WI: Robert Kennedy as McCarthy's Counsel

Japhy

Banned
Following the Rosenberg trial in 1952 Senator Joe McCarthy appointed the young Roy Cohn to serve as Chief Counsel on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during the height of the Red Scare. Part of the reason that Cohn got the job was to help counter accusations that McCarthy's hearings were in part due to antisemitism.

But Cohn wasn't at the time viewed as the most likely candidate for that post, instead the premier option was seen as Bobby Kennedy, who along with his brother John were close friends with McCarthy.

So what happens if Tailgunner Joe takes Bobby Kennedy to be his right hand man? Will "Ruthless Bobby" ever be able to recover from being right at the the very public center of the Red Scare? If JFK becomes president, will his Brother be able to hold an appointed post? Or would the Kennedy Family (Or just Bobby) be smeared with the same brush that tarred McCarthy?
 
Bobby would direct McCarthy to more productive cases rather than chasing dead ends, but it is quite likely that he would eventually move on to greener pastures. No more than 30 months tops with McCarthy regardless of the outcome.

Assuming no butterflies, it depends what he does after he leaves McCarthy: MA or NY state politics, running for Congress, or the Rackets Commission as per OTL. It won't be a huge detriment except among those who already dislike him: aka liberals.
 

Japhy

Banned
It seems a little bit crazy to me personally to assume that just because RFK is there that McCarthy's witch hunt would suddenly become effective. Even if without Cohn they avoid the McCarthy hearings, isn't it still likely that they'll go to far somewhere else?
 
Bobby would direct McCarthy to more productive cases rather than chasing dead ends, but it is quite likely that he would eventually move on to greener pastures. No more than 30 months tops with McCarthy regardless of the outcome.

Assuming no butterflies, it depends what he does after he leaves McCarthy: MA or NY state politics, running for Congress, or the Rackets Commission as per OTL. It won't be a huge detriment except among those who already dislike him: aka liberals.

You're cutting things awfully close to the Army-McCarthy hearings. Tho I admit that's more a creation of Roy Cohn than anything else. I think the question is does Booby stay onboard with McCarthy until he eventually self-immolates? Otherwise, we're basically looking at a situation that is little different from OTL.
 
No, he jumps ship before that happens. He makes it clear in various interviews that he saw the train wreck coming long before it happened. The only historical revisionism (a not infrequent occurrence with Bobby then or later) was saying that it was the reason he quit: the real reason was because he didn't get the top job and didn't have as much influence as Cohn.

I can tell you that Bobby would have argued vehemently against investigating the Army as a bridge too far. So long as McCarthy did not attack Republicans, churches or the armed forces, there's much less chance of overreach and a backlash. As a little twist, one of those Cohn investigated was Ted Kennedy's alleged suspect associations while serving in the Army Signal Corps: a little "pinging", as I call it. Of course RFK never forgot that, we know how he reacted when someone went after a family member. Every insult to himself, family or friends, perceived or real, was personal with him and triggered certain reactions. Quite the angry young man in the '50s.
 
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