Robert F. Kennedy

The Change in Robert F . Kennedy from 1963 to 1968 : How and Why it Occurred

Robert F . Kennedy was already a man of significant political power in 1963 . In 1961 , Kennedy had been elected Attorney General of the United States , serving during the presidency of his brother , John F . Kennedy As a powerful man in his own right , Robert Kennedy asserted his political influence in such important events as the Bay of Pigs invasion , prosecution of organized crime and corruption in the Teamsters ' Union . Kennedy was also a deeply religious man who

believed strongly in human and civil rights for all people . As such , he was also active in many areas of the civil rights struggle that was at the political forefront during the 1960s . Following the assassination of his brother , however , Kennedy underwent both political and personal changes that lasted until his own death at the hands of his assassin , Sirhan Sirhan . In part , these changes were due to the natural evolution of opinion that many other Americans experienced at the time however , in part these changes were due to the difficult times that he was undergoing at home (Palermo , 2005 . Finally , his changes in his political positioning also had an effect on his ability and on opportunities he had to serve his nation

At home , the Kennedy family experienced a great deal of turmoil following the assassination of John F . Kennedy . As can be expected JFK 's death had a great deal of impact on his close knit family . Robert Kennedy became what Arthur Schlesinger characterized as being melancholy (618 . Already a religious man , attempted to find meaning behind his personal suffering in reading Greek philosophers and the related works of Edith Hamilton . Schlesinger states that

The fact that he found primary solace in Greek impressions of character and fate did not make him less faithful a Catholic . Still , at the time of truth , Catholic did not give him precisely what he needed And his tragic sense was , to use Auden 's distinction , Greek rather than Christian [ .] What a pity it had to be this way ' rather than What a pity it was this way when it might have been otherwise (619

It is entirely possible that this focus inward created a change in Kennedy 's political focus as well . Largely known as a ruthless and driven prosecutor as Attorney General , many of his humanitarian political efforts came after the death of his brother . While other factors also gave Kennedy cause to adjust his personal point of view , as well as his political focus , it would be napve to think that the assassination of his brother and his personal faith played anything other than a major role in the changes that overcame his life

The assassination also forced Robert Kennedy to make a change in the direction of his career . Although he continued to serve as Attorney General under the new president , Lyndon B . Johnson , the two men had differences of opinion and political vision...