Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, Senator Robert Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary. Immediately after he announced to his cheering supporters that the country was ready to end its fractious divisions, Kennedy was shot several times by 24-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan. He was pronounced dead a day later, on June 6, 1968.
The summer of 1968 was a tempestuous time in American history. Both the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement were peaking. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated in the spring, igniting riots across the country. In the face of this unrest, President Lyndon B. Johnson decided not to seek a second term in the upcoming presidential election. Robert Kennedy, John’s younger brother and former U.S. Attorney General, stepped into this breach and experienced a groundswell of support.
Kennedy was perceived by many to be the only person in American politics capable of uniting the people. He was beloved by the minority community for his integrity and devotion to the civil rights cause. After winning California’s primary, Kennedy was in the position to receive the Democratic nomination and face off against Richard Nixon in the general election.
…
I was a junior in college. HemisFair '68, a world’s fair in San Antonio, was in full swing and my aunt, uncle, and cousins were visiting. The cousin who was my age and I sat up talking way into the night of June 4. When we woke up in the morning, this news hit us-- and the rest of the country-- in the face.
It was a very rocky time in the country. But not like now-- you felt that the foundations of our society were being shaken, but were still strong under the unrest. The rule of law was still generally in place. I’m guessing it must be very hard to imagine in today’s climate. It was a different world.
Did we ever learn how Sirhan Sirhan was able to get into the building with a gun? There should have been secret service all around Kennedy when he was traveling.
Thanks Saint_Cad, I somehow missed that. I assume RFK could have afforded private security protection, but without a credible threat he probably didn’t see any need for it.
In fact RFK did have security that night, including former NFL player Roosevelt Grier. However, Grier was at that moment guarding Kennedy’s pregnant wife, Ethel, presumably to keep her from being injured by jostling from the crowd.
Having one person guarding both him and his wife, no matter how imposing that person might be, is not a reasonable amount of security. Remember, he was a sitting U.S. Senator at the time. There should have been metal detectors at the entrances and exits, including the kitchen area, to ensure that nobody was allowed anywhere near him with a gun, except for law enforcement of course. Hindsight is 20/20.
You could get dropped off at an airport, pick up your boarding pass, and walk straight onto the plane. Heck, your friends and family could wait at the gate and greet you as you came off the plane. No TSA. No metal detectors at airports, courthouses, schools, big outdoor events. No school shootings. No mass public shootings or stabbings. Rare plane hijackings. No BEHEADINGS in international news.
It’s not a question of “hindsight.” It truly was a different world.
I’m not saying it wasn’t a different world back then, but keep in mind the U.S. Secret Service was established on July 5, 1865, three months after Lincoln’s assassination. We suddenly realized we needed to start protecting presidents, but didn’t bother protecting other federal office holders and candidates for federal offices until RFK was assassinated in 1968. Apparently, it takes a brutal assassination before we decide that some people need protecting, and yes, I realize, we can’t protect everybody.
I’ve often wondered how the world, how history itself, may have changed had Bobby become President. I don’t think 68 would have been his year (I don’t think anyone could have stopped Nixon’s resurrection), nor 72, but 76 would have been perfect. We’ll never know.
Hell, even in regard to protecting the U.S. President, it still wasn’t that kind of a world for years after RFK was killed.
Gerald Ford was shot at twice in a month (once at point-blank range), and Ronald Reagan was shot (and nearly killed) by a guy who got within a few feet of him, and had managed to get past several “layers” of security with a gun.
My dad was one of RFK’s delegates to the convention. I was in high school then. This night, I walked into the living room and there was my dad sitting in the dark with his face in his hands.
Neither did David Kennedy, sadly. Thirteen years old, watching the celebration on tv, and saw his father shot dead.
He was all alone in his hotel room, and in the chaos no-one thought to look for him. John Glenn and Thedore White finally came to him hours later. He was still staring at the tv.
