Supreme Court analysts suggested that Kennedy might be appointed chief justice when Rehnquist died, Kennedy was not given the chief justice position.. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
Trang 1legitimate means of interpretation Kennedy testified thatORIGINAL INTENTwas only a starting point in interpreting the Constitution In his Senate testimony, Kennedy stated his commit-ment to the principle of STARE DECISIS This principle refers to the respect for legal precedent created by prior cases and the need to maintain precedent even if the current judges do not agree with the original ruling
Kennedy was confirmed in February 1988, with many liberal members of Congress feeling that he was too conservative, and some con-servatives believing he was moderate, a com-promise candidate who could survive the confirmation process
Since taking office as associate justice, Kennedy has proved to be both conservative and moderate, depending on the case He has usually sided with the conservative members of the Court, but he has gained attention by departing from them in two important cases In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey,
505 U.S 833, 112 S Ct 2791, 120 L Ed 2d 674 (1992), watchers had expected the Court to overrule explicitlyROE V.WADE, 410 U.S 113, 93 S
Ct 705, 35 L Ed 2d 147, the 1973 decision that defined the right to choose abortion as a fundamental constitutional right Kennedy joined with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor andDAVID H
of Roe and the line of cases that followed it
In 1996 Kennedy wrote a landmark and controversial decision concerning gay rights In
ROMER V.EVANS, 517 U.S 620, 116 S Ct 1620, 134
L Ed 2d 855, Kennedy declared unconstitu-tional an amendment to the Colorado state constitution (West’s C.R.S.A Const Art 2,
§ 30b) that prohibited state and local govern-ments from enacting any law, regulation, or
Anthony M.
Kennedy.
ROBIN REID,
COLLECTION OF THE
SUPREME COURT OF
THE UNITED STATES
◆ 1939–45
World War II
1950–53 Korean War
1961–73 Vietnam War
2000 Presidential election result uncertain due
to disputed Fla vote count; recount halted by
U.S Supreme Court with 5–4 vote in Bush v Gore
◆◆
◆
1936 Born,
Sacramento,
Calif.
1975–88 Sat on Ninth Circuit Court
of Appeals
1979–90 Served on Committee on Pacific Territories of the U.S.
Judicial Conference; elected chair
in 1982
1979–87 Served on Admisory Committee on Codes of Conduct of the U.S Judicial Conference
1988 Appointed associate justice of U.S Supreme Court by President Reagan
1992 Joined majority in
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v.
Casey, which
affirmed basic reasoning of
Roe v Wade
2000 Wrote unanimous opinion in U.S v Locke, limiting state power to regulate environmental standards for oil tankers; voted with majority in Bush v Gore
1996 Wrote Romer v Evans decision, which struck down Colorado’s Amendment 2
◆
◆
◆
◆
1958 Graduated from Stanford University
1961 Earned LL.B from Harvard Law School
1965 Began teaching constitutional law at McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific
2003 Wrote majority opinion in Lawrence v Texas
2007 Wrote majority opinion in Gonzales v Carhart, upholding federal law criminalizing partial birth abortions
2008 Wrote majority opinion in Boumediene v Bush, giving habeas corpus rights to Guantanamo Bay prisoners
Trang 2policy that would, in effect, protect the CIVIL
Kennedy ruled that the amendment violated the
classi-fied gay men and lesbians“not to further a proper
legislative end but to make them unequal to
everyone else,” and adding, “This Colorado
cannot do.”
