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This is very moving and sometimes hard to watch. I was 10 years old at the time & RFK's campaign (and the 1968 presidential primaries) were the first that captured my interest in politics. I was devastated when Bobby died!
I also covered (for my college newspaper, at the University of Massachusetts) the opening of the JFK Presidential Library & Museum in 1979, and stood next t o Ethel Kennedy as she watched (along with one of her children, as I recall) a film about her late husband inside the museum after the outdoor, opening ceremony. Even then, 11 years later, the tears were streaming down her face. I don't think that poor woman ever got over this horrible event--and who could honestly blame her?
One scene missing from the footage of the funeral train ride was a moment I shall always remember vividly--that of a boy perched atop a roof & dressed in his little league uniform, cap placed respectfully over his heart as the train carrying Senator Bobby's casket passed his spot along that track of tears. It was very symbolic, spoke volumes about the differences between the almost regal, state funeral for JFK (when little "John-John" saluted his dead father as the flag-draped casket & riderless horse passed him) and this funeral train procession, where the common people lined up for hours in New York to file pass RFK's coffin at St. Patrick's, and for miles across state lines to say good-bye to Bobby on his final ride to Washington.
I don't know if, had he lived, Robert Kennedy would have been elected the 37th President of The United States in November of 1968? I don't even know if he would have won the Democratic Party nomination in August 1968, as the party machinery was still controlled by President Lyndon Johnson and his successor, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey.
All I do know, for certain, is that for three months between March 16th until June 6, 1968 (and a few days thereafter, during a funeral & burial), Bobby Kennedy captured the hearts and minds of a nation and the world!
I also covered (for my college newspaper, at the University of Massachusetts) the opening of the JFK Presidential Library & Museum in 1979, and stood next t o Ethel Kennedy as she watched (along with one of her children, as I recall) a film about her late husband inside the museum after the outdoor, opening ceremony. Even then, 11 years later, the tears were streaming down her face. I don't think that poor woman ever got over this horrible event--and who could honestly blame her?
One scene missing from the footage of the funeral train ride was a moment I shall always remember vividly--that of a boy perched atop a roof & dressed in his little league uniform, cap placed respectfully over his heart as the train carrying Senator Bobby's casket passed his spot along that track of tears. It was very symbolic, spoke volumes about the differences between the almost regal, state funeral for JFK (when little "John-John" saluted his dead father as the flag-draped casket & riderless horse passed him) and this funeral train procession, where the common people lined up for hours in New York to file pass RFK's coffin at St. Patrick's, and for miles across state lines to say good-bye to Bobby on his final ride to Washington.
I don't know if, had he lived, Robert Kennedy would have been elected the 37th President of The United States in November of 1968? I don't even know if he would have won the Democratic Party nomination in August 1968, as the party machinery was still controlled by President Lyndon Johnson and his successor, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey.
All I do know, for certain, is that for three months between March 16th until June 6, 1968 (and a few days thereafter, during a funeral & burial), Bobby Kennedy captured the hearts and minds of a nation and the world!
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