A lasting legacy

Forty years ago, the people of America lost one of the most beloved leaders of their time. In a three-month whirlwind campaign, Robert F. Kennedy raised the hopes of many and gave a voice to the millions who had previously gone unheard. \nThe Indiana primary was one of the first for Kennedy in 1968, and therefore extremely important as a litmus test of his popularity. Entering the state as an underdog, Kennedy threw himself completely into his campaign, driving through small-town America in the back of a convertible. Although his advisors warned him he didn’t have much of a chance, the New York Senator swept the Hoosier state, defeating both Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy and Indiana Governor Roger Branigin. \n“The most interesting part was the importance of the Indiana primary in Kennedy’s campaign. Indiana was a gamble,” said Ray E. Boomhower, president of the Indiana Historical Society. “It was interesting the way he immersed himself in the state and how much time he spent here and the way the Hoosiers reacted to him.”\nBoomhower, author of the book “Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary,” was too young to remember much of Kennedy’s campaign, but one incident stands out. While Kennedy was in Mishawaka, Ind., shaking hands from the back of his car, one overzealous supporter held on to his hand too long and pulled him out. Kennedy chipped a tooth on the pavement. \nState Senator Vi Simpson has her own memories about Kennedy. She was a volunteer for his campaign as a college student in California. \n“When he spoke, you felt like you knew him. He was an amazing speaker and very sincere in his presentations,” Simpson said. “You believed him and you believed in him and believed he could lead this nation to a better place.”\nThe life and death of Bobby Kennedy has been dissected and analyzed from every possible angle in movies and books, and on TV and the Web. Shockingly graphic photos of his death have been circulated around the country, including on the front page of The New York Times. The photos ran under the headline “Kennedy is Dead.” \nBobby was not the first Kennedy killed. He served as attorney general under his brother John during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. Bobby’s resulting book “Thirteen Days” is a tribute to the courage and caution JFK used in the nuclear standoff with Russia. According to the June 2008 issue of Vanity Fair, Kennedy’s belief in this kind of politics, combined with then-president Lyndon Johnson’s fumbling of the Vietnam War, made him decide to challenge Johnson, a fellow Democrat, for the presidency.\n“I think I was drawn to Robert Kennedy because although he came from a very privileged background, he had a sense of compassion and understanding, empathy if you will, for people who were very vulnerable in our population,” said Simpson. “People of color, people in poverty, people with disabilities, working class blue collar families who were having a tough time in the economy.”\nFor many, Kennedy was a beacon of hope for change in extremely violent times. The country was still recovering from JFK’s assassination a few years before, while simultaneously dealing with the Vietnam War, violent race riots and protests, and the killing of another beloved leader, Martin Luther King, Jr.\n“It was a wonderful time and a horrible time at the same time. It was a very violent world. People felt that they had to resolve issues through violence,” said Simpson. “Imagine how society might be impacted by the killing, not just the death, but the killing of two of the most beloved leaders within months of each other and how it just took the life out of young people like me. It took me months to get myself together and get myself to the polls and vote. I didn’t want to work in politics. Now I can look back and say that it wasn’t politics that failed, but society that was feeling a high level of frustration.”\nOn June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Bobby Kennedy was shot in the head moments after concluding his victory speech for the California primary. The New York Times reported that Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was arrested as the shooter. RFK’s campaign was over before it had barely begun.\n“I remember being upset about Kennedy’s death and saying they should kill the guy,” Boomhower said. “I remember my mother looking at me and saying, ‘If he was alive he wouldn’t want to hear you say that.’”\n“I absolutely believe he would have been president,” said Simpson. “History would have been very different. But we’ll never know for sure.”\nDuring his campaign in Indiana, Kennedy informed a stunned crowd in Indianapolis of MLK Jr.’s assassination. In the face of escalating violence and anger, he preached love and acceptance. \n“What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred,” he said. “What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, the feeling of justice toward those who still suffer in our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”