Although considered a swing vote on closely
divided court, Kennedy has authored opinions
that enhance states’ police powers In Kansas v
Hendricks, 521 U.S 346, 117 S Ct 2072, 138 L
Ed.2d 501 (1997), Kennedy upheld a state law
that permitted the indefinite civil commitment of
“sexual psychopath” prisoners who had
complet-ed their prison terms In McKune v Lile, 536 U.S
24, 122 S Ct 2017, 153 L Ed 2d 47 (2002),
Kennedy concluded that that states can limit the
privileges of prisoners who refuse to divulge their
past crimes as part of a therapy program In
addition, he has supported the constitutionality
of sex-offender registry lists, compulsory drug
testing of public-school students who wish to
participate in extracurricular activities, and“three
strikes” mandatory-sentencing schemes InBUSH
V.GORE, 531 U.S 98, 121 S Ct 525, 148 L.Ed.2d
388 (2000), Kennedy voted with the majority to
bar Florida from conducting a recount of
presidential ballots, thereby ensuring the election
ofGEORGE W.BUSH
a 6–3 decision in 2003, declared a Texas law that
prohibited sexual acts between same sex couples
unconstitutional JusticeANTHONY KENNEDY,
writ-ing for the majority, held that the right to
privacy protects a right for adults to engage in
private, consensual homosexual activity Justice
Kennedy’s opinion expressly overruled the
Court’s decision in Bowers v Hardwick (1986),
which had come to an opposite conclusion
In March 2005 Kennedy wrote the
major-ity opinion in a 5–4 U.S Supreme Court
ruling that said executing killers who were
under 18 when they committed their crimes
was unconstitutional
Some U.S Supreme Court analysts suggested
that Kennedy might be appointed chief justice
when Rehnquist died, Kennedy was not given the
chief justice position Whereas some argue that
Kennedy is not liberal enough for liberals, or
conservative enough for conservatives, others
point out that the centrist views that often make him the swing vote in cases dividing the Court might have made him attractive enough to survive the Senate nomination procedure with-out a major confirmation fight
FURTHER READINGS Amar, Akhil Reed 1997 “Justice Kennedy and the Idea of Equality ” Pacific Law Journal 28 (spring).
Freiwald Aaron 1987 “Portrait of the Nominee as a Young Man: As Lobbyist and Lawyer, Anthony Kennedy Thrived in Reagan ’s California.” Legal Times 23 (November).
Friedman, Lawrence M 1993 “The Limitations of Labeling:
Justice Anthony M Kennedy and the First Amend-ment ” Ohio Northern University Law Review 20 (winter).
Knowles, Helen J 2009 The Tie Goes to Freedom: Justice Anthony M Kennedy on Liberty Lanham, MD: Row-man & Littlefield Publishers.
Lane, Charles 2002 “Justice Kennedy’s Future Role Pondered ” Washington Post (June 17).
Maltz, Earl M 2000 “Justice Kennedy’s Vision of Federal-ism.” Rutgers Law Journal 31 (spring).
CROSS REFERENCE Gay and Lesbian Rights.
vKENNEDY, EDWARD MOORE
Massachusetts for 47 years, from 1962 to 2009
The brother of President JOHN F KENNEDY and SenatorROBERT F.KENNEDY, who were both assa-ssinated, he championed many liberal social programs, including NATIONAL HEALTH CARE, and was a major figure in theDEMOCRATIC PARTY His presidential aspirations were damaged because
of personal scandal
Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy, the youn-gest of nine children of Joseph P Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was born February 22,
1932, in Brookline, Massachusetts He started at Harvard University in 1950, then left in 1951 to serve in the U.S Army He returned to college
in 1953 and graduated in 1956 He next attended the University of Virginia Law School, where he graduated in 1959 He married Virginia Joan Bennett in 1958 The couple had three children, Kara A., Edward M., Jr., and Patrick J They were divorced in 1983
In 1960 Kennedy became an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, Massachu-setts He soon turned his eye toward politics
After his brother John was elected president in
1960 and had to resign from the U.S Senate, Kennedy filed in the 1962 election to fill out
Trang 3John’s term His announcement led opponents
to criticize him for trading on the Kennedy name He was only 30 years old, the minimum age for a U.S senator set by the U.S Constitu-tion, and had little experience in politics or the workplace Nevertheless, Kennedy easily won the election He won a full six-year term in 1964 and was re-elected eight times until his death in 2009
Despite his youth, Kennedy soon emerged
as a forceful advocate of social-welfare legisla-tion and a respected member of the Senate
He was elected Senate majority whip in 1969, which was highly unusual for a person with little seniority Kennedy appeared ready to make
a presidential bid in 1972 But any hopes in that direction were dashed in the summer of 1969, when his personal conduct became a national scandal
On July 18, 1969, Kennedy attended a party with friends and staff members on Chappa-quiddick Island, Massachusetts That evening, Kennedy drove his car off a narrow bridge on the island Mary Jo Kopechne, a passenger in the car and former member of his brother Robert’s staff, drowned Kennedy’s actions following the accident were disturbing He did not immediately report what had happened, and he remained in seclusion for days He pleaded guilty to the MISDEMEANOR charge of leaving the scene of an accident This PLEA, coupled with the revelation that he, a married man, had been in the company of a young, unmarried woman, devastated Kennedy’s image and political standing He lost his majority whip position in 1971 and refused to become involved in the 1972 presidential race
During the 1970s Kennedy concentrated his energies on his senatorial duties He became the leading advocate of a national health care system that would provide coverage to every citizen without regard to income He also
Ted Kennedy.
