Remembering RFK: Forty years later

Posted: Friday, June 06, 2008 5:37 PM by Cathy Finkler

by Chris Matthews

I was in Montreal forty years ago tonight. I turned on the radio in the middle of the night to find out who won the California primary.

For several minutes I thought I was listening to a re-run of a broadcast five years before, about an assassination, about a Kennedy being shot. And then I realized I was listening to real life in real time. Incredibly, Robert Kennedy had been shot just as his brother had in November 1963, a day none of us would ever forget, forget where we were, what we felt - everything.

I remember flying back from Canada the next morning, back to Chapel Hill, where I was going to grad school. I remember sitting a few days later all day long on that grim, grey day as that train rolled down from New York to Washington. And the feeling of that day, not the stark, gothic technicolor tragedy of the JFK loss, that a prince had died, but something closer to earth, closer to home, something just downright sad, something without the offsetting grandeur, like the loss of a family member.

Two memories linger in the mind tonight. The picture of people watching along the train tracks in New Jersey: the black faces and white faces, in grief but with pride at their fallen compatriot.

And I think of something I will not easily forget, what I just read of Bob Kennedy in this new book by Thurston Clarke. It was as he lay dying on the floor of that hotel kitchen in Los Angeles.

"Is everybody else all right?" he whispered. "Is this guy okay? Is everybody all right?"

I don't think any of us has gotten over it.

Watch video of Chris Matthews, CNBC's John Harwood and author Thurston Clarke discussing the life, death and legacy of Robert F. Kennedy.

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Comments

I was a living in Portsmouth, Virginia, a Northerner who had graduated from Randolph-Macon College and I was going to be campaigning for Robert Kennedy's campaign. Living in Virginia and campaigning for RFK was not easy, and I was told by management of my company I could easily lose my job. I was scheduled to meet Bobby Kennedy in July, 1968 when he was to visit Norfolk, Virgnia. I couldn't wait to meet and the night of the California Primary, I was up all night. I was 30 years old and a very young and optimistic person then. I was recording an audio tape of that event. And after his losing to Gene McCarthy in Oregon, he won California and gave his victory speech. I was still recording when the news came forth that something had happened. I was stunned and in shock. I just couldn't believe it. To this day, I will never accept the idea that this was Sirhan alone. But beyond that, it changed my life. Within two years, I sold my house in Virginia and moved my family to Connecticut to do my Graduate work in History on John F Kennedy's Presidency. Robert Kennedy would have changed America for the better. You could see that in the results of the Indiana Primary where he gained 50% of the vote.
I will never forget him, nor his brother. When he was gone, I lost my youth and optimism, but gained it back when the Congress of the United States forced Richard Nixon to resign in disgrace. I also gained it back when Ronald Reagan imbued a sense of optimism into Americans. I hanged tough today supporting Hillary Clinton for her toughness and incredible ability to reach out to Americans as I saw in Bobby Kennedy. And it is a tragedy that we have lost Hillary from being President of the United States.

John Kelley (Sent Friday, June 06, 2008 8:05 PM)

i was there in indianapolis the night King got shot. Bobby did come and tell us that Martin had been shot. he also told us that his brother had been shot and that his brother had been shot by a white man. bobby told us to go home. he quoted from a greek poet, Aechylus, Bobby told us to go home. as far as i know there was no one in that crowd who was armed. there may have been protection for Bobby in the trees. we were there to see Bobby and we had indeed waited a long time. we wanted to see Bobby. Robert F. Kennedy

gwendolyn jones (Sent Friday, June 06, 2008 8:07 PM)

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