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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired Americaby Thurston Clarke
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The definitive account of Robert Kennedy's exhilarating and tragic 1968 campaign for president — a revelatory history that is especially resonant now. After John F. Kennedy's assassination, Robert Kennedy — formerly Jack's no-holds-barred political warrior — almost lost hope. He was haunted by his brother's murder, and by the nation's seeming inabilities to solve its problems of race, poverty, and the war in Vietnam. Bobby sensed the country's pain, and when he announced that he was running for president, the country united behind his hopes. Over the action-packed eighty-two days of his campaign, Americans were inspired by Kennedy's promise to lead them toward a better time. And after an assassin's bullet stopped this last great stirring public figure of the 1960s, crowds lined up along the country's railroad tracks to say goodbye to Bobby. With new research, interviews, and an intimate sense of Kennedy, Thurston Clarke provides an absorbing historical narrative that goes right to the heart of America's deepest despairs — and most fiercely held dreams& — and tells us more than we had understood before about this complicated man and the heightened personal, racial, political, and national dramas of his times. Review:"In this hagiographic narrative of Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 Democratic presidential primary campaign, RFK seems less a politician than a moral teacher. Hammering away at the immorality of poverty and racism, he confronted crowds with their own ethical culpability and, regarding the Vietnam War, reminding campus audiences of the unfairness of student draft deferments. Rapturous throngs of voters ate it up and propelled RFK to a string of victories. Clarke (Ask Not) positions Kennedy as a prototypical New Democrat who appealed to minorities and working-class whites alike by mixing liberalism with themes of law and order, free enterprise, jobs and local control. But in Clarke's telling, Kennedy's essence is spiritual rather than political; he is a Christ figure — comforting sick children, utterly sincere in his beliefs and incapable of political pandering, haunted by forebodings of his assassination, his charisma 'tactile and mystical... he had to let people see, touch, and commune with him.' Clarke emphasizes the Kennedy campaign's contemporary resonance, but his book is more revealing as an iconic portrait of the passionate, turbulent zeitgeist of the 1960s. 8 pages of b&w photos. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Book News Annotation:Of the presidential aspirants of 1968, this book argues, only Robert
F. Kennedy, recognized the moral wounds of Vietnam and the failures
of the country towards its poor and minorities. In this recognition,
his campaign set a template for how a candidate should run for the
White House in a time of moral crisis. The volume presents a detailed
narrative history of Kennedy's 1968 campaign, from the March
announcement of intention to Kennedy's assassination in June.
Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Review:"Generous without being slavish, beautifully capturing Kennedy's passion and dignity." Kirkus Reviews Review:"[A] beautifully written and emotionally powerful examination....Clarke's book will break your heart but it may also relieve your cynicism, reminding all of us that candidates need not pander to succeed." Christian Science Monitor Review:"Nostalgia is the first purpose. The second is the relevance of Kennedy's campaign in 2008." Dallas Morning News Review:"[A] powerful account." Boston Globe About the AuthorThurston Clarke has written ten books, including California Fault (a New York Times Notable Book) and Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech That Changed America. His articles have been published in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Willsboro, New York, with his wife and three daughters. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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