AP IMAGES
◆
1932 Born,
Brookline,
Mass.
1939–45 World War II
1950–53 Korean War
1961–73 Vietnam War
◆
1951–53 Served in U.S Army
1959 Earned LL.B from University of Virginia Law School
1960 Became asst district attorney in Suffolk County, Mass.; brother John F Kennedy elected U.S president
1962 Elected to John F Kennedy’s U.S Senate seat
1963 John
F Kennedy assassinated
1968 Robert
F Kennedy assassinated
1969 Elected Senate majority whip; involved in controversial car accident at Chappaquiddick (Mass.)
1979–80 Ran unsuccessful campaign for president
1979–81 Chaired Senate Judiciary Committee
2006 Elected to eighth Senate term
2002 Inducted into American Academy
of Arts & Sciences
◆ ◆
◆❖
2009 Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
2006 Received National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems Lifetime Achievement Award
2008 Helped break Republican filibuster of Medicare bill
2009 Died, Hyannis Port, Mass.
Trang 4argued for tax reform, arms control, and
stronger antitrust laws From 1979 to 1981, he
chaired the SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE He
initially supported the administration of
Demo-cratic presidentJIMMY CARTER, but soon criticized
Carter’s economic policies and leadership style
His dissatisfaction led him to seek the
presidential nomination in 1980 Running
against an incumbent of his own party,
Kennedy drew the support of liberals and won
primaries in ten states Carter nevertheless won
the nomination However, already weakened by
Kennedy’s criticisms, Carter lost the general
election toRONALD REAGAN
During the administrations of Reagan and
his successor, GEORGE H.W BUSH, Kennedy
became the leading liberal critic of Republican
policies and politics
Kennedy’s personal life continued to attract
attention in the 1990s In March 1991, Kennedy’s
nephew, William Kennedy Smith, was charged
with RAPE in Palm Beach, Florida The alleged
compound Palm Beach police asserted that
Kennedy had obstructed justice by misleading
police early in their investigation When police
arrived to investigate, they were told that
Kennedy and Smith had already left the area
Later investigation of travel records indicated
that Kennedy probably was still in the mansion
at the time Although Smith was acquitted of the
charge in December 1991, the nationally
tele-vised trial again tarnished Kennedy’s reputation
In July 1992 Kennedy married Victoria Reggie,
a Washington, D.C., lawyer
Despite differing public opinions, Kennedy
remained a powerful member of the U.S
Senate In 1996 he sponsored legislation with
Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum of
Kan-sas that madeHEALTH INSURANCEportable, so that
families would not lose their health insurance
coverage if they lost or changed jobs
In 1999 Kennedy and his family suffered a
further tragic loss when a small airplane piloted
by his nephew John Kennedy, Jr went down in
the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard,
Massachusetts, killing John Kennedy, his wife,
and his sister-in-law Once again, Ted Kennedy
found himself playing the role of family
patriarch as he oversaw funeral arrangements
and consoled family members In the new
millennium, Kennedy continued his role as
senior senator, serving as the senior Democrat
on the IMMIGRATION Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee and as a member of the Senate Arms Control Observer Group, a part of the Armed Services Committee
Kennedy’s persistence, collegiality, and long service won him friends on both sides of the aisle While on the Senate, he advocated for numerous causes, including raising theMINIMUM WAGE, strengthening CIVIL RIGHTS laws and laws aimed at protecting senior citizens and persons with disabilities, and tightening environmental and worker-safety laws
In 2007 Kennedy began suffering from health problems and underwent surgery to remove a blocked artery In May 2008 he suffered
a seizure and was diagnosed with a brain tumor, undergoing surgery that June Kennedy returned
to the Senate in July and helped break a Republican filibuster of a MEDICARE bill The determined senator left his hospital bed to be
a featured speaker on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention that August
