6. 7he California Primary
In America, the year of 1968 kept going and, as the elections approached, the two major parties began their primary campaigns, testing the waters among themselves to choose which individual would be the face of the party on their bid for power in November.
The President had won the front-running New Hampshire primary, even if by a slight margin alone, before abandoning the race. His main foe at the time was Senator Eugene McCarthy, in a campaign based on ending American involvement in the Vietnam War. He won in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, winning all primary races through March, as the war turned unpopular after the Tet campaign, and was beginning to rise as a likely winner of the popular vote. Johnson, rather than face the embarassment of defeat (or at least not as grand a victory as would be expected of a sitting President in his own party's primaries) decided to gracefully withdraw from the presidential bid, stating he did not plan to run for re-election, leaving the field momentarily open for McCarthy to rise and shine.
But the tide began to change by mid-March when Senator Robert F. Kennedy, brother of JFK, announced his own candidacy. This spelled the beginning of the end for the McCarthy campaign, even if he continued to win over Kennedy as the latter’s campaign assembled; many of his supporters were Kennedy fans backing the more similar candidate against Johnson, who now abandoned him for their favourite son, leaving with a plea for McCarthy to abandon the race and endorse Kennedy. This he vehemently refused to do and, instead, turned his campaign full-on against Kennedy, who he saw as cowardly for letting him sacrifice goodwill points against Johnson and only entering the campaign after the President had been bled by his own efforts.
At the same time, a third candidate presented himself – Hubert Humphrey, the Vice-President, whose championship of labour and civil rights earned him some points with the people, while his position of influence gained him the endorsement of the big-heads of the Party, from the President himself to the Congressmembers, the Mayors and the labour leaders, giving him hopes of winning the delegates at the Convention over both Kennedy and McCarthy, even though he was too late to take part in the primaries. In him rested the hopes of the New Deal Coalition, the winning machine that had made the Democratic Party such a power since FDR.
As a prominent and upcoming Democrat, Governor Feynman was flirted by the media as an attractive prospect for the nomination, bringing some new blood to the Party while giving it the popularity the Governor held with the African American, Chicano, academic and youth communities. Feynman, however, clearly denied any desire to serve as President, putting his mission in the State of California as paramount and adding that he had no interest whatsoever in going to Washington.
In May, Kennedy won the DC, Indiana and Nebraska primaries over McCarthy, but lost the Oregon race, leaving McCarthy with one further State than himself as they headed to California where, on June 4, there would be the Democratic primaries, concurrently with New Jersey and South Dakota. As the largest shareholder of the Electoral College, however, California was the prize for the candidates, who struggled to achieve supremacy there.
In a debate held in the first day of June and aired by ABC, McCarthy would fall short of Kennedy, who stood against his statements regarding being willing to put forward a coalition government in Saigon, including the Communists, but also of the need to move away African American communities from the inner cities to solve the urban problem, the latter which Kennedy accused of being a plan to ship ghetto residents to white, conservative counties.
As the question raged between the two, Governor Feynman was enquired on where he stood; the leader of the California Democrats, and a shining star in the Party at the national level, even if an unwelcomed one by some, his input and maybe even endorsement was considered noteworthy by many. The Governor was somewhat at a crossfire – a great admirer of Humbert Humphrey, whose letter had sent him on the path to Governorship, he was nonetheless aware that, ideologically, he stood closer to Kennedy than any other candidate, sharing his concern for civil rights and his disenchantment with the war in Vietnam. Rather than announce his position, Feynman declined to endorse any candidate and remain cordial with all of them, meeting with both Senators Eugene McCarthy and with Robert F Kennedy after their debate in the State.
In California, Robert Kennedy won the primary over his opponent, a cause of much celebration for him and his campaign. He was stationed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles; in whose ballroom he addressed his supporters shortly after midnight, ending his speech with a promise to head to Chicago and there win the Illinois primary as well. There, he was also greeted by Governor Feynman whom, having heard of his victory, decided to congratulate the Senator, as a show of good faith and comradery in what was becoming a very heated and poisonous primary season. For Feynman, there was no need for bad blood. It was a fair contest and who won, won.
