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The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy: A Biography
An illuminating and comprehensive look at the remarkable—and tragically shortened—career of one of America’s most promising leaders.
Structured around the 1968 Democratic presidential campaign, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy offers an in-depth exploration of Robert Kennedy, both as a man and a politician. Kennedy’s mass appeal to minority groups, his antiwar stance, and his support from Catholics made him unlike any other politician of his stature in the late 1960s. Acclaimed journalist David Halberstam dives into Kennedy’s career, covering his work as US attorney general and campaign manager for his brother John, his run for a New York state senate seat, and his candidacy in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary. Through this crucial period, he charts Kennedy’s evolution as one of the nation’s most clear-headed progressives, ultimately revealing a man who—even now—personifies the shift toward a more equal America. This ebook features an illustrated biography of David Halberstam including rare images from the author’s estate.
Structured around the 1968 Democratic presidential campaign, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy offers an in-depth exploration of Robert Kennedy, both as a man and a politician. Kennedy’s mass appeal to minority groups, his antiwar stance, and his support from Catholics made him unlike any other politician of his stature in the late 1960s. Acclaimed journalist David Halberstam dives into Kennedy’s career, covering his work as US attorney general and campaign manager for his brother John, his run for a New York state senate seat, and his candidacy in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary. Through this crucial period, he charts Kennedy’s evolution as one of the nation’s most clear-headed progressives, ultimately revealing a man who—even now—personifies the shift toward a more equal America. This ebook features an illustrated biography of David Halberstam including rare images from the author’s estate.
214 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1969
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590 people want to read
About the author
David Halberstam
98 books869 followersDavid Halberstam was an American journalist and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and later, sports journalism. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 20, 2021
Back in the early 1990’s a gentleman, in a suit and tie, walked into the Palm Restaurant on a Saturday night. He was in his late sixties, maybe early seventies, and he was the first customer in the restaurant that night. He sat at one of my tables, and was waiting on two more guests. He ordered a drink, and after bringing it to him, he asked me where I was from? I told him that I was from the Bronx, but that my father was from Lawrence, Massachuetts.
He knew quite a bit about both places and he went on to tell me that as a political advisor, he had been in every state, and just about every city and town. I asked him who he worked for, and he answered Senator Robert Kennedy. He was his top advisor in the 1968 presidential campaign that ended with the tragic assassination of Mr. Kennedy.
He went on to tell me that whatever anyone thought about President John Kennedy was one thing, and as for Senator Ted Kennedy he simply waved his hand and remarked, “That’s another thing all together.”
He paused, as he looked out the window onto Santa Monica Blvd and then turned back to me with tears in his eyes and said, “But Robert Kennedy was the ‘best man’ I have ever known, and if anyone you know talks bad about him they didn’t really know the man.”
Over the years, I have told that story to only a few people, usually only people who I know really liked Mr. Kennedy like my lovely wife.
Mr. Halberstam’s book about the 1968 campaign, verifies all that the gentleman told me that night and Mr. Halberstam, in my opinion, is one of the great historians of our time. He gives you the facts, and does not sugar coat any of them.
Robert Kennedy was a unique politician, and sadly there have been few, if any, like him since the time of his death. He evolved as a fairly conservative, anti-communist politician and trouble shooter for his brother the President, into a moral, intelligent, and compassionate human being the likes of which so few politicians in the history of this country have ever witnessed.
He knew the world like few politicians ever had, travelled and talked to the downtrodden in the ghettos, the less educated in the distant mountain towns in many of our states, and helped the farmers and Mexicans at a time when it was not popular. He came out against the war in Vietnam, against his own party’s platform, and to the disgust of President Lyndon Johnson.
He championed the causes of black Americans when his advisors told him it wasn’t a wise thing to do, and besides they didn’t vote anyway. Yet, in 1968 Blacks and Mexican Americans showed up at the polls in record numbers to cast their vote for the only candidate who truly saw and understood their suffering, talked to them, and made promises they knew he would keep.