In 2009, at an Inauguration Day luncheon for PresidentBARACK OBAMA, whom he had endorsed and supported, Kennedy suffered another seizure, and was later stabalized
2009 continued to be an important year, as Kennedy was awarded by President Barack Obama the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States
That same month, his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, known worldwide for her efforts with the mentally disabled, and for founding the Special Olympics, died at the age of 88 Kennedy also published a memoir, True Compass, in 2009
Before his death on August 25, 2009, only a few weeks after his sister’s death, the Senator, who had been re-elected to eight full terms, continued to be an advocate for health care, education, civil rights, immigration reform, raising the minimum wage, defending the rights
of workers and their families, assisting indivi-duals with disabilities, protecting the environ-ment, and safeguarding and strengthening
strong opponent of the war in Iraq He was chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and also served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, where
he was Chairman of the Seapower Subcommit-tee At the time of his death, the debates about health care reform in the U.S continued to heat
AMERICA WAS AN IDEA SHAPED IN THE TURBULENCE OF REVOLUTION,THEN GIVEN FORMAL STRUCTURE IN A CONSTITUTION
—T ED K ENNEDY
Trang 5up, which was an issue near and dear to his heart, and one that he always strived to solve
His death signified, according to the media
as well as family and friends, the end of an era for the Kennedy clan
FURTHER READINGS Kennedy, Edward M 2009 True Compass: A Memoir New York: Hachette Book Group.
“A Private Return to the Sea.” 1999 Minneapolis Star Tribune (July 23).
Senator Edward Kennedy Senate site Available online at kennedy.senate.gov (accessed on August 18, 2009).
CROSS REFERENCE Health Care Law.
vKENNEDY, JOHN FITZGERALD John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35thPRESIDENT
admin-istration had few legislative accomplishments, Kennedy energized the United States by pro-jecting idealism, youth, and vigor
Kennedy was born May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts His father, Joseph P
Kennedy, was a self-made millionaire and the son of a Boston politician His mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was the daughter of John F
(“Honey Fitz”) Fitzgerald, who served as a Representative and a mayor of Boston
Kennedy, one of nine children, graduated from Harvard University in 1940 His senior thesis, “Why England Slept,” which addressed
the reasons why Great Britain had been unprepared for WORLD WAR II, was published in
1940 to great acclaim His father thought that Kennedy would become a writer or teacher, and that Kennedy’s older brother, Joseph P Ken-nedy, Jr., would go into politics World War II changed those plans
Kennedy joined the Navy in 1941 and commanded a PT boat in the Pacific Ocean
In 1943, the boat was attacked and destroyed, and Kennedy emerged a as hero, owing to his valiant efforts to save his crew His older brother Joseph was killed in action in 1944 Kennedy’s father then transferred his political goals to Kennedy
In 1946 Kennedy was elected to the U.S House of Representatives from the solidly Democratic Eleventh District of Massachusetts
He was re-elected in 1948 and 1950
In 1952 he was elected to the Senate, defeating the incumbent, Republican HENRY
at first, working on legislation that benefited Massachusetts Back problems and other phy-sical maladies bedeviled Kennedy during this period He underwent two operations on his back, to alleviate chronic pain During his convalescence, he wrote Profiles in Courage (1956), a series of essays on courageous stands taken by U.S senators throughout U.S history
It won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for biography
In 1956 Kennedy sought the Democratic vice presidential nomination He made the
❖
❖
1917 Born, Brookline, Mass.
1914–18 World War I
◆
1940 Graduated from Harvard University
1943 PT boat attacked and destroyed in Pacific Ocean
1939–45 World War II
1941–45 Served in U.S Navy 1946–52 Served in U.S House
1950–53 Korean War
1956 Profiles in
Courage
published; won Pulitzer Prize for biography
◆
1952–60 Served
in U.S Senate
◆
1960 Elected president of the United States;
appointed his brother Robert U.S.
