5 June 1968: Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated
On June 5, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, just moments after claiming victory in the California Democratic presidential primary. He died the following day, and his assassination shocked a nation already reeling from the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. just two months earlier.
Robert Kennedy, younger brother of President John F. Kennedy who had been assassinated in 1963, had entered the 1968 presidential race as a champion of civil rights, the poor, and those who opposed the Vietnam War. His campaign had generated enormous enthusiasm, particularly among young people, African Americans, and working-class voters who saw in him a hope for healing the nations deep divisions.
The night of June 4-5 had been triumphant for Kennedy. He had just won the crucial California primary, putting him in a strong position to challenge Vice President Hubert Humphrey for the Democratic nomination. Shortly after midnight, Kennedy addressed jubilant supporters in the Embassy Ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel, ending his speech with the words, My thanks to all of you, and now it is on to Chicago and lets win there.
As Kennedy left the ballroom through a kitchen passageway, Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian immigrant, fired a .22 caliber revolver at the Senator. Kennedy was struck three times, with one bullet lodging near his brain. Despite emergency surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital, Kennedy died 26 hours after the shooting at the age of 42, leaving behind his wife Ethel, who was pregnant with their eleventh child.
Sirhan Sirhan was immediately apprehended by Kennedys bodyguards and others present, including Olympic decathlete Rafer Johnson and former professional football player Rosey Grier. The assassin later claimed he shot Kennedy because of the Senators support for Israel, though the precise motivations have been debated by historians and investigators for decades.
The assassination of Robert Kennedy marked the end of an era of hope for many Americans. Coming just 63 days after Martin Luther King Jrs murder and five years after President Kennedys assassination, it deepened the sense that violence had become an inescapable part of American political life. Kennedy was buried near his brother at Arlington National Cemetery, and his death left an indelible mark on American history and the question of what might have been.
