of the vote, was awarded all of the state's delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
[4], Kennedy's political platform emphasized racial equality, economic justice, non-aggression in foreign policy, decentralization of power and social improvement. [29], A Gallup poll conducted in the fall of 1965 showed 72% of respondents believed RFK wanted to become the president, and 40% of independents and 56% of Democrats stated their support for a possible bid. [118], LaFeber wrote that Humphrey's entry seemed to be hinged entirely on President Johnson's distaste at the idea of Kennedy being the party's nominee in the general election.
Of the state primaries in which they campaigned directly against one another, Kennedy won three (Indiana, Nebraska, and California) while McCarthy was only successful in one (Oregon). McCarthy beat out Kennedy in the NJ primary, which only permitted write-ins and separately elected a slate of uncommitted delegates composed of state elected officials, winning 38 percent to 33 percent over RFK with Humphrey getting 21 percent and Wallace 5% with LBJ picking up a paltry 380 write-ins for 1.5 percent.
"[122] Kennedy also emphasized that there would be no anti-war Presidential candidate, if Humphrey were the Democratic candidate in the general election against former Vice President Nixon. "[98], Kennedy announced his candidacy after LBJ almost lost the New Hampshire primary.
"[120], Humphrey won 18% of write-in votes in the Massachusetts primary; it was seen as a victory over Kennedy's 28% vote total because Kennedy's Massachusetts campaign organization was significantly stronger than Humphrey's.
Despite late entry into the primary race, Humphrey had the support of the president and many Democratic insiders, which gave him a better chance at gaining convention delegates in the non-primary states. "[69] After the debate, undecided voters favored Kennedy to McCarthy 2 to 1, the first time in the primary that gains in undecided voters were found to mostly go to RFK.
[35] While a late May poll showed that only 40% of overall respondents believed RFK embodied "many of the same outstanding qualities" of the late President Kennedy, 94% of black respondents agreed with the comparison.
[83] Higgins also noted that the crowd which Kennedy spoke with that evening was estimated to be only 2,500 people. [37] By the time of the primary, he had become "the leading candidate among Latinos in California". [67] Kennedy was the weakest candidate in the South Dakota primary; McCarthy was a Senator in neighboring Minnesota and Humphrey had been raised in South Dakota.
Martin also urged Kennedy to speak out on the war in Vietnamsupport for the cessation of hostilities and reallocating war funds to domestic programs were ideas which "always got applause. He campaigned for sixteen hours a day; in the weeks before the election, his campaign canvased 50,000 homes. He drew huge crowds at campaign stops across the country. After victories in Nebraska and Indiana, Kennedy hoped to take the California and South Dakota primaries on June 4.
[109] The day before RFK announced his entry into the primary, he told reporters Hayne Johnson and Jack Newfield: "I can't be a hypocrite anymore. Not take anything for granted. [43] Later that evening, Kennedy made a brief speech on the assassination of King to a crowd gathered for a political rally at 17th and Broadwayan African American neighborhood near the north side of Indianapolis.
"[67] McCarthy's California campaign was well-funded and organized. [33] Support amongst black voters was one of the key factors in Kennedy's victory in Indiana, where he gave a notable speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Indianapolis days before the primary took place. [81] Following President Johnson's withdrawal from the primary, McCarthy said: "Up to now Bobby was Jack running against Lyndon. "[6] There were other factors that influenced Kennedy's decision to enter the presidential primary race. His brother Ted and brother-in-law Steve Smith, were involved in the campaign as informal advisors.
[4] On March 10, Kennedy traveled to California, to meet with civil rights activist Csar Chvez, at the end of a 25-day hunger strike.
[39] Kennedy won the South Dakota primary by a wide margin, beating McCarthy, 50 percent to 20 percent of the vote.
[39], On March 27, 1968, Kennedy announced his intention to run against McCarthy in the Indiana primary.
[129] When Kennedy was announced the winner of the California primary, Nixon told his family: "It sure looks like we'll be going against Bobby.
"[42], After leaving the stage at Ball State, Kennedy boarded a plane for Indianapolis.