attorney general
◆
1961 Failed Bay of Pigs invasion;
summit meeting with Nikita Khrushchev
◆
1961–73 Vietnam War
◆
1968 Brother Robert Kennedy assassinated during campaign for president
◆
1964 Civil Rights Act
of 1964 passed
1963 Assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Tex.
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
◆
Trang 6presidential nominating speech for ADLAI
second time to run against DWIGHT D
the vice presidential nomination to Senator
Estes Kefauver, of Tennessee
In 1957 Kennedy was appointed to the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he
became a critic of the Eisenhower
administra-tion’s foreign policy and a champion for
increased aid to underdeveloped countries He
also served on the committee that investigated
corruption and RACKETEERING in labor unions
and the head of the Teamsters Union, JAMES R
HOFFA
In 1960 Kennedy won the Democratic
presidential nomination He selected Senator
mate After a vigorous campaign that included
television debates with Republican RICHARD M
120,000 popular votes He was the youngest
American ever to be elected president, as well
as the first Roman Catholic to hold the office
His impressive inaugural speech contained the
popular phrase “Ask not what your country
can do for you—ask what you can do for your
country.”
Once in office, Kennedy drafted a series of
ambitious measures that were collectively
enti-tled the New Frontier These policies included
expanding the space program, instituting CIVIL
the tax system, and providing medical care for
older citizens through the SOCIAL SECURITY
program Most of the New Frontier programs
failed to progress through a Congress that was
dominated by southern Democratic leadership,
but many were enacted by President Johnson
following Kennedy’s assassination
The Kennedy administration was enmeshed
in a series of foreign crises almost immediately
In April 1961 Kennedy was severely criticized
for approving an ill-fated invasion of the Bay
of Pigs, in Cuba This clandestine operation,
conceived during the Eisenhower
administra-tion, was conducted by anti-Communist Cuban
exiles who had been trained in the United
States, and it was directed by the CENTRAL
public notoriety when it failed and created
international tension
In June 1961 Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, of the Soviet Union, met in Vienna
to discuss ways of improving Soviet-U.S
relations Instead of proceeding with those discussions, Khrushchev announced an in-creased alliance with East Germany Later, the Berlin Wall was constructed to prohibit West-ern influence and to prevent persons from fleeing East Germany In response, the United States added to its military forces in Germany
The most serious crisis occurred in October
1962, when the U.S learned that Soviet missiles were about to be placed in Cuba Kennedy issued a forceful statement demanding the dismantling of the missile sites and ordered a blockade to prevent the delivery of the missiles
to Cuba The world was poised for nuclear war until Khrushchev backed down and agreed to Kennedy’s demands Kennedy’s handling of the crisis led to national acclaim
U.S involvement in Southeast Asia began to increase during the Kennedy administration
Kennedy agreed to send U.S advisers to help the South Vietnamese government fight Com-munist rebels In 1963 the United States became involved in overthrowing the corrupt and unscrupulous South Vietnamese government
of President Ngo Dinh Diem
On the domestic front, Kennedy interacted with a newly invigoratedCIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
John F Kennedy LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Trang 7that was seeking to integrate the South In 1961 federal marshals were sent to Montgomery, Alabama, to help restore order after race riots had erupted In 1962 Kennedy sent 3,000 federal troops into Oxford, Mississippi, to restore order after whites rioted against the University of Mississippi’s admission of JAMES MEREDITH, its first African American student In 1963 Ken-nedy was forced to federalize the Alabama
Univer-sity of Alabama Later that year, he federalized the Guard again, in order to integrate the public schools in three Alabama cities
Faced with these problems, Kennedy pro-posed legislation requiring that hotels, motels, and restaurants admit customers regardless of race He also asked that the U.S attorney general be given authority to file lawsuits demanding the desegregation of public schools
Most of these proposals were passed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.A § 2000a et seq.)
