"GNP CAN TELL US EVERYTHING EXCEPT WHY WE ARE PROUD AMERICANS"

RFK BORN IN BROOKLINE, MASS

Brookline, Massachusetts (JFK+50) On November 20, 1925, Robert Francis Kennedy was born here in Brookline, a suburb of Boston.  He was the 7th child of Ambassador and Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.

Bobby served the navy in World War II and earned a degree in government from Harvard (1948).  Two years later, he married Ethel Skakel.

In 1951, RFK earned his law degree from the University of Virginia.   In 1952 and 1960, he served as campaign manager for his brother Jack's bids for the United States Senate and the Presidency.

Bob served as Attorney General in both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and then was elected to the United States Senate representing New York.  In 1968, he sought the Democratic presidential nomination and secured a great victory in the California primary. 

Although his life was cut short before he could achieve the presidency, RFK left a legacy of pride in country and hope for the future.  He said in a speech at the University of Kansas...

"Our GNP* measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our devotion to country.  It measures everything....except that which makes life worthwhile.  And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

 

*Gross National Product or G.N.P. is the total domestic & foreign output claimed by residents of a country.  It is now known as Gross National Income or G.N.I. 

 

 

 

 Senator Robert F. Kennedy

San Fernando Valley State College

by Sven Walnum

JFK Library Photo

 

GOODBYE BOBBY!

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1974

RFK LAID TO REST 48 YEARS AGO TODAY 

Arlington, Virginia  (JFK+50) Senator Robert Francis Kennedy* was laid to rest 48 years ago this evening, June 8, 1968, in a grave just thirty yards from JFK's.

The graveside service was held at 9 p.m. making it the first night time burial in the history of Arlington National Cemetery.  The reason for the late service was due to the long, slow funeral train that bore RFK's body from New York to Arlington.   Millions of people lined the train route to pay silent tribute to the fallen Senator.

The resting place of Senator Kennedy is marked by a single white cross.

from SIX WHITE HORSES 
written by Larry Murray
recorded by Tommy Cash (1969)

"Some people stick pretty close to home
Others are born with the urge to roam
Welcome, welcome to our town
I hope nobody tries to gun you down.

Goodbye Bobby
Six white horses come to take you home."

Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) Son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., RFK was born in Brookline, Massachusetts.  He served in the United States Navy in WWII & earned a degree in government from Harvard in 1948.  In 1950, RFKmarried Ethel Skakel of Greenwich, Connecticut.

A year later, he received a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School and in 1952 served as manager for John F. Kennedy's successful campaign for the Senate.  In 1953, Bob was on the staff of Joseph McCarthy's subcommittee on investigations and later was Chief Counsel for the Senate Rackets Committee.

In 1960, RFK managed Jack's successful presidential campaign and in 1961 became President Kennedy's attorney general.  In that position, the JFK Library says that Bobby became JFK's "closest adviser and confidant."

After JFK's death, RFK was elected as a United States senator from the state of New York.  In 1968, after having won the California primary in a bid to win the Democratic nomination for President, RFK was shot in Los Angeles.

During his presidential campaign, RFK spoke out against the war in Vietnam and championed the cause of the poor and downtrodden.  In most of his speeches he paraphrased the words of George Bernard Shaw by saying....
'Some men see things as they are and say why.  I dream things that never were and say, why not?'

Gravesite of Robert Francis Kennedy

      Arlington National Cemetery