(This post was inspired by reading The Last Campaign: RFK and 82 Days that Inspired America by Thurston Clarke.)
Robert Francis Kennedy. Most people alive never knew him, and, as a country, we remember him best for being JFK’s brother and one of the most powerful Attorneys General in history. But arguably his most important contribution to American society was his presidential campaign.
Kennedy changed much from his days as a tough and almost ruthless Attorney General. His brother’s assassination trips around the world–to Latin America, Africa, and, most influential to him, the Mississippi Delta–changed him deeply, humbling him, and made him see the world through a different light. He was then inspired to fight against and reveal the riveting details of the life of the poor, who are often hidden from view in society. To him, the issues were not ideological or political, but moral. His campaign was based on one of hope for America’s youth, under-served, and underpriviliged; and clean politics. In many ways, his was the first modern campaign.
So, who is the RFK in modern-day politics?
The short answer: No one.
But it’s not so simple. Times have changed since then. Because of his involvement in the Vietnam engagement and Castro assassination attempts under President Kennedy, today’s investigative media would never have allowed him to become president, which he seemed bound to do on midnight of June 5, 1968. Moreover, American politics have changed much since then. His rhetoric would be considered soft and easily deniable by the conservative fringe now dominant in some elements of the media. Moreover, the moral imperative from which Kennedy sought to achieve his legislative goals is no longer good enough for today’s center-right nation.
So, who comes the closest? President Obama is the obvious answer, though his bizarre and almost quixotic attempts at “bipartisanship” have finally started to be proven fruitless. His attitude of trying to get just anything done without advertising the moral imperative are quite concerning. But he still has a genuine empathy for the little man largely absent from many politicians today, which is very much good enough for now, anyway.
Pablo Zevallos
2 Comments
August 17, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Huh? Seems to me like the “conservative fringe” in the modern media would love a Democrat hawkish enough to try to assassinate Castro and enter Vietnam, no matter his rhetoric. The conservative media types would criticize RFK for his domestic ideas, but it seems like he’d generally be considered a “good” Democrat by right wing standards. In fact, modern conservatives often look back fondly (relatively speaking) on both assassinated Kennedy’s. In my experience, anyway.
Also, concern for the “little guy” or “the underdog” is not a proper moral imperative. Underdogness qua underdogness (underdogitude qua underdogitude?) isn’t a trait that makes someone inherently moral, and thus concern for underdogs isn’t necessarily moral. I hate the underdog trope.
August 17, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I find conservatives who idolize JFK and RFK are the types who want to want to claim them for their side. Yes, both had some conservative instincts–neocon, to be exact–but they were moderate progressives for their time. Moreover, conservatives who like RFK probably remember his earlier, Cold Warrior days as well as the pro-enterprise and law-and-order points he emphasized during the Indiana primary in 1968.