Kennedy’s achievements during his brief term as chief executive included an agreement with the Soviet Union to restrict nuclear testing
to underground facilities; the creation of the Alliance for Progress, to establish economic programs to aid Latin America; and the creation
of the Peace Corps program, which provides U.S
volunteers to work in underdeveloped countries
On November 22, 1963, Kennedy’s term was ended by an assassin’s bullets in Dallas, and Johnson was sworn in as president Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the MURDER Oswald was killed two days later by Dallas nightclub owner JACK RUBY, while being moved from the city jail to the county jail Johnson appointed
a commission headed by Chief Justice EARL
In its report, issued in September 1964, the commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone in murdering Kennedy
Kennedy’s assassination has remained one
of the nation’s most heated controversies Many people were initially doubtful of the report’s conclusions, and the skepticism has grown over time Thousands of articles and books have been written that challenge the commisssion’s findings and allege that agencies of the federal government withheld information from the commission and that the commission itself concealed evidence that contradicted its con-clusions In 1978 and 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations re-examined the
evidence and concluded that Kennedy “was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.” Nevertheless, critics charged that vital informa-tion remained withheld from the public In
an effort to restore government credibility, Congress enacted the PresidentJOHN F.KENNEDY
Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992,
44 U.S.C.A § 2107, which established the Assassination Records Review Board, an inde-pendent federal agency whose mission was to identify and release as many records relating to the assassination as possible The board com-pleted its work in 1998, releasing thousands of documents relating to the events on, and leading to, November 22, 1963 However, no conclusive evidence has surfaced to indicate the true assassin or any other individuals who participated in the assassination
Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier in
1953 They had two surviving children, Caroline and John F Kennedy Jr Following Kennedy’s death, the activities of Jacqueline and the two children remained part of the American con-sciousness In 1968 Jacqueline married wealthy Greek businessman Aristotle Onassis, who died
in 1975 She worked as an editor with Double-day until her death in 1994 John F Kennedy Jr emerged as a popular media figure, and in 1995
he founded the now-defunct political magazine George However, like his father, the junior Kennedy died an early, tragic death when he was killed in a plane crash along with his wife and sister-in-law in 1999
FURTHER READINGS Anderson, Catherine Corley 2004 John F Kennedy Minneapolis: Lerner.
Kovaleff, Theodore P 1992 “The Two Sides of the Kennedy Antitrust Policy.” Antitrust Bulletin 37 (spring) Raatma, Lucia 2002 John F Kennedy Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point.
Schlesinger, Arthur M 2000 John F Kennedy, Commander
In Chief: A Profile In Leadership New York: Gramercy CROSS REFERENCES
Cuban Missile Crisis; “Inaugural Address” (Appendix, Primary Document); Limited Test Ban Treaty; Warren Commission.
vKENNEDY, ROBERT FRANCIS For more than 25 years in public service,
most important political and legal develop-ments of his time The younger brother, by five years, of President JOHN F KENNEDY, in
THE RIGHTS OF EVERY
MAN ARE DIMINISHED
WHEN THE RIGHTS OF
ONE MAN ARE
THREATENED
—J OHN F K ENNEDY
Trang 8whose cabinet he served, Bobby Kennedy held
a number of roles in government: assistant
counsel (1953–55) and chief counsel (1955–57)
to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations, chief counsel of the Senate
Rackets Committee (1957–59), U.S attorney
general (1960–63), and finally U.S senator from
New York (1965–68) His major endeavors
included probing union corruption in the 1950s
and implementing White House policy on the
assassinated in 1968, like his brother before
him, while campaigning for the presidency
Born into one of the United States’ most
powerful political dynasties, on November 20,
1925, in Brookline, Massachusetts, Kennedy was
the third son of Joseph P Kennedy and Rose
Fitzgerald Kennedy Great things were expected
of the Kennedy sons, and the means were
provided: $1-million trust funds, entrance to
the Ivy League, and later, leverage to see that they
held government positions Kennedy’s father, a
business magnate and former U.S ambassador to
Great Britain, doted on the shy, bookish, and
devoutly Catholic young man His father thought
Kennedy was most like himself: tough
Kennedy was educated at Harvard College,
interrupting his studies to serve inWORLD WAR II
as a Navy lieutenant, following the death of his
eldest brother, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr.,
in the war He served aboard the destroyer
Joseph P Kennedy until being discharged in
1946, then returned to Harvard, where he
played football and earned his bachelor of arts
degree in 1948 He next traveled briefly to
Palestine as a war correspondent MARRIAGE
to Ethel Skakel followed in 1950, and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1951
Kennedy and his wife had eleven children over the next eighteen years
Kennedy’s rapid ascent in national politics began immediately upon his admission to the Massachusetts bar in 1951 He first joined the Criminal Division of the U.S.JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
as a prosecutor The next year he managed his brother John’s senatorial campaign, and in early
1953 he was appointed an assistant counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Inves-tigations, which became the bully pulpit for the
❖
1925 Born,
Brookline, Mass.
