First published 2008
Robert Kennedy emerges from the shadow of his brother's assassination to enter the 1968 presidential race. John F. Kennedy's murder has left Bobby struggling with despair and doubt about America's future. The country faces deep divisions over Vietnam, racial injustice, and poverty. Kennedy sees the nation's suffering and decides he must act. He announces his candidacy and begins an intense 82-day campaign that electrifies voters across America. Crowds surge toward his promise of healing and change. Kennedy connects with people who have lost faith in their government and their future. His message of hope begins to unite Americans behind a vision of something better. Then an assassin's bullet ends both the campaign and the life of the decade's last major public figure. Mourners line railroad tracks across the country to honor Kennedy's final journey home. Thurston Clarke draws on fresh research and interviews to reconstruct this brief but transformative moment in American politics, revealing the complex man behind the campaign and the turbulent forces that shaped both Kennedy and his era.
Genres: 20th-century, political-science, biography-memoir, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-figure, political-intrigue, redemption
Setting: America
Period: 1968
336 pages · Hardcover · Henry Holt and Co.
Content warnings: death