Feynman stayed in the ballroom, speaking with some of the Californian party leadership, whom approached him with the intention of convincing him to endorse Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention, a support which would make great waves for Kennedy and Feynman alike, they claimed, believing that might entice the stubborn man. They were also monitoring him for interest in a Cabinet position, to secure his commitment to their cause. Even the Vice-Presidency could be an option if merited. Meanwhile, the candidate himself was being headed through the kitchen, in a shortcut to the media room that had been prepared for him to give his victory speech.
Moments later, chaos would enter the room, as three gunshots were heard. They feared the worst, and the worst materialised itself, as the room was informed that the Senator had been shot three times. Feynman rushed to the room, where he saw the Kennedy laying, mortally wounded, with a rosary in his hands and a busboy cradling his head, losing blood and being barely conscious.
Minutes later, the medical attendants would transport the Senator to a nearby hospital, where he would die 26 hours later and after extensive and heroic efforts at repairing the damage to his brain caused by the bullets and by the bone fragments; his last words had been ‘don’t lift me’, before losing consciousness on his way to the hospital.
During that day, the nation went into shock as, only five years after having lost his brother and President, John F Kennedy himself, to assassination, the promising Senator too had perished. Investigations quickly concluded the shooter was a young Palestinian national who detested the Senator for his support of Israel and who had chosen the date in remembrance of the start of the Six-Day War.
It was Governor Feynman who first announced the loss of Senator Kennedy, in an address to the nation and to the family and friends of the Senator. A Jew himself, he was in a rather awkward position – he had always been a proponent of assimilation and never a Zionist – he had never even been to Israel, and had no plans of doing such a trip – but he was keenly aware he was still seen as a Jew and that it had been the conflict between Israel and Palestine that had cause the hatred to pour into the assassin’s heart. Eternally hopeful of distancing himself from that particular question, as he had always been, even in the scientific world, when they tried to make waves of his Jewish origins, Feynman was careful not to dwell to deeply into the matter.
“I have come to announce very terrible news – as you may have known, Senator Robert Kennedy has been undergoing surgery after having been a victim to an attempt on his life yesterday. I am sorry to inform you that, as of 1:44 AM of today, June 6, 1968, Senator Kennedy has succumbed to his wounds and has died at 42 years of age. He was with his three children, his wife Ethel, his sister, his brother-in-law Mr. Stephen Smith and his sister-in-law Mrs. John F. Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy… had just received news of his victory in the Californian primary when he was attacked, and was preparing to go to Illinois to continue his campaign there. He lived a life of service to the public… and died serving in that capacity of public servant, as his brother did before him. Whether or not we agreed with his views… It is important that we, as a nation, recognise the works and sacrifices of those men, who always worked towards creating a better America. I hope we can all respect the great man who has been lost to us today.
It is also my hope that the message of Senator Kennedy, a message of hope, of equality and of peace, does not die with him. Having met the Senator during his campaign, and having followed him before during his life of public service, I know he would have liked to be remembered as a good man, who did his best and tried to right the wrongs he saw in the world. To the family who loved him, I offer my best wishes and hope you can find solace in knowing many share in your grief and will continue fighting to ensure Senator Kennedy’s legacy is not forgotten.
Today is not a day for great speeches or celebrations. Today is a day for mourning and remembering the great man Robert Francis Kennedy was and continues to be, in our memory. I hope that, even now that he cannot continue fighting, others, friends and foes alike, remember his message and its impact with the American people. I believe he would see this as his greatest honour.
Thank you”
There was great mourning through the land as all, allies or enemies, respected and admired the man who had perished at the Los Angeles hotel that night. Not only Kennedy had died that night, but much of the optimism that had characterised American society in the last decade suffered a great blow. In turbulent times, the hope for the future, which had secured all matters, was weakened.
1968 was truly turning into a tragic year.