"[101] In late March, three days before LBJ announced that he would not be seeking the Democratic Party's nomination, James H. Rowe sent LBJ a memorandum charging that RFK's backers had said "the president would not run and that the best course for the Democrats was to 'Stay loose and stay committed.'
[115] After the California primary, some Kennedy advisors joined the McCarthy campaign with plans for supporting it toward gaining the nomination.
[82] Richardson noted that Kennedy was appealing to low-earning black voters. [55] RFK won the Nebraska primary on May 14, with 51.4 percent of the vote to McCarthy's 31 percent.
[113] After his Nebraska victory, Kennedy said that McCarthy supporters should support him to prevent the nomination of Humphrey at the Democratic National Convention. He sought to end the conflict by strengthening the South Vietnamese military and reducing corruption within the South Vietnamese government.
Bzdek wrote, "He no longer wished to see three sons as president; he only wished to see the last two alive.
[32] A poll released in the early part of April featured Kennedy with a 26-point lead over McCarthy in the Indiana primary, at 46% to 19%.
[72] Kennedy won in California with 46 percent of the vote to McCarthy's 42 percentthis was a crucial defeat to McCarthy's campaign and the biggest prize in the nominating process. [63] The following day, a spokesman for the RFK campaign accused the McCarthy and Humphrey campaigns of banding together against Kennedy.
[45], RFK delivered a speech before the Indianapolis real estate board on May 2, advocating for reliance on private enterprise instead of the federal government. The Kerner Commission blamed "white racism" for the violence, but its findings were largely dismissed by the Johnson administration.
He has been described as a "formidable foe who had enormous power over the distribution of the approximately seven thousand patronage jobs in the state. [clarification needed][54] Kennedy's advisors had been worried about his chances in Nebraska, given RFK's lack of experience with the issues of ranching and agriculturesubjects of high importance to Nebraskansand the short amount of time to campaign in the state after the Indiana primary.
[95] LBJ was convinced that his presidency would be "trapped forever between the two Kennedys" administrations. California was "the perfect place for Kennedy to demonstrate his voter-appeal.
"[102] A late-March Gallup poll showed RFK defeating President Johnson in a national election.
Kennedy still faced two rival candidates for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination: the leading challenger United States Senator Eugene McCarthy and Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
His younger brother, U.S.
"[4] The weekend before the New Hampshire primary, Kennedy told several aides that he would run if he could persuade little-known Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota to withdraw from the presidential race.
Shortly before entering the race, on February 8, 1968, RFK met with Richard J. Daley about the chances of usurping the nomination from the incumbent President Johnson.
[37], After the primaries, McCarthy claimed that RFK had promised in November 1967 that he would not run. During a speech given at the Indiana University Medical School, Kennedy was asked, "Where are we going to get the money to pay for all these new programs you're proposing?"
Businesses were opposed to the tax increases that would be necessary to fund Kennedy's proposed social programs.
"[87] On the other hand, Michael A. Cohen noted that RFK's popularity with blacks had a negative effect on his appeal to the remainder of the electorate: "Rather than create an espirit de corps between the races, his close relationship to the black community turned many whites off.
McCarthy declined and the refusal propelled Schlesinger's unsuccessful suggestion that RFK endorse McCarthy. He moved forward with his plans to announce his candidacy.
[84][85] However, Indianapolis Star journalist Will Higgins noted that Kennedy got a boost from the King assassination speech, which, unlike many other American cities, aided Indianapolis in being spared of riots. "[77] Later that day, a funeral train carried Kennedy's body from New York to Washington, D.C., where he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. He described this as "a smashing repudiation" of the Johnson-Humphrey administration. The day after announcing his candidacy, RFK predicted that Johnson would lose the general election if he was the party's nominee, if he continued to "follow the same policies we are following at the moment".
[44] After attending King's funeral in Atlanta, Georgia, Kennedy turned his attention back to the primary campaign.
Daley stated that he would remain committed to Johnson. "[49] Branigan campaigned in nearly all of the state's 92 counties, while McCarthy's campaign strategy concentrated on Indiana's rural areas and small towns.
His aides told him that a race in Indiana would be an extremely tight race and advised him against it.