1939–45 World War II
1944–46 Served
in U.S Navy
◆
1948 Earned A.B from Harvard University
◆
1951 Earned LL.B.; joined Justice Department's Criminal Division
◆
1952 Ran brother John's first Senate campaign
1950–53 Korean War
1953–56 Served as counsel to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee
on Investigations
1957–60 Served as chief counsel of Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities
1961–73 Vietnam War
1965–68 Served as U.S senator from N.Y.
❖
1968 Assassinated after campaign rally in Los Angeles, Calif.
1964 Pursuit of Justice published
1960–64 Served as U.S attorney under JFK and beginning of Lyndon Johnson's term
1960 Ran brother John's successful presidential
campaign; The Enemy Within published
◆
1964 Civil Rights Act
of 1964 passed
Robert Kennedy LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Trang 9anti-Communist witch-hunts of its chairman, Senator JOSEPH R MCCARTHY Kennedy worked under McCarthy’s foremost ally, Chief Counsel
ship-ping to Communist China, before resigning over disgust with McCarthy in mid-1953
Historians view his role in theRED SCAREcreated
by the proceedings to have been very limited, although some have argued that Kennedy was initially blind to Senator McCarthy’s agenda
Kennedy rejoined the subcommittee in 1954, and became its chief counsel and staff director
in 1955
Under the new leadership of Senator JOHN
atten-tion to labor RACKETEERING Kennedy focused
on corruption in the International Brotherhood
of Teamsters Heading a staff of 65 investi-gators, he squared off against the union’s presidents, David Beck and JAMES R HOFFA, in dramatic public hearings at which he often was accompanied by his brother John Kennedy and the subcommittee believed the union had con-nections toORGANIZED CRIME; the union viewed Kennedy as a show-off who was persecuting it for his own political benefit The union leaders frequently took theFIFTH AMENDMENT, refusing to answer questions under Kennedy’s relentless grilling Beck resigned and was later convicted;
Kennedy became a national figure The hearings began a long-running feud between Kennedy and Hoffa that would continue into the 1960s
Kennedy later devoted considerable resources
of the Justice Department to prosecuting Hoffa, ultimately convicted in 1964 for jury tampering,
Teamster benefit fund
In 1960 Kennedy managed his brother John’s presidential campaign His reward was the position of attorney general, an appoint-ment that brought widespread criticism of the president-elect for nepotism But Kennedy’s brother stood behind his decision, and thus began a relationship unique in presidential history: Throughout foreign policy crises in Cuba and Vietnam, domestic unrest overCIVIL
function-ing of the White House, Kennedy served as his brother’s closest adviser The two also shared a common problem in the person of Director
J Edgar Hoover, of the FEDERAL BUREAU OF
them while intensifying the FBI’s domestic spying during the Kennedy administration
The greatest crisis facing Attorney General Kennedy was the civil rights movement The slow pace of change had frustrated civil rights leaders and mounting violence—from beatings
to murder—brought pleas to the White House for intercession to protect demonstrators During the Freedom Rides of 1961, for example, when busloads of black activists sought to integrate bus stations in the South, the movement’s leaders appealed for help Kennedy dispatched Justice Department representatives to Alabama; asked for assurances of protection from Governor John Patterson, of that state; and brought suit to win
a court order on behalf of the riders The administration was reluctant to do more because
of concerns about limitations on federal power Then in May 1961, after more terrible assaults
on the activists in Montgomery, Alabama, the attorney general dispatched 500 federal marshals
to Alabama Yet the protection rendered did not stop local authorities from arresting, jailing, and beating activists
The reluctance of the White House to intercede more forcefully had a political rationale
as well: the new Kennedy administration had won election by a small margin that included southern support As critics have noted, concerns about federal authority did not stop the attorney general from later authorizing Director Hoover
to place wiretaps on the ReverendMARTIN LUTHER KING,JR., whom the pro-civil rights White House treated as an ally Hoover’s concerns about King’s alleged Communist ties affected the Kennedys As Kennedy later told an interviewer,
“We never wanted to get very close to him just because of these contacts and connections that
he had, which we felt were damaging to the civil rights movement.” Nor did Kennedy balk at approving the appointment of William Harold Cox, an outspoken racist, as a district judge in Mississippi, for reasons of political expediency, although he later regretted having done so In time, Kennedy and the president took bolder steps—in 1962, sending five thousand federal marshals to quell rioting in Mississippi, after
enter the state’s university, and later, securing King’s release from jail in Birmingham, Alabama
1963 changed the course of Kennedy’s life Besides grieving the loss of his brother, he found he worked uncomfortably under
Justice Department In 1964 he won election in
SOME MEN SEE
THINGS THAT ARE,
AND ASK‘WHY?’ I
SEE THINGS THAT
NEVER WERE,AND
ASK‘WHY NOT?’