Like so many Americans, I have always wondered what the world would have been like if Robert Kennedy had lived, got his party’s nomination, and defeated one of the most corrupt, morally bankrupt human beings of all times. It certainly would have been much better, and the future of this country some forty years later I have no doubt a kinder, less bitter, place to live than it is now.
He knew quite a bit about both places and he went on to tell me that as a political advisor, he had been in every state, and just about every city and town. I asked him who he worked for, and he answered Senator Robert Kennedy. He was his top advisor in the 1968 presidential campaign that ended with the tragic assassination of Mr. Kennedy.
He went on to tell me that whatever anyone thought about President John Kennedy was one thing, and as for Senator Ted Kennedy he simply waved his hand and remarked, “That’s another thing all together.”
He paused, as he looked out the window onto Santa Monica Blvd and then turned back to me with tears in his eyes and said, “But Robert Kennedy was the ‘best man’ I have ever known, and if anyone you know talks bad about him they didn’t really know the man.”
Over the years, I have told that story to only a few people, usually only people who I know really liked Mr. Kennedy like my lovely wife.
Mr. Halberstam’s book about the 1968 campaign, verifies all that the gentleman told me that night and Mr. Halberstam, in my opinion, is one of the great historians of our time. He gives you the facts, and does not sugar coat any of them.
Robert Kennedy was a unique politician, and sadly there have been few, if any, like him since the time of his death. He evolved as a fairly conservative, anti-communist politician and trouble shooter for his brother the President, into a moral, intelligent, and compassionate human being the likes of which so few politicians in the history of this country have ever witnessed.
He knew the world like few politicians ever had, travelled and talked to the downtrodden in the ghettos, the less educated in the distant mountain towns in many of our states, and helped the farmers and Mexicans at a time when it was not popular. He came out against the war in Vietnam, against his own party’s platform, and to the disgust of President Lyndon Johnson.
He championed the causes of black Americans when his advisors told him it wasn’t a wise thing to do, and besides they didn’t vote anyway. Yet, in 1968 Blacks and Mexican Americans showed up at the polls in record numbers to cast their vote for the only candidate who truly saw and understood their suffering, talked to them, and made promises they knew he would keep.
Like so many Americans, I have always wondered what the world would have been like if Robert Kennedy had lived, got his party’s nomination, and defeated one of the most corrupt, morally bankrupt human beings of all times. It certainly would have been much better, and the future of this country some forty years later I have no doubt a kinder, less bitter, place to live than it is now.
May 6, 2019
David Halberstam was such a great narrator, and few understood or illustrated the zeitgeist of his times better than he. The book’s abrupt ending was painfully resonant and effective.
October 4, 2007
This is a much abridged version of my first review. Goodreads could not handle the volume of characters I dedicated to this book so I made it a book chapter in Political Essays (also on goodreads). Here is the shortened version, it does neither Halberstam nor Kennedy justice, but there it is:
I always knew there was something special about Bobby Kennedy—my mom told me so. But until I read this book I wasn’t quite able to put my finger on what it was. His celebrity is there, though admittedly less than his brothers, but what is tangible to the legacy of Robert Kennedy that makes him, in my mind, one of the great Americans of our time. Somehow, in a book that is as great in scope as it is narrow in time, David Halberstam answers the key questions, whose answers make up the story of Robert Kennedy’s greatness.
