book data
200 ratings,
4.29
average rating, 62 reviews
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published
May 27th 2008
by Henry Holt and Co.
binding
Hardcover, 272 pages
isbn
0805077928
(isbn13: 9780805077926)
description
The definitive account of Robert Kennedy's exhilarating and tragic 1968 campaign for president-a revelatory history that is especially resonant nowAft...more
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avg 4.29
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
I'd like to write a lengthier review of this book later, after I have an opportunity to meet with my friends to discuss this at our book club (my first ever...apparently I'm all growns up).
Suffice it to say, I did not love this book. In fact, I didn't even like it that much. I felt that most of the book bordered on hero worship, to the point that I could not form an objective opinion about Kennedy's storied '68 campaign.
That said, I ultimately gave "The Last Campai...more
Suffice it to say, I did not love this book. In fact, I didn't even like it that much. I felt that most of the book bordered on hero worship, to the point that I could not form an objective opinion about Kennedy's storied '68 campaign.
That said, I ultimately gave "The Last Campai...more
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Read in March, 2009
This was a great book. Because I am old enough to remember what it was like that awful Spring in 1968 when Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered and then Bobby Kennedy, I really appreciated having these events put into context. RFK's final 3 months were really amazing and, of course, beyond heartbreaking. I was only 9 years but I was enamoured with the man. I was living in San Diego on June 5, 1968 and was listening to the radio, following closely the primary results. I feel asleep with it on, kn...more
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Read in December, 2008
I read this book directly after reading Scott McClellands book about the Bush administration. I suggest Scott should read this book to learn what true political heroes are like. McClelland would learn how to give a speech from the heart,how to be curious and ask questions and learn, how to bring out the best in others rather than their selfishness, how to feel for the hungry, the poor, the sufferers.
For those of you to young to remember, read this book and meet a true patriot, a great man,...more
For those of you to young to remember, read this book and meet a true patriot, a great man,...more
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recommends it for:
anyone
I had never read or studied RFK before; thus, I was absolutely amazed that a politician would ever say things so strongly about the poor, and Native Americans as he did (which as the book points out, the situation has not change since 1968; indeed, if anything it has become worse). I believe today's politicians only say what will get them elected or say what their constituents are already endorsing. To read of RFK speaking so passionately and speaking of "sacrifice" as if it is approp...more
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Read in August, 2008
I mostly picked up this book because I attended a rally for RFK when he visited Milwaukee in the spring of 1968 during his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. I don't remember much about it except the crazed atmosphere of extreme adulation, and just how focused he seemed.
Thurston Clarke's thesis is that Robert Kennedy represented the best hope for a politics of reconciliation and compassion, shared responsibility and service to country, at a time when the country was...more
Thurston Clarke's thesis is that Robert Kennedy represented the best hope for a politics of reconciliation and compassion, shared responsibility and service to country, at a time when the country was...more
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Read in June, 2008
To read this book is to feel the heartbreak all over again.
The anecdote of the wedding party throwing their bouquets at the train bearing RFK's body is unforgettable.
His speech in Indianapolis the night of Martin Luther King's death must rank among the bravest acts of leadership in the history of this country. It is impossible to imagine any politician today being capable of such.
And telling black audiences that there was no free ride, student audiences t...more
The anecdote of the wedding party throwing their bouquets at the train bearing RFK's body is unforgettable.
His speech in Indianapolis the night of Martin Luther King's death must rank among the bravest acts of leadership in the history of this country. It is impossible to imagine any politician today being capable of such.
And telling black audiences that there was no free ride, student audiences t...more
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Read in February, 2009
Only someone who is a political junkie would enjoy this book. I found the adoration that the writer lavishes on Robert Kennedy bordered on nauseating. It also seems that his conclusion, reached perhaps for good reason, was that RK had a death wish. I did find the parallels between his short campaign to Barak Obama's recent election. I believe he would have been the president had he not been assassinated. Imagine how different the world would have been had Nixon not been elected.
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Read in June, 2008
I love Bobby Kennedy, though even I thought that at times, the author goes a little overboard with just how "perfect" RFK was. I will warn of that right now: the author at times loses all objectivity. That said, this really is a well researched and well written account of one politician actually worth falling in love with. Puts to rest a lot of misconceptions (RFK wasn't going to run until McCarthy made a good showing in NH against Johnson, most notably) and shows how so often the c...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone
A very short book and a little bit repetitive in the first two thirds.
