In a few weeks, Ethel Kennedy will be 96. Her third child is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He is seeking to run as a third-party presidential candidate. Many political pundits believe that Kennedy’s campaign could siphon off more votes from Joe Biden than Donald Trump, and hence be a benefit to the latter.
RFK, Jr. had a tough childhood. Then he was informed of his father's shooting while he attended a Jesuit boarding school, Georgetown Preparatory, in North Bethesda, Maryland. Within hours, on Vice President Hubert Humphrey's plane, he was flown to Los Angeles. He was at his father’s side when Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. died of a gunshot wound sustained the day before.
The young Kennedy, 14 at the time, served as a pallbearer and spoke at the mass held at Arlington National Cemetery. While Donald Trump will get my vote, my positive feelings about RFK, Jr. extend in part to his stance on many issues of day and in part to what I know about Ethel Kennedy.
A Reception to Remember
In 1988, I was invited by a friend to attend a Democratic fundraising reception for a congressional candidate, running in Northern Virginia. The reception was to be held at the home of Ethel Kennedy in McLean. I was eager to attend, although skeptical that the reception would actually be held in Mrs. Kennedy’s home. I felt certain it would be held in the backyard, or a special tent on grounds groomed for the event.
To my surprise, the event was held in her home and the hundreds of people who attended apparently were free to roam about the first floor without restriction. I found this to be totally amazing. Here was a home that, by any measure, contained artifacts that future generations would clamor to see.
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Every room contained personal photos of Bobby Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, and the entire clan, as well as awards, citations, and personal mementos. Guests could have pocketed their choice of mementos at any time. None did – at any time. More astounding, Mrs. Kennedy seemed completely unconcerned about the possibility.
History and Pop Culture on Display
As I strode about the grounds, I made my way to the pool house. Between a couch and a chair, on a phone stand, along with the phone, was a roster of phone numbers typed and inserted in a plastic sleeve. I looked at the list. Ted Kennedy’s congressional phone number and his private number in Hyannis were listed. Jackie Kennedy’s personal phone number in New York was listed.
Other family members’, celebrities’, and luminaries’ phone numbers were listed. The paparazzi or any reporter could have cashed in simply by copying the numbers on the list and selling them to the tabloids.
This backyard, this yard, this house, on a typical street in McLean, had no fences, no guard dogs, none of what I would have expected the widow of a historical figure – a millionairess – to have.
A Public Person
Ethel Kennedy was, you see, a public person, circa 1988, as is her son, RFK, Jr. I thought about all the time and energy that I, and most of the people I know, spend to safeguard our privacy, to ensure no one is looking over our shoulder when we’re texting.
It seemed inconceivable that someone such as Ethel Kennedy could be so open and people-oriented, and not need the barriers and protectors that most of us believe we need.
As that night’s affair ended, I marveled when Ethel Kennedy stood at the door and bade all guests a fond farewell. She shook my hand and thanked me for coming as if I had been one of the Democratic Party’s most staunch supporters and honored guests in her home.
At the Center
I was not a Democrat and never sought to be one, but this I know: by today’s standards JFK would be considered a conservative, or short of that, certainly someone unworthy of the Democratic nomination. RFK, Sr. likely would be in the same category.
Sure, many of their views and policies would appear to be left of center or at the center, but perhaps no more so than John McCain or George W. Bush. In any case, the Kennedys of yesteryear would be preferable compared to the tyrannical leftist monsters currently in power and now trying to destroy America. As for RFK, Jr., he deserves more respect from today’s Left and Right.
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