The book begins in the spring of 1967 with a meeting between the then Senator and Al Lowenstein, supporter of peace and organizer of student activist organizations throughout the country. Lowenstein was there to convince Bobby to run for president. Kennedy would surely run in 1972 but to challenge Johnson and in turn the Democratic political machine could be suicide. Ultimately, Kennedy listened to his closest political advisors and turned Lowenstein down. What his political advisors didn’t foresee was that a legitimate anti-war candidate would be found and if it wasn’t Bobby it would be someone else. Soon thereafter Lowenstein chose Senator Eugene McCarthy and for the first primary of 1968 hundreds of activists flocked to New Hampshire to work the “Get clean for Gene” anti-war, anti-Johnson campaign. Remarkably, this relatively unknown candidate from Minnesota took 42% of the NH vote to Johnson’s 49%-- this following Johnson’s huge margin of victory over Barry Goldwater in 1964, in which Johnson carried 44 states and 61% of the national popular vote-- and 20 of the 24 NH delegates to the Democratic convention. Kennedy could wait no longer and announced his intention to run less than a week later on March 16th.
Recognizing the great division within the Democratic party President Johnson dropped out of the race on March 31st, leaving Kennedy and McCarthy to battle each other over peace while Vice President Hubert Humphrey sat on the sidelines, waiting for the Democratic convention in Chicago. Before Bobby Kennedy’s political machinery was fully operational McCarthy won the next primary in Wisconsin. But Kennedy campaigned hard in Indiana and Nebraska, taking both fairly easily. The next state was Oregon, where as Kennedy’s people put it, there were no Ghettos except the one block where professors from the University of Oregon took their kids to show them how poor people lived. Kenendy-- because of his civil rights record, his anti-poverty stance and his brother’s legacy-- was the candidate for the working poor: black white or hispanic. But, in affluent and suburban Oregon that did not help him, McCarthy won. The book goes on to detail Bobby Kennedy’s last few weeks in life leading up to a strong primary victory on June 5th in California and his tragic death the next day.
As a reporter travelling with Kennedy’s campaign what Halberstam offers, in a book that is now nearly 4 decades old, is an eye witness account of the story of a man driven by his principles. In recounting Kennedy’s last 6 months, with flashbacks to his time as Attorney General and campaign manager for his brother, Halberstam offers the reader an in depth understanding of the personality that made Robert Kennedy so effective. Kennedy has often been misunderstood as too headstrong or reactive for his own good, but Halberstam paints a picture of a man who recognizes what is wrong in front of him and is determined to fix it. The book is beyond valuable because of the window it grants us into a world that is long gone yet remains critically relevant to issues today, of race poverty and war.
I always knew there was something special about Bobby Kennedy—my mom told me so. But until I read this book I wasn’t quite able to put my finger on what it was. His celebrity is there, though admittedly less than his brothers, but what is tangible to the legacy of Robert Kennedy that makes him, in my mind, one of the great Americans of our time. Somehow, in a book that is as great in scope as it is narrow in time, David Halberstam answers the key questions, whose answers make up the story of Robert Kennedy’s greatness.
The book begins in the spring of 1967 with a meeting between the then Senator and Al Lowenstein, supporter of peace and organizer of student activist organizations throughout the country. Lowenstein was there to convince Bobby to run for president. Kennedy would surely run in 1972 but to challenge Johnson and in turn the Democratic political machine could be suicide. Ultimately, Kennedy listened to his closest political advisors and turned Lowenstein down. What his political advisors didn’t foresee was that a legitimate anti-war candidate would be found and if it wasn’t Bobby it would be someone else. Soon thereafter Lowenstein chose Senator Eugene McCarthy and for the first primary of 1968 hundreds of activists flocked to New Hampshire to work the “Get clean for Gene” anti-war, anti-Johnson campaign. Remarkably, this relatively unknown candidate from Minnesota took 42% of the NH vote to Johnson’s 49%-- this following Johnson’s huge margin of victory over Barry Goldwater in 1964, in which Johnson carried 44 states and 61% of the national popular vote-- and 20 of the 24 NH delegates to the Democratic convention. Kennedy could wait no longer and announced his intention to run less than a week later on March 16th.
