A review by socraticgadfly
Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon, by Larry Tye
5.0
Simply a very good book.
Tye doesn't throw Bobby under the bus; he's not Victor Navasky or worse.
But, even more, he in no way buys into Camelot legend.
He notes that Bobby was slow and late, in Jack's name as AG, to civil rights and that both brothers wanted it that way. He cites the May 1963 meeting with black civil rights artists, and his not wanting to listen, as a point in detail. (So does Michael Eric Dyson in his new book, so, Camelot mythicists, drop it.)
He notes that, although repudiating Roy Cohn, he remained on friendly terms with Joe McCarthy until the tail-gunner's death.
He notes that even in the 1968 primaries, he could still play the race card, telling Orange County voters that Gene McCarthy wanted to move a bunch of black folks out there from L.A.
But, he does note that Bobby evolved on both civil rights and poverty, among other things. And he details how.
Tye doesn't throw Bobby under the bus; he's not Victor Navasky or worse.
But, even more, he in no way buys into Camelot legend.
He notes that Bobby was slow and late, in Jack's name as AG, to civil rights and that both brothers wanted it that way. He cites the May 1963 meeting with black civil rights artists, and his not wanting to listen, as a point in detail. (So does Michael Eric Dyson in his new book, so, Camelot mythicists, drop it.)
He notes that, although repudiating Roy Cohn, he remained on friendly terms with Joe McCarthy until the tail-gunner's death.
He notes that even in the 1968 primaries, he could still play the race card, telling Orange County voters that Gene McCarthy wanted to move a bunch of black folks out there from L.A.
But, he does note that Bobby evolved on both civil rights and poverty, among other things. And he details how.