Re: Nice Planet 2011
I doubt that my mother would have any recollection of that, considering that election was over 50 years ago you'd have to be close to 60 to have understood the implications of the defacto Kennedy monarchy that would have created. Given the problems resulting from US military involvement in Vietnam, I'm not sure that an RFK election would have been a sure thing.
Well, as it actually played out, Bobby was by no means the inevitable Democratic nominee. And it's also not clear he would have beaten Nixon in the general. Far fewer primaries in those days. On the night he was shot, Bobby had won a narrow (less than 50%) victory over Gene McCarthy in California. Going forward, Hubert Humphrey was the Vice President and LBJ (who detested Bobby) was going to do everything in his power to help Hubert win. In the general election, LBJ called a phony "bombing halt," that helped Hubert close the gap, but not enough.
Now if JFK had served two terms and Bobby was running to replace him, there are interesting considerations. Bobby only jumped into the race when LBJ showed weakness, based on opposition to the war. When Jack became president there were a few hundred American "advisors" in 'Nam. On the day he died, there were 13 or 14 thousand. JFK helped create the Green Berets. Oliver Stone and others think Kennedy would have "brought the troops home" in his second term, which means Bobby wouldn't have had to run against a war he and his brother supported and expanded (remember, Bobby was Attorney General, and Operation Mongoose, designed to take out Castro, was run by him).
Stone's principal "evidence" that Kennedy was planning to end US involvment in Vietnam was a plan to rotate about 1,000 troops home over Christmas (in '63?). Perhaps he's right. But bringing some troops home for Christmas hardly proves the president's intentions.
But, if he had lived and he wanted to help his brother succeed him, it could very well be that JFK would have altered Vietnam policy in order to help.
If you haven't seen "13 Days," (the story of the Cuban missile crisis) I highly recommend it. There's a scene where Jack and Bobby and Kenny O'Donnell are discussing the intelligence they've just received about Soviet missiles in Cuba and whether they should cancel a planned meeting in Chicago with Mayor Daley.
JFK wants O'Donnell (Kevin Costner) to call Da Mare and cancel. O'Donnel refuses. And Kennedy says: "you're afraid of Mayor Daley." And Costner says: "you're GD right I am. Kennedy says, "well I'm not" and goes out of frame, presumably to give Daley a call and cancel.
O'Donnell turns to Bobby and says "watch this," an instant later JFK's in Chicago, shaking hands with the mayor.
The very first person JFK invited to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom was Daley. In those days he was capable of delivering an important and Repubican leaning state. One guy. 27 electoral votes. You're d*mn skippy Jack Kennedy wanted to keep Daley happy.