Recognizing the great division within the Democratic party President Johnson dropped out of the race on March 31st, leaving Kennedy and McCarthy to battle each other over peace while Vice President Hubert Humphrey sat on the sidelines, waiting for the Democratic convention in Chicago. Before Bobby Kennedy’s political machinery was fully operational McCarthy won the next primary in Wisconsin. But Kennedy campaigned hard in Indiana and Nebraska, taking both fairly easily. The next state was Oregon, where as Kennedy’s people put it, there were no Ghettos except the one block where professors from the University of Oregon took their kids to show them how poor people lived. Kenendy-- because of his civil rights record, his anti-poverty stance and his brother’s legacy-- was the candidate for the working poor: black white or hispanic. But, in affluent and suburban Oregon that did not help him, McCarthy won. The book goes on to detail Bobby Kennedy’s last few weeks in life leading up to a strong primary victory on June 5th in California and his tragic death the next day.
As a reporter travelling with Kennedy’s campaign what Halberstam offers, in a book that is now nearly 4 decades old, is an eye witness account of the story of a man driven by his principles. In recounting Kennedy’s last 6 months, with flashbacks to his time as Attorney General and campaign manager for his brother, Halberstam offers the reader an in depth understanding of the personality that made Robert Kennedy so effective. Kennedy has often been misunderstood as too headstrong or reactive for his own good, but Halberstam paints a picture of a man who recognizes what is wrong in front of him and is determined to fix it. The book is beyond valuable because of the window it grants us into a world that is long gone yet remains critically relevant to issues today, of race poverty and war.
March 21, 2016
I enjoyed the book, but I am a huge fan of Robert Kennedy so always enjoy reading about him! At times though I wasn't really sure where this book was headed our what its purpose was. If you are only going to read one book about the 1968 campaign, I'd probably suggest Thurston Clarke's 'The Last Campaign' instead.
April 28, 2020
Robert F. Kennedy is one of my heroes; it's not a word that I throw around lightly, in light of the fact that so many people in politics, art, culture, or whatever turn out to be ultimately unworthy of the label (and there are some who might think RFK is unworthy of it, too. I understand that not everyone will agree with me on that). I've read so many books about him over the years, I could literally tell you which books to read and which to avoid (the ones to read, off the top of my head, include Arthur Schlesinger's massive two-volume one, Evan Thomas' much shorter but still authoritative, and Larry Tye's more recent biography). But this one might be the best, even as it's the shortest.
David Halberstam records the final campaign of Bobby Kennedy in 1968, a year that was divisive and destructive for America both here at home and abroad. With an unending war in Vietnam and racial divisions here in the USA, Lyndon Johnson was vulnerable, and many pushed Kennedy to get in the race but he held out until Eugene McCarthy surprised everyone by winning the New Hampshire primary. Kennedy entered, but became something of a pariah among his natural base (the leftist students who had wanted him to run and who flocked to McCarthy because he wouldn't) and among the Democratic establishment (because party loyalty trumped even the need for a new course). Ultimately, Kennedy began to win supporters and primaries, and on the night he won the California primary his path towards the nomination was not assured but increasingly likely. Then a shot rang out in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, changing the nation forever.
This was a re-read, and it's one that I like to revisit every few years. I'll just be honest; if you couldn't tell from my "Bobby Kennedy is a hero of mine," I'm not a fan of the current president. I think he's as dangerous to this country as Nixon was. I lost a lot of sleep over the 2016 election, but I turn to this book a lot because it reminds me of another trying time in our history when leaders didn't talk tough; they talked compassionately, about the least-paid and most-discriminated-against among us. Robert F. Kennedy was a uniter of the poor and the black and the indigenous and the young, and he could've been a great president, or at least a very good one. The power of Halberstam's book lies in not dwelling on what could've been but in showing what was, at the time, one of the most complicated campaigns to seek the highest office in the land, and the decent human being at the center of it. We need a lot more leaders like Robert Kennedy now, and we're lucky to have had David Halberstsam there to capture so much of what ultimately proved a short-lived crusade for the soul of America
David Halberstam records the final campaign of Bobby Kennedy in 1968, a year that was divisive and destructive for America both here at home and abroad. With an unending war in Vietnam and racial divisions here in the USA, Lyndon Johnson was vulnerable, and many pushed Kennedy to get in the race but he held out until Eugene McCarthy surprised everyone by winning the New Hampshire primary. Kennedy entered, but became something of a pariah among his natural base (the leftist students who had wanted him to run and who flocked to McCarthy because he wouldn't) and among the Democratic establishment (because party loyalty trumped even the need for a new course). Ultimately, Kennedy began to win supporters and primaries, and on the night he won the California primary his path towards the nomination was not assured but increasingly likely. Then a shot rang out in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, changing the nation forever.
