I think one of the seminal moments of the 20th century. Not as important as World War Ii and maybe not as important as the assassination of his brother. But a pivotal moment in history.
If he had not been killed I think he would have likely been elected President in 1968. So think about it...no Nixon so no Watergate. No Watergate, no distrust of Washington and Carter never would have been elected. Without the perceived weakness of Jimmy Carter, who knows what the situation in the Middle East would have developed. Maybe without the Iranian Hostage crisis, and America's weak response, the terrorists never would have been empowered to the extent they became. Maybe a bit of a reach, but RFK's assassination really was a pivotal event.
Wow, DrPhil. The father was a bootlegger, but I've never heard that they were drug involved. Jack was a notorious womanizer (probably visited strip clubs, the bastard) and Teddy, the Lion of the Senate, gave a whole new meaning to liberalism, but drugs?
I can't question your hypothesis; I know very little about that era of American history. I lived through it, though; and even though I was a young guy starting out in business I read newspapers religiously and tried to keep up with current events.
As I remember things Bobby and Lyndon Johnson detested each other. If Johnson hadn't folded his tent Bobby would not have got a whiff of the Democratic presidential nomination. Why did Johnson really fold his tent? Was he just terminally toxic because of Viet Nam?
A campaign of Johnson vs. Nixon would have been bloody, dirty, and fascinating. Johnson was a much better campaigner than Nixon ever was and he was just as evil and nasty a man as Nixon was.
@gawker, the father was an out and out criminal who arm twisted to get his sons elected and was very likely heavily in bed with the mafia. Of course Bobby managed to overlook that when he started the crusade against organized crime. All three of them were womanizers and in my opinion Teddy should have served time for that girls death.
@art, I think he was fairly unpopular with all of the administration, he was his brother's bulldog and #2 which tended to make him unpopular.
Ah, the 60's! I lived through that time--assassinations, civil rights marches, riots, rock and roll, hippies, nuclear brinksmanship, the Vietnam war, psychedelic drugs, counter culture. It had enough to fill two decades. It was an exciting time, but I would not want to live through it again.
Reading my tenth book on JFK's assassination. Have only read articles on RFK's murder, waiting for the definitive book. Saw the movie "Bobby," which was chilling. I actually saw JFK and RFK at different times in motorcades in Detroit. RFK's presidential campaign motorcade passed right in front my home while I was cramming for finals at the end of my first year in law school. While at Trinity College in Hartford, CT I attended a small dinner at an inner city Baptist Church and met Martin Luther King,Jr. When I mentioned to one of my classmates where I had been an eavesdropper shouted that he hoped somebody would kill King.
In light of today's reports about domestic spying by the NSA, I am leaning towards accepting the view of those who claim conspiracy.
The Mob wanted to expand the drug trade and the Kennedys stood in the way. They believed drugs were all right for them to play with, but they felt that mass usage would damage the economy through a drugged up work force. So they had to go.
Teddy was targeted, but not for murder. He was drugged by chemicals sprayed on his steering wheel that were absorbed through his body. He lost control of the car. He was supposed to be injured, tagged for drunk driving, exposed for skirt chasing and disgraced. Mary Jo was, sadly, unanticipated, but acceptable, collateral damage to those who set this in motion. These chemicals in CIA inventory were almost used five years later.
Read what G. Gordon Liddy said about the plot to discredit journalist Jack Anderson, who was fiercely following the Watergate trail of deception. Liddy said that he was ready to spray Anderson's steering wheel with a chemical that would induce vomiting, dizziness, nausea and hallucinations. This would have made Anderson look like a total drunk by the time he got to a TV interview, driving from his home in Baltimore to Washington, DC. Liddy didn't do it for two reasons: (1) the possibility of Anderson losing control of his car on the Beltway and killing innocent people and(2) Anderson sometimes wore driving gloves and that might retard skin absorbtion of the chemical. Liddy was CIA. E. Howard Hunt, put in charge of watching Teddy from the beginning of the Nixon adminstration, was CIA.
16 comments
Ice cold meals burrrr !
LOL!
If he had not been killed I think he would have likely been elected President in 1968. So think about it...no Nixon so no Watergate. No Watergate, no distrust of Washington and Carter never would have been elected. Without the perceived weakness of Jimmy Carter, who knows what the situation in the Middle East would have developed. Maybe without the Iranian Hostage crisis, and America's weak response, the terrorists never would have been empowered to the extent they became. Maybe a bit of a reach, but RFK's assassination really was a pivotal event.
That my friends was a cold one burrrr !
I can't question your hypothesis; I know very little about that era of American history. I lived through it, though; and even though I was a young guy starting out in business I read newspapers religiously and tried to keep up with current events.
As I remember things Bobby and Lyndon Johnson detested each other. If Johnson hadn't folded his tent Bobby would not have got a whiff of the Democratic presidential nomination. Why did Johnson really fold his tent? Was he just terminally toxic because of Viet Nam?
A campaign of Johnson vs. Nixon would have been bloody, dirty, and fascinating. Johnson was a much better campaigner than Nixon ever was and he was just as evil and nasty a man as Nixon was.
@art, I think he was fairly unpopular with all of the administration, he was his brother's bulldog and #2 which tended to make him unpopular.
Not a big fan of the Kennedy family.
In light of today's reports about domestic spying by the NSA, I am leaning towards accepting the view of those who claim conspiracy.
The Mob wanted to expand the drug trade and the Kennedys stood in the way. They believed drugs were all right for them to play with, but they felt that mass usage would damage the economy through a drugged up work force. So they had to go.
Teddy was targeted, but not for murder. He was drugged by chemicals sprayed on his steering wheel that were absorbed through his body. He lost control of the car. He was supposed to be injured, tagged for drunk driving, exposed for skirt chasing and disgraced. Mary Jo was, sadly, unanticipated, but acceptable, collateral damage to those who set this in motion. These chemicals in CIA inventory were almost used five years later.
Read what G. Gordon Liddy said about the plot to discredit journalist Jack Anderson, who was fiercely following the Watergate trail of deception. Liddy said that he was ready to spray Anderson's steering wheel with a chemical that would induce vomiting, dizziness, nausea and hallucinations. This would have made Anderson look like a total drunk by the time he got to a TV interview, driving from his home in Baltimore to Washington, DC. Liddy didn't do it for two reasons: (1) the possibility of Anderson losing control of his car on the Beltway and killing innocent people and(2) Anderson sometimes wore driving gloves and that might retard skin absorbtion of the chemical. Liddy was CIA. E. Howard Hunt, put in charge of watching Teddy from the beginning of the Nixon adminstration, was CIA.
It might have been someone, but it wasn't them. I also doubt they could have gotten away with it.