My Way
"For too long has this nation been divided. We have let the color of our skin, and the money in our pockets separate us. Hatred and fear have broken this nation in two sides, each seeing the other as a moral evil and a enemy. We cannot afford to make enemies of our compatriots, for there's true enemies we must fight. I do not speak of a ideology, or a foreign power, I’m talking about a much more dangerous enemy. That enemy is inequality.
The poor are send of to die in mindless conflict, while many profit back home. A Black man is barred from a job, or from a shop, or from a restaurant, where he desires nothing more than work, or spend his money, or even just eat, because of his color. A veteran, who suffered for his country, finds little to no aid when he returns home. These are all problems we must overcome. And we must do it together.
Instead of giving in to fear and pain, we must seek to better our country with love and understanding. The poet Aeschylus once said that Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times, and this is one of those times, for the struggles, we go through will be overcome, and from the smallest seed will spring the mightiest trunk. That is what we Americans dream of, that in the end of our pursuit, we shall find happiness."
Excerpt from Robert F. Kennedy acceptance speech. January 20th, 1969.
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It was a cold winter. The room, even with the fireplace burning close to the desk, was still chilly. Of course, in Russia, one is accustomed to such things.
As he sat in his spacious office, he indulged himself some Vodka. It was a small deviation from duty, to drink at work, but not a terrible one. And understandable, considering the cold night. Besides, a man of his station could afford to indulge himself from time to time. As he went through rotine burocratic papers, he felt sleep pile on his eyes. The secretary was preocupied. The situation in Czechoslovakia was tense. Albania had abandoned the pact in protest, and there was little he could do short of an invasion, and that was out of the question. But what was he to do? Allow the deviation from socialist policy that Dubcek had been carrying out? Krushinev had believed in many facets of socialism, and he had fallen. A more centralized economical and political block was needed.
However, the turmoil in Czechoslovakia had left the secretary unsure. He could proceed with the papers he had been drafting. His doctrine. There would be only one socialism. Maybe that would be his legacy, the secretary liked the idea of a well stablished legacy very much.
And then he received a telephone from Washington. The White House. The General Secretary had only spoken to Kennedy very briefly to congratulate him on his victory in the election, days before. He wondered what it was about. Why these calls were always so late? He cursed a little and indulged himself another sip from the Vodka.
When morning arrived, Leonid Brezhnev had a new plan for a legacy, and a headache.
Tales from the Kremlin- Prologue, Georgy Zhulovich
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The first year of RFK stay in the White House was a very busy one. His first 100 days were notoriously active. The end to American involvement in the conflict was, of course, his priority. The cornerstone of the democratic campaign was the end to American presence in the conflict. The conflict, Kennedy knew, was going to continue. The government of South Vietnam would continue it's war, and receive monetary and military aid in the form of weapons and other supplies. Americans however, would no longer be dying in the jungles of Southeast Asia. That was his plan.
Of course, many didn't know how or if that plan would come to fruition. Many found it hard to believe that the US would simply pull out of the conflict. Others wondered if it would be a slow process. Some even considered that Kennedy would go back on his promise.
The Soviets had also been wondering.
Some say it was Kennedy himself that came up with the Prague Deal, Other's that it was Vice president McGovern. McNamara stated in his memoir that it was his idea. Regardless, it became one of the biggest victories for the Kennedy administration.
Czechoslovakia had been under occupation by Warsaw pact forces (mostly soviet) since August. The occupation was extremely unpopular, however, both within Czechoslovakia, and in the Warsaw pact itself. In Prague, unrest was only prevented from turning into riot by the threat of Tanks. The Normalization of the country, as the Soviets called it, was not proving successful.
So why not make a trade?
In the night of November 9th, Kennedy called General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev with a offer: The United States would initiate a immediate organized removal from American troops from South Vietnam, and cease all hostilities with North Vietnam. All Americans would be coming home. The fire bombings would stop. The U.S government would also not sell Weapons to the south Vietnamese government (Of course, others supplies were still in the table, and only the government, would not sell weapons). In Exchange, The Warsaw pact would remove it's troops from Czechoslovakia and allow the government of Alexander Dubcek to return to power in the country. The pact would then pledge to respect the legitimacy of his government and of his economic policies.
It would mean a liberalization that Western Europe had no seen in years. A socialist nation, member of the Warsaw pact, would see itself free from military and economic pressure from the USSR. In return, there would be a speedy end to direct American involvement in Vietnam, which would mean a matter of time until the south collapsed to the Viet Cong and the North. A great victory for socialism in Asia.
It would take weeks of negotiation over the phone, but in the end, Brezhnev took the deal.
And so, by mid 1969, all American troops were out of Vietnam, and all soviet troops out of Czechoslovakia.
Around the same time, on July 20 a man named Neil Armstrong would have a very significant walk for mankind on the Moon. The event would mark the accomplishment of JFK's dream. This would not go unnoticed on Bobby Kennedy's speech to the nation shortly thereafter.
Kennedy would start his endeavor for a universal healthcare plan in the same year. All around, the president had not even completed one year on office, and to the American people he had already ended a war, liberated a country, and placed a man on the moon. Kennedy must have felt on top of the world.
And so, as 1968, a year of turmoil had closed, a year filled with hope had taken its place. The American mindset in 1969 was one of positivity.
History of the Democratic Party, from Jackson to Clinton, Michael A. Cormack
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Hope everyone enjoys. Next week: Pop culture.
