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Robert F. Kennedy

From ProleWiki, the proletarian encyclopedia

For his son, see Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy
BornNovember 20, 1925
Brookline, Massachusetts, United States
DiedJune 6, 1968
Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of deathAssassination
Political partyDemocratic


Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK, was a Statesian politician and brother of President John F. Kennedy.

Early life[edit | edit source]

Robert Kennedy was the son of the millionaire Joseph Kennedy and supported Herbert Hoover during his childhood.[1]

Political career[edit | edit source]

Attorney General[edit | edit source]

Kennedy opposed the CIA-installed monarchy in Iran and refused to visit Iran on a trip around the world. His brother, John F. Kennedy, had threatened to end U.S. support for the Shah and publicly criticized his corruption.[1]

Kennedy's first call after his brother's assassination in 1963 was to the CIA desk officer. Robert Kennedy asked him, "Did your people conduct this horror?"[2]

During the early 1960s, was strongly anti-communist and supported the Vietnam War.[1]

Death of Marilyn Monroe[edit | edit source]

Marilyn Monroe had affairs with Robert and John Kennedy, who told her about the Bay of Pigs invasion and coups against Rafael Trujillo and Ngô Đình Diệm. After she threatened to expose their affairs, she worried that the CIA was planning to kill her. On August 4, 1962, Kennedy went to Monroe's house and fought with her, demanding her diary which contained classified information. After looking for the diary in her bedroom, he went to the kitchen sink and dissolved a sedative in a glass of water. Kennedy left after she passed out and was caught speeding away from her house at 12:10 a.m. with his brother-in-law Peter Lawford. He flew from Los Angeles to San Francisco around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. On the early morning of August 5, before police found Monroe dead, someone in San Francisco (likely Kennedy) called a number in West Los Angeles and asked, "Is she dead yet?"[3]

Senate[edit | edit source]

By the late 1960s, Kennedy reversed his previous position and opposed the Vietnam War.[1]

Presidential campaign[edit | edit source]

Kennedy ran for President in the 1968 presidential election and planned to start an inquiry into his brother's assassination as soon as he became president. He won the 1968 presidential primary in California but was assassinated before the general election.[2]

Kennedy was a Zionist and approved sending 50 bombers to Israel.[2]

Assassination[edit | edit source]

Kennedy was scheduled to speak to reporters at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968 after winning the California primary. While walking through a narrow serving area, someone shot him three times from above and behind at very close range. Security guard Thane Eugene Cesar, a supporter of George Wallace's segregationist campaign, was standing behind Kennedy with a .22 handgun and was likely the shooter. Kennedy grabbed him and pulled off his tie while falling. Between the second and third shots, bystanders tackled Sirhan Sirhan, who was also shooting from in front of Kennedy. In addition to the four bullets that hit Kennedy, one went through his coat, and five hit other people. Polish journalist Stanisław Pruszyński made an audio tape of the shooting that recorded thirteen total shots coming from different directions.[1]

Investigation[edit | edit source]

Immediately after the shooting, a man in a gold sweater and girl in a white polka dot dress ran out of the fire exit and yelled, "We shot him!" When witnesses reported them to police, the police began a 15 to 20 minute radio blackout. The crime scene was never roped off, and hotel workers cleaned up the blood without an investigation. The LAPD burned more than 2,400 photos of the crime scene before Sirhan's trial and sent a special unit led by Lt. Manuel Pena to investigate the shooting.[1]

Aftermath[edit | edit source]

Sirhan Sirhan was accused of the assassination and sent to prison. His assigned defense lawyer, Grant Cooper, had also been the lawyer for mafia boss John Roselli who tried to kill Fidel Castro.[1]

Kennedy's son and daughter both believe that he was innocent. At Sirhan's parole hearing in 2016, Kennedy's close advisor Paul Schrade testified that Sirhan was not the real shooter. Schrade was also a witness and had survived a gunshot wound on the night of the assassination.[1]

References[edit | edit source]