In Love with Night: The American Romance with Robert KennedyMore than three decades have passed since Robert Kennedy was assassinated seeking the Democratic nomination for the presidency. During that time a powerful legend has grown around him. It decrees that he would have quickly ended the Vietnam War, violence in the cities, and racial and social injustice across the land. Millions of Americans continue to believe that legend. But would he have done what so many wanted from him? Is the Robert Kennedy legend just that - a legend based more on hope and longing than on reality? Drawing on his interpretation of Kennedy's character, historian Ronald Steel examines the life against the legend. With empathy, yet with skepticism, Steel holds up to scrutiny the three central elements of the Kennedy legend: the faith in a golden kingdom of Camelot that could be restored, the belief that he would have achieved the goals that liberals sought, and the hope that he would have united blacks and whites in common endeavor. |
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IN LOVE WITH NIGHT: The American Romance with Robert Kennedy
User Review - Jane Doe - KirkusA persuasive study both of the character of Robert Kennedy and of his persistent hold on the national imagination. "At some point," Steel writes (Walter Lippmann and the American Century, 1980 ... Read full review
In love with night: the American romance with Robert Kennedy
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictThe images of Bobby Kennedy as tribune of the poor and the last hope of his generation are, according to Steel (Walter Lippmann and the American Century), enduring myths created by an American public ... Read full review
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