But the last 1/3 was so beautiful, especially the story describing Bobby's campaigning in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he meets Christopher Pretty Boy, an orphan. RFK asks Christopher to accompany him during the day, and invites him to spend the rest of the Summer with the Kennedy family in Hyannisport. Bobby would be dead less than a month later, and Christopher Pretty Boy would be dead...more
But the last 1/3 was so beautiful, especially the story describing Bobby's campaigning in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he meets Christopher Pretty Boy, an orphan. RFK asks Christopher to accompany him during the day, and invites him to spend the rest of the Summer with the Kennedy family in Hyannisport. Bobby would be dead less than a month later, and Christopher Pretty Boy would be dead...more
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Read in October, 2008
It is just what it says - a description of the RFK presidential campaign in 1968. If you want a RFK bio or a look at his thinking, look elsewhere.
It's a very wistful book. I expect the Bobby Kennedy depicted in it is seen through rose-colored glasses, but I really wished that I had the chance to vote for someone like him, who had compassionate yet practical principles and acted on them.
There's no attempt to hide the final outcome, as the book starts with a description...more
It's a very wistful book. I expect the Bobby Kennedy depicted in it is seen through rose-colored glasses, but I really wished that I had the chance to vote for someone like him, who had compassionate yet practical principles and acted on them.
There's no attempt to hide the final outcome, as the book starts with a description...more
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Read in May, 2009
I'm surprised I finished this. Within the first 15 minutes I was annoyed. I thought it would be more analysis or explainations of what happened. No. It is purely a political book.
The one thing I gained from it is an understand of how many democratic and republican values switched during this time. (Utah used to be highly democratic and now it is the opposite.) I believe now Bobby Kennedy was responsible for turning the tide on that. By the way, if you're going to listen to i...more
The one thing I gained from it is an understand of how many democratic and republican values switched during this time. (Utah used to be highly democratic and now it is the opposite.) I believe now Bobby Kennedy was responsible for turning the tide on that. By the way, if you're going to listen to i...more
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Read in October, 2008
RFK essentially lived two lives... before his brother's death and that which came after. The tragedy of JFKs assassination seemed to bring out the best in RFK, and because of this, his campaign for the presidency in 1968 is inspiring. Stories that are told so tangibly, so feel as if you are right there swept up in the times... and that, again, may be because those times are so like the current days we are living in. A worthwhile read about hope, passion, ethics, fighting the good fight, and h...more
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Changed how I look at politics and also at myself and what I can accomplish. I finished it a couple of months ago and STILL can't stop thinking about it. AMAZING, breath-taking, inspiring, heart-breaking! Bobby Kennedy is my hero (and I don't say that at all often). One of my favorite books of all time. Everyone should read this!!!
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Read in November, 2008
Excellent, excellent book. It was great to get a picture of what the campaign was like, what it meant, and how he got to the place where he wanted to run it. For being such a legendary political celebrity, he really just wanted to help people and fix things, and hated having to play the political and media game to do so (and he often refused to play). The descriptions of his interactions with crowds, and of his trips to the reservations and poor areas where he'd just sit with poor, filthy, st...more
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I got interested in RFK after listening to the "Day of Affirmation" speech. He was the most passionate and sincere person ever to run for the Presidency. His death is one of the greatest tragedies of "what could of been" in American history.
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Read in April, 2009
Reviewers have charged Clarke with hero worship regarding his subject RFK. I can understand that, but I think the book is more even handed though. Clarke presents his flaws and RFK's preferred method of campaigning: to the crowds. This methods was effective, but not all the time. I think RFK could have been a more well rounded campaigner if he was more comfortable with TV and working the suburbs.
One thing sticks with me: the power of RFK's message and conviction, a politician tha...more
One thing sticks with me: the power of RFK's message and conviction, a politician tha...more
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Read in November, 2008
I am a fan of RFK for a variety of reasons, and I was excited to receive this book from my former teacher Mrs. Harding for my birthday this year. I read the beginning chapter and had goose bumps, and read on. Sadly, although the book has some great snap shots into Kennedy’s life and work, it didn’t sustain for me the glorious beginning. I did learn a great deal about the man and the book served as an excuse to start up a book club with my friends (and the book club is an excuse really to ...more
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Read in July, 2008
For those people who felt Robert Kennedy (when we were not able to imagine yet a man who would write DREAMS FROM MY FATHER) was the last best hope for a compassionate America, this is an unforgettable and heartbreaking book.
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Read in February, 2009
A well-written, entertaining blow-by-blow of Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign. The similarities to Obama are shocking and who knows what the world would be like had he survived and been elected?
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Read in December, 2008
I was 14 when Robert Kennedy ran for president and was assinated. I was totally enamored with him and devastated when he died. This book helped me to understand what was going on in America at the time. It was hard to revisit, but I'm glad I did. It's an excellent book.
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