Robert F. Kennedy

In 1950, he married Ethel Skakel of Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of a business man and a roommate of his sister in college. They had eleven children.

As the Attorney General, he supported the admission of the first African-American student to the University of Mississippi in 1962. He was assassinated on June 5, 1968 by a 24-year-old Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan. He was allegedly assassinated for his support for Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Some documents released by a private detective in 1985 raised doubts about the involvement of Robert and John Kennedy in Marilyn Monroe’s death but this was not confirmed by any official authority.

Robert Kennedy was born on November 20, 1925, in a devout catholic family, to Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy. He was the seventh of the nine children and one of his elder brothers, John F. Kennedy later became the President of USA.

His father was a wealthy businessman, as well as a powerful politician, who served as an Ambassador to Britain. The family led a wealthy and privileged life.

As a child, he learned a lot about politics from the discussions of his family members at the dining table. He graduated from ‘Milton Academy’ prep school in Massachusetts and enrolled at Harvard.

He joined the Navy as a seaman apprentice, but did not get an opportunity to fight in the Second World War. His brother Joseph was killed in that war.

In 1946, he left navy and joined Harvard. Graduating with a degree in political science, he later joined the law school at the University of Virginia.

In 1951, he passed the Massachusetts bar exam, and joined the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, but resigned after one year to campaign for his brother’s senate election.

In 1953, he served on the staff of Senate Subcommittee on Investigations. After six months, he quit the job opposing the committee’s chairman Senator Joseph McCarthy’s ways of investigation.

In 1955, he returned to the Senate Subcommittee of Investigations as Chief Counsel. As the Chief Counsel, he submitted a report condemning the investigations of Joseph McCarthy.

In 1957, he worked as the Chief Counsel of Senate Labor Rackets Committee and exposed the Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa and David Beck’s corruption.

In 1960, he campaigned for his brother John F. Kennedy for Presidential election. He was his brother’s Chief campaign manager. He managed the campaign effectively and his brother became the president.

As the Attorney General, he collaborated with President Kennedy in proposing a far reaching civil rights statuette, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was passed after eight months of his brother’s assassination.

As a senator, he initiated programs for the underprivileged. He sought to alleviate poverty by creating jobs for the unemployed through the private industry. He initiated programs to help poor children with health and education.