RFK

Who was Bob Kennedy? Rebel? Patrician? Liberal? Joe McCarthy apologist Jack Kennedy's attack dog or a misunderstood man who quoted Aeshylus and Shakespeare?As Winston Churchill said of the Soviet Union RFK was a riddle wrapped in an enigma. Many who thought they understood him knew but one side of him. He could be ruthless yet kind. He championed the underpriviliged yet criticized the welfare state. He attacked Lyndon Johnson's relentless prosecution of the Vietnam War though when asked to oppose the administration in 1968 primaries he initially declined -- fearing to become the first Kennedy to lose an election.Bobby Kennedy dogged his adversaries including Jimmy Hoffa and anyone running against Jack Kennedy. Nonetheless this youthful aristocrat pushed himself to the limits of endurance with 50-mile hikes white-water kayaking in rock-ridden rivers and in his first effort at mountain climbing scaling the enormous peak named for his late brother.Perhaps the bad Bobby died on the same day President Kennedy did -- or so RFK's admirers might aver. And maybe had RFK become president he may have sought to alleviate the plight of the poor Indians and blacks. But a bullet prevented any chance of a second Kennedy presidency....