Raging Spirit

[Ron Bulman]

I just finished this book, given to me as a Christmas Present by one of my daughters.  Bobby Kennedy  -A Raging Spirit-  by Chris Matthews.  I'm sad.  I knew how it had to end.  But I'd never read a biography of him.  Which makes the ending even sadder.  

I have both the masterpiece, magnum opus, A Lie Too Big To Fail by Lisa Pease and The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy by Turner and Christian about his assassination.   This made me further realize Robert F. Kennedy was our last, best hope for Peace and honest government in the name of the people of the United States.

I never followed Hardball or Chris Matthews on a regular basis but have seen his work many times.  Better than some others, in some respects considering the MSM imho.  He did have a somewhat unique perspective for this book.  For an Irish Catholic from the northeast, it is a bit biased but overall objective.  His ancestry and religion give him an interesting perspective.

He does not discuss the assassination at all other than his personal remembrance of where he was.  Sirhan is never mentioned.  More later.  

[Matthew Koch]

Ron, if you are looking for another one to read; RFK and his times by Arthur Schlesinger is really good. It's two volumes: 

https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Kennedy-His-Times-I/dp/B000NX9HCG/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_1?crid=XQ6RQWBFKWUY&keywords=RFK+and+his+times+arthur+schlesinger&qid=1674828497&sprefix=rfk+and+his+times+arthur+schlesinger%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1-fkmr3

I got a cheap copy of Chris Matthew's Kennedy and Nixon and didn't really like it, so I've never read anything else of his. What does he say about Kennedy's Ancestry and Religion? 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

I just finished this book, given to me as a Christmas Present by one of my daughters.  Bobby Kennedy  -A Raging Spirit-  by Chris Matthews.  I'm sad.  I knew how it had to end.  But I'd never read a biography of him.  Which makes the ending even sadder.  

I have both the masterpiece, magnum opus, A Lie Too Big To Fail by Lisa Pease and The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy by Turner and Christian about his assassination.   This made me further realize Robert F. Kennedy was our last, best hope for Peace and honest government in the name of the people of the United States.

I never followed Hardball or Chris Matthews on a regular basis but have seen his work many times.  Better than some others, in some respects considering the MSM imho.  He did have a somewhat unique perspective for this book.  For an Irish Catholic from the northeast, it is a bit biased but overall objective.  His ancestry and religion give him an interesting perspective.

He does not discuss the assassination at all other than his personal remembrance of where he was.  Sirhan is never mentioned.  More later.  

Thanks for sharing this, Ron. Another book added to the list. 
 

@Matthew Koch I have another book by Sleisinger about the Kennedy presidency, where he interviews RFK and quotes him. He was setting the record straight. Published in 65 or 66, I think. 

[Ron Bulman]

I didn't realize the difference in age between RFK and JFK, seven years.  That they weren't close.  That Kenneth O'Donnell, RFK's friend, hired by JFK, first suggested RFK to manage his Senate campaign as a buffer to their dad's running of it.  Which JFK at first rejected.  Nor did I realize RFK was rejected/ignored by his father in his youth and he was a bit independent sot to speak in his schooling as well as his family.  Until he played football at Harvard.  

Matthews, in addition to interviewing key people had the perspective of being in high school in 1963, then Graduate school in 1968.  Not wanting to go to Vietnam, nor Canada he joined the Peace Corps. 

An interesting quote from the book.  About the Joe McCarthy - Army - Communism hearings.  About Senator Scoop Jackson of Tennessee, attorney Roy Cohn (yes, that Roy Cohn The Final Lesson Donald Trump Never Learned From Roy Cohn - POLITICO Magazine), and RFK.  Pg. 125.

But as Jackson kept asking questions about Schine's pet project, his broad smile remained.  This drove Cohn beyond his boiling point.  When the chair called a recess, he darted for Kennedy, where he jabbed a file in front of his face.  "Tell Jackson we're going to get him Monday," Cohn warned.  "We've got letters he wrote to the White House on behalf of two known Communists." 

"Tell him yourself," Kennedy shot back.  "Don't threaten me.  You've got a f**king nerve threatening me."

The taunting was now turning physical.  Seeing Cohn cock his arm, bystanders stepped in and stopped him.  Bobby had gotten to his rival and he knew it.