Chris Matthews

"Bobby Kennedy was a personal hero to a multitude of Americans. As the train carrying his body headed to Washington, whites and blacks alike stood along the tracks, saluting him. They loved him as a fellow patriot who believed a great country could also be a good one. Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC's Hardball, has discovered what made him who he was...Drawing on extensive research and intimate interviews, Matthews shines a light on all the important moments of Bobby's life: his upbringing, his start in politics, his crucial role fighting for civil rights as attorney general, and his tragic run for president."--Dust jacket flap.

A Raging Spirit

Bobby Kennedy

Elda Mengisto

"I long ago came to realize that movies are are always about the present. It doesn't matter whether the wardrobe is Elizabethan or cowboy. The story is told by and for the living, those who'll be there to see it. The same is true of biography. Jack Kennedy said the reason we read about famous people's lives is to answer the question: What was this person actually like? Can I imagine being in their presence? Can I make the personal connection? Are they a hero to root for?"

This introduction was quite intriguing, as I've watched a couple of documentaries about the Kennedys this year: one on CNN, the other about Bobby Kennedy's campaign on Netflix. We see the glamour in their name and their impact on American history, and how tragedy shaped their family and the U.S. in general. What's interesting here is reading about the life of Robert F. Kennedy, who was seen as a figure of great promise to help the downtrodden, but was assassinated before he could do much about it.

The biography goes through multiple lens--one was the idea of family, specifically in the Irish Catholic lens. We see how how Joseph P. Kennedy rose through 20th century U.S. and his "appeasement" influence his shadow over the sons' lives, of which Bobby was almost considered redundant. However, we also see how much his mother influenced him, specifically in religion.

I didn't know how much these things, growing up, impacted Bobby Kennedy. There was the association with Joseph McCarthy which stuck out, immediately forming a stain on how one would have to perceive Kennedy. Even after McCarthy was censured and eventually died, he attende the funeral, which says more about his loyalty than his values.

That being said, I loved reading Matthews' approach to his subject. The writing style was quite clear, and the chapters were nicely contained. I loved seeing Bobby Kennedy's evolution from an awkward kid to being John's right hand man to an independent politician on his own right. What's interesting to see as well was how we see how utterly ambitious he was, but at the same time, was more sympathetic to the poor and the persecuted. One of the more interesting chapter intros was this quote:

"John Kennedy was a realist brilliantly disguised as a romantic; Robert Kennedy, a romantic stubbornly disguised as a realist." --Arthur Schlesinger

As for Matthews' interjection of his personal life into the biography, I had mixed feelings towards it. On the one hand, we see how much his youth was impacted by the Kennedy mystique, and understand the common bonds they had. On the other hand, it could be seen as unnecessary to the story, though I thought it worked seemlessly.

Overall, this is a good biography on someone who was in many ways an icon for what we want to be as a country. This was someone who started out sticking to the status quo, but opened himself more, to the point where his appearances in the crowd in California were tantamount to "presenting his body to the crowds as virtually a sacrificial offering". While it's quite sad to see those dreams dashed by bullets, it makes us wonder what could've been, and how we could try to integrate our hopes for the future. Especially with the state of the country now. (9/10)

Bobby Kennedy A Raging Spirit

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