—R OBERT F K ENNEDY
Trang 10New York to the U.S Senate, where he served as
a liberal voice until announcing his own bid for
the presidency in 1968
Emphasizing a commitment to the concerns
of young people, black citizens, and the nation’s
poor, the Kennedy campaign inspired radicals,
the working class, and the dispossessed
Kenne-dy’s opposition to the war in Vietnam was
passionate On a television broadcast, he said:
Do we have a right here in the United States to
country for what it can be and for the justice it
stands for
Kennedy’s candidacy sharply divided the
for the nomination, EUGENE MCCARTHY Kennedy
had won primaries in Indiana, Nebraska, and
finally California, when he was shot at a
campaign function on June 4, 1968, by Sirhan
Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant who said his
motive was the candidate’s support for Israel
The secondMURDERof a Kennedy, following hard
on the April 1968 assassination of King, was an
immeasurable shock to the nation It seemed to
many to sound the death knell of an era
Kennedy’s contribution to U.S law is
complex In the 1950s he helped expose
corruption in the nation’s unions, but critics
have subsequently treated his very personal
pursuit of Hoffa as an exercise not only in
justice but in vendetta When he headed the
Justice Department in the early 1960s, his
advocacy of civil rights had practical limitations
imposed by political necessities and legitimate
concerns about the balance of state and federal
authority; groundbreaking civil rights legislation would, of course, follow in the years after his tenure It was as a candidate for president that
he may have been his most memorable, an ardent and inspirational voice Through his opposition to theVIETNAM WAR and his support for the disadvantaged, he offered the promise of
a new idealism in politics
FURTHER READINGS Edwards, Owen Dudley 1984 “Remembering the Kenne-dys ” Journal of American Studies 18, no 3 (December).
Guthman, Edwin O., and Jeffrey Shulman, eds 1991 Robert Kennedy in His Own Words: The Unpublished Recollec-tions of the Kennedy Years New York: BDD Promo-tional Books.
Mills, Judie 1998 Robert Kennedy: His Life Brookfield, CT:
Millbrook.
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr 2002 Robert Kennedy and His Times Boston: Mariner.
Thomas, Evan 2002 Robert Kennedy: His Life New York:
Simon & Schuster.
vKENT, JAMES James Kent was a U.S attorney, judge, and scholar who played a central role in adapting the common law of England into the common law of the United States As a justice and later chief justice of the New York Supreme Court and a chancellor of the New York Court of Chancery (then the highest judicial officer in New York), Kent wrote many decisions that became foundations of nineteenth-century law
Kent’s great legal treatise Commentaries on American Law (1826–30) offered the first comprehensive analysis of U.S law
Kent was born July 31, 1763, in Putnam County, New York In 1777 he entered Yale University The Revolutionary War periodically
❖
1763 Born, Putnam County, New York
1765–69 Blackstone's Commentaries
on the Laws of England published
1775–83 American Revolution
1777–81 Attended Yale University
1790–93 Served in New York state legislature
◆
1785 Admitted to New York bar; began law practice in Poughkeepsie
1798 Joined bench of New York Supreme Court
◆
1806 Became chief justice of New York Supreme Court
1814 Appointed chancellor of the New York Court
of Chancery
◆
1793 Moved law practice to New York City; appointed first professor of law at Columbia University
◆
1826–30
Commentaries
on American Law published
1823 Forced to retire from bench at age 60; returned to private practice and professorship at Columbia
❖
1847 Died, New York City
THE DIGNITY OR INDEPENDENCE OF OURCOURTS IS NO MORE AFFECTED BY ADOPTING[ENGLISH JUDICIAL PRECEDENTS],THAN
IN ADOPTING THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
—JAMES KENT KENT, JAMES 147