This is what I'm reading now, The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and the 82 Days that Inspired America by Thurston Clarke. It ended up on quite a few "Best Non-Fiction of 2008" lists and I'm interested in the topic, so I thought I'd give it a try. I am learning so much! I have to admit to not knowing much about RFK besides that he was assassinated, that he was going to win, and that the country got Nixon (and Watergate) instead. Not a pretty picture!
In this book, I am learning so much more about how the nation felt about RFK, about the policies that RFK held dear, and about how much of a troubled soul he was. I'm also realizing that our nation (and the world) would be a much different place had he not been taken before his time, and if he had won that election. The hope and change and unity that he inspired hasn't been duplicated until just recently, with the historic election of Barack Obama. That was forty years ago that Kennedy was taken! Forty years! And we are just now as a nation (I feel) recovering from the bitterness and skepticism that Johnson & Nixon (and Vietnam & Watergate) left us with. What would the picture of today look like if we'd had our RFK? Well, perhaps speculation isn't the greatest exercise right now because the truth of the matter is that it's forty years later and we have a new voice for change, unity, and hope, and that person is Barack Obama and tomorrow he becomes our President. RFK is smiling down on us.
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1 comments:
I bet this is a fascinating read. I had to read a book in college that was about the entire Kennedy family, going back several generations before JFK and RFK. The whole family is larger than life, and carries around some real bad karma. Its been a FEW years since I read that book, but it did spend time on RFK, and he was a great man living in the shadow of his brother. Looking forward to your final review!
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