Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), commonly known by his initials RFK, was an American politician from Massachusetts. He served as a Senator for New York from 1965 until his assassination in 1968. He was previously the 64th U.S. Attorney General from 1961 to 1964, serving under his older brother, President John F. Kennedy and his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1968 election. After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a Seaman Apprentice from 1944 to 1946, Kennedy graduated from Harvard College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Prior to entering public office, he worked as a correspondent to the Boston Post and as an attorney in Washington D.C.. He gained national attention as the chief counsel of the Senate Labor Rackets Committee from 1957 to 1959, where he publicly challenged Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa over the corrupt practices of the union, and published The Enemy Within, a book about corruption in organized labor. A prominent member of the Kennedy family, Bobby was the campaign manager for his brother John in the 1960 presidential election and was appointed Attorney General during his presidential administration. He also served as a White House adviser to the president from 1961 to 1963. His tenure is best known for its advocacy for the African-American Civil Rights Movement, crusade against organized crime and the mafia, and involvement in U.S. foreign policy related to Cuba and Indonesia. After his brother's assassination, Kennedy remained in office for a few months until leaving to run for the United States Senate in 1964 where he defeated Republican incumbent Kenneth Keating. In 1968, Kennedy campaigned for the presidency and was a leading Democratic candidate, appealing particularly to black, Hispanic, and Catholic voters. Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, after Kennedy defeated Senator Eugene McCarthy in the California presidential primary, he was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian, and died the following day. In 1970 ABC-TV presented the David L. Wolper film The Journey of Robert F. Kennedy, narrated by John Huston. The 2012 documentary film Ethel about the life of Ethel Kennedy recounts many of the major personal and political events of Robert Kennedy's life, through interviews with family members including Ethel herself, and news footage. Barry Pepper won an Emmy for his portrayal of Robert Kennedy in The Kennedys, an 8-part 2011 miniseries. In the biographical movie J. Edgar, Kennedy is played by Jeffrey Donovan.[140] The 2010 film RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope is a documentary that follows Kennedy's five-day visit to South Africa in June 1966, during which he made his famous Ripple of Hope speech at the University of Cape Town.[141] The 2008 film A Ripple of Hope is a documentary that retells Kennedy's call for peace during a campaign stop in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.[142] The 2006 film Bobby is the story of multiple peoples' lives leading up to Kennedy's assassination. The film employs stock footage from Kennedy's presidential campaign, and he is briefly portrayed by Dave Fraunces. The 2002 made-for-TV movie RFK portrays Kennedy's life from the time of his brother's assassination to his own death. He is played by Linus Roache. Željko Ivanek portrayed Kennedy in the 1998 HBO film The Rat Pack. The 1985 three part TV mini-series Robert Kennedy & His Times stars Brad Davis and is based on the book of the same title by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.. Kennedy's role in the Cuban Missile Crisis has been portrayed by Martin Sheen in The Missiles of October and by Steven Culp in Thirteen Days. Kennedy is portrayed by John Shea in the 1983 TV miniseries Kennedy. Kennedy is portrayed in Hoffa by Kevin Anderson. In 1967, Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko met with Kennedy and in 1968 wrote a poem about him, "Я пристрелен эпохой" ("I was shot by an epoch"). Robert Lowell wrote several poems about Robert Kennedy, his elegy for him included the line 'doom was woven in your nerves'.[45] The British playwright Roy Smiles' play about Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign: The Last Pilgrim was staged in London in 2010. It was shortlisted for Best Play at the Off West End Awards in the UK in 2011. Documentary filmmaker DA Pennebaker made a number of films featuring Robert Kennedy and his family. His short film Jingle Bells (1964) follows Kennedy and his children as they celebrate Christmas in New York City with local school children and Sammy Davis, Jr. His later film Hickory Hill documents the 1968 Annual Spring Pet Show at Kennedy's Virginia estate, Hickory Hill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy

• published: 06 Aug 2015
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