This was a re-read, and it's one that I like to revisit every few years. I'll just be honest; if you couldn't tell from my "Bobby Kennedy is a hero of mine," I'm not a fan of the current president. I think he's as dangerous to this country as Nixon was. I lost a lot of sleep over the 2016 election, but I turn to this book a lot because it reminds me of another trying time in our history when leaders didn't talk tough; they talked compassionately, about the least-paid and most-discriminated-against among us. Robert F. Kennedy was a uniter of the poor and the black and the indigenous and the young, and he could've been a great president, or at least a very good one. The power of Halberstam's book lies in not dwelling on what could've been but in showing what was, at the time, one of the most complicated campaigns to seek the highest office in the land, and the decent human being at the center of it. We need a lot more leaders like Robert Kennedy now, and we're lucky to have had David Halberstsam there to capture so much of what ultimately proved a short-lived crusade for the soul of America
April 27, 2020
There are so many other books to read about Bobby Kennedy that I would recommend you skip this one.
The author was a journalist who was part of the press corps on this delayed campaign, so it only covered the few months the campaign lasted. Halberstam was at his best describing Kennedy w/ hostile audiences - which is precisely when Kennedy was at his best, according to the author.
I felt cut off by the ending. It just—stopped. We only know Kennedy won the California primary from history, not necessarily from this book. But then, Kennedy’s life just - stopped - as well. So, maybe it’s a genius way to end the book?
The author was a journalist who was part of the press corps on this delayed campaign, so it only covered the few months the campaign lasted. Halberstam was at his best describing Kennedy w/ hostile audiences - which is precisely when Kennedy was at his best, according to the author.
I felt cut off by the ending. It just—stopped. We only know Kennedy won the California primary from history, not necessarily from this book. But then, Kennedy’s life just - stopped - as well. So, maybe it’s a genius way to end the book?
April 8, 2020
That last line :(
April 27, 2016
Halberstam relays his experience of traveling with the Kennedy campaign in the 1968 primary season that ended in Kennedy's assassination. A bit of a tedious read, it tells the story from the perspective of Halberstam as a member of the press corp. It gives some but little of the background that brought Bobby Kennedy to run for president with interesting insights into the problems faced by Lyndon B. Johnson that led to his announcement not to run for reelection. It ends at the California primary campaign but does not hit upon the assassination itself.
October 7, 2009
Something ironic and morbid about reading this real-time account of RFK's 1968 primary campaign when we know how the story must end. The final pages are exquisitely written.
April 14, 2020
I got this book as a free Kindle book and I made the mistake of not looking at the copyright: 1969, the year after Robert Kennedy's assassination. Had I paid attention, my expectations would have been more realistic.
I was 11 years old when he was killed; I remember the assassination, the shock and punch in the gut feeling of it, the brutality of it. I had, and have, an idealized picture of RFK the candidate: the man reaching out and speaking up for the poor, the victimized, the farm workers. I hoped that this book would help me appreciate Kennedy the man, not the legend; to get a deeper, if not deep, understanding of his inner journey, his transformation.
