Robert Kennedy

(noun)

(November 20, 1925–June 6, 1968) Attorney General during the administration of his brother John Kennedy, later a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist.

Related Terms

Examples of Robert Kennedy in the following topics:

  • Federal Intervention

    • Robert Kennedy replied, "Civil Rights."
    • Robert Kennedy played a large role in the Freedom Riders protests.
    • Despite this, Robert Kennedy intervened on behalf of the civil rights activists on numerous occasions.
    • Throughout this time, both Robert Kennedy and John F.
    • Robert Kennedy demonstrated federal support for the civil rights movement.

  • 1968: The Year of Upheaval

    • In the spring, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F.
    • On February 28, Robert S.
    • Just two months later, on June 5th, 1968, Robert F.
    • Kennedy, in its liberal vision of social improvement.
    • Outline the events of 1968 including the Tet Offensive and assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy

  • The Election of 1968

    • In recent months, the nation had endured the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and subsequent race riots across the nation, the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F.
    • Kennedy, widespread demonstrations against the Vietnam War at college campuses, and violent confrontations between police and anti-war protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
    • These groups were passionate supporters of Senator Robert F.
    • Kennedy.
    • In the morning after his victory in the California primary on June 5, Kennedy was shot and killed by an assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian terrorist.

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    • Thus, a leading premise during the Kennedy years was the need to contain communism at any cost.
    • Kennedy felt that the spread of communism (what became known as the "hour of maximum danger") required the policy of containment.
    • However, Kennedy feared domestic criticism and worried about Soviet retaliation elsewhere in the world, such as Berlin.
    • Behind the scenes, Robert Kennedy and Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin worked toward a compromise that would allow both superpowers to back down without either side’s seeming intimidated by the other.
    • Kennedy signs a proclamation that authorizes the naval containment of Cuba

  • The Lyndon B. Johnson Administration

    • Johnson had served as Vice President in the Kennedy administration and assumed the presidency upon Kennedy's death on November 22nd, 1963.
    • Johnson retained Dean Rusk as secretary of state, Robert McNamara as secretary of defense, as well as Kennedy's secretaries of Agriculture and the Interiror, all for the duration of his presidency.
    • Attorney General Robert F.
    • Kennedy (President Kennedy's brother), with whom Johnson had a notoriously difficult relationship, remained in office for a few months, leaving in 1964 to run for the Senate.
    • Johnson became the 36th President of the United States on November 22nd, 1963, following the assassination President Kennedy.

  • The Election of 1972

    • At the start of the campaign, Nixon had expected his Democratic opponent to be Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, brother of the late president, but Kennedy was removed from contention after the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident.
    • After a week in which six prominent Democrats refused the vice presidential nomination, Sargent Shriver (brother-in-law to John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy, former Ambassador to France, and former Director of the Peace Corps) finally accepted.

  • Battles in the Courts and Congress

    • In 1987, when Associate Justice Louis Powell retired, Reagan nominated conservative jurist Robert Bork to the high court.
    • Within 45 minutes of Bork's nomination to the Court, Democrat Ted Kennedy took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised speech, declaring:
    • Bork refused to withdraw himself and his nomination was rejected 58–42; Anthony Kennedy was eventually confirmed in his place.
    • Reagan nominated conservative jurist Robert Bork to the high court.
    • Within 45 minutes of Bork's nomination to the Court, Ted Kennedy (D-MA) took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised speech.

  • The Election of 1960

    • Kennedy beat Vice President Richard Nixon by a very narrow margin.
    • Kennedy, a Senator from Massachusetts.
    • Kennedy initially faced opposition from some Democratic Party elders who claimed Kennedy was too youthful and inexperienced to be president.
    • Kennedy asked Johnson to be his running mate.
    • Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963.

  • New Approaches to the Developing World

    • Kennedy wished to work more closely with the modernizing forces of the Arab world.
    • Kennedy continued to try to persuade Nasser to pull out his troops.
    • Under Kennedy, a civil rights activist was tasked with management of the African affairs.
    • According to Nigerian diplomat Samuel Ibe, "with Kennedy there were sparks"; the Prime Minister of Sudan Ibrahim Abboud, cherishing a hunting rifle Kennedy gave him, expressed the wish to go on safari with Kennedy.
    • Kennedy at La Morita, Venezuela, during an official meeting for the Alliance for Progress in 1961.

  • "The Hour of Maximum Danger"

    • Kennedy felt that the spread of communism (the "hour of maximum danger") required the policy of containment.
    • Thus, a dominant premise during the Kennedy years was the need to contain communism at any cost.
    • On June 4, 1961, Kennedy met with USSR leader Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit .
    • Senate ratified this and Kennedy signed it into law in October 1963.
    • Kennedy meeting Nikita Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit in June, 1961.