But this is less a book about Robert F. Kennedy than it is about his aborted campaign for the presidency. Halberstam was a reporter covering the campaign, and this is the work of a journalist, not a historian or biographer. I say this not as a criticism and with appreciation for the high quality of the book he produced in a short time, but it was not the book I was looking for, and I suspect it is not the book many people would benefit from today (unless they are so knowledgeable of RFK that the minutiae of campaign decisions deepens their knowledge).
Other than my disappointment, which is my problem, not the book's, I was annoyed by all the stereotypes in which he deals: constant references to what "the liberals," "the kids," "the Negroes," "the Jews," etc., think or feel. And if I had a nickel for every time "men" appears in the book, I'd be able to treat myself to a more in-depth book about RFK. It is a book of its time and reflects the reality that women were largely shut out of places of power.
I was 11 years old when he was killed; I remember the assassination, the shock and punch in the gut feeling of it, the brutality of it. I had, and have, an idealized picture of RFK the candidate: the man reaching out and speaking up for the poor, the victimized, the farm workers. I hoped that this book would help me appreciate Kennedy the man, not the legend; to get a deeper, if not deep, understanding of his inner journey, his transformation.
But this is less a book about Robert F. Kennedy than it is about his aborted campaign for the presidency. Halberstam was a reporter covering the campaign, and this is the work of a journalist, not a historian or biographer. I say this not as a criticism and with appreciation for the high quality of the book he produced in a short time, but it was not the book I was looking for, and I suspect it is not the book many people would benefit from today (unless they are so knowledgeable of RFK that the minutiae of campaign decisions deepens their knowledge).
Other than my disappointment, which is my problem, not the book's, I was annoyed by all the stereotypes in which he deals: constant references to what "the liberals," "the kids," "the Negroes," "the Jews," etc., think or feel. And if I had a nickel for every time "men" appears in the book, I'd be able to treat myself to a more in-depth book about RFK. It is a book of its time and reflects the reality that women were largely shut out of places of power.
July 27, 2022
I remember all too well that early morning in June 1968, finding my mother sitting at the edge of my bed crying, telling me Robert F. Kennedy had been shot and was not likely to live.
The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy is sadly a very appropriate title for this wonderful, but difficult book by David Halberstam. Is there really any better way of describing the potential RFK had for influencing the direction of America and perhaps even the course of the world? In our cynical world today, we would be fantasizing to suggest changing the world, but we may believe RFK could have greatly influenced so much. Halberstam, in the writing of The Unfinished Odyssey lets his journalist's guard down and suggests that he too sensed the ability Robert Kennedy would have had he lived. The Unfinished Odyssey was only Halberstam's third book in his career, so perhaps he hadn't developed the writer/journalist's cynicism that becomes more apparent in later political writings, or maybe he saw first hand what the possibilities would have been, had Robert Kennedy been given the chance. Perhaps his last sentence indicates what Halberstam had witnessed: "Then he descended to acknowledge his victory, to talk about the violence and the divisiveness, and to let a nation discover in his death what it had never understood or believed about him during his life."
Just as Halberstam speculated with The Unfinished Odyssey, we may only speculate and imagine how things may have otherwise been.
The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy is sadly a very appropriate title for this wonderful, but difficult book by David Halberstam. Is there really any better way of describing the potential RFK had for influencing the direction of America and perhaps even the course of the world? In our cynical world today, we would be fantasizing to suggest changing the world, but we may believe RFK could have greatly influenced so much. Halberstam, in the writing of The Unfinished Odyssey lets his journalist's guard down and suggests that he too sensed the ability Robert Kennedy would have had he lived. The Unfinished Odyssey was only Halberstam's third book in his career, so perhaps he hadn't developed the writer/journalist's cynicism that becomes more apparent in later political writings, or maybe he saw first hand what the possibilities would have been, had Robert Kennedy been given the chance. Perhaps his last sentence indicates what Halberstam had witnessed: "Then he descended to acknowledge his victory, to talk about the violence and the divisiveness, and to let a nation discover in his death what it had never understood or believed about him during his life."
Just as Halberstam speculated with The Unfinished Odyssey, we may only speculate and imagine how things may have otherwise been.
December 13, 2023
Halberstam writes one of the better books to analyze the candidate Robert Kennedy, following him on the campaign trail while relating his history and analyzing his turn from a rough anti-crime, anti-communist fixer to a champion of hopeful causes. I picked this book up to read a page or two, and got pulled into finishing it. That rarely happens to me. I was not very knowledgeable on Kennedy, so perhaps that helps make this a book that grabs you. The ending was very abrupt, much like the ending of "The Diary of Anne Frank", and for about the same reason. Halberstam shares many anecdotes from his life on the campaign trail with RFK. The funniest was that campaign advisor Dick Tuck was given responsibility for keeping track of RFK's dog while campaigning. When others commented how the mighty had fallen and asked how he liked taking care of the candidate's dog, Tuck replied that while they saw a dog, he saw an ambassadorship.
October 9, 2024
“Then he descended to acknowledge his victory, to talk about the violence and the divisiveness, and to let the nation discover in his death what it had never understood or believed about him during his life.”
I was born almost 30 years after Robert Kennedy’s death, but ever since I read Robert Kennedy and his Times, I have felt like the United States could have taken a course immensely for the better in the late 60s and early 70s had Robert Kennedy lived to be elected president. In all, I really believe we could be dealing with a much improved situation as a result of that better course today instead of the fear and hatred that dominates our politics and civil discourse today.
I was born almost 30 years after Robert Kennedy’s death, but ever since I read Robert Kennedy and his Times, I have felt like the United States could have taken a course immensely for the better in the late 60s and early 70s had Robert Kennedy lived to be elected president. In all, I really believe we could be dealing with a much improved situation as a result of that better course today instead of the fear and hatred that dominates our politics and civil discourse today.
December 11, 2017
What might have been;
An inside look at what might have been. Other reviewers have quibbles about style and therefore miss the message.
This book is about the evolution of RFK into a candidate like no other in the 20th century. He was still a work in progress when he was ripped from us by an assassin.
Who that assassin really was and what RFK would have done as president is a subject for someone else to explore.
An inside look at what might have been. Other reviewers have quibbles about style and therefore miss the message.
This book is about the evolution of RFK into a candidate like no other in the 20th century. He was still a work in progress when he was ripped from us by an assassin.
Who that assassin really was and what RFK would have done as president is a subject for someone else to explore.
May 10, 2023
Great book, but it was written just before RFK was killed, so the entire story isn't here. That being said, great insight on RFK and his campaign in 1968 and how his life changed after his brother was killed. The best book I've ever read on Robert, but also a little incomplete. Wonder if there was ever an updated version written by Halberstam before he himself died nearly 40 years later. A quick read at 214 pages and never bland for a second.
August 18, 2024
1.5
i had to see how this version of rfk sr. compares to “ask not”
the book is so old it smells amazing. as such the language used in this book is very outdated.
uh so i think a major weakness in this book is how soon it was published after rfk’s death. also where are the sources??
oh how it compares… while this shows weakness in his campaign and political career “ask not” really gets down to the person he was in real life. justice for marilyn monroe
i had to see how this version of rfk sr. compares to “ask not”
the book is so old it smells amazing. as such the language used in this book is very outdated.
uh so i think a major weakness in this book is how soon it was published after rfk’s death. also where are the sources??
oh how it compares… while this shows weakness in his campaign and political career “ask not” really gets down to the person he was in real life. justice for marilyn monroe
October 12, 2018
This book brings to mind how much we lost.
I campaigned for robert Kennedy in 1968. He was truly committed to those who were left on the fringes. I gave this book 5 stars because it allowed one to see all sides of the man. It brought him back to life for a brief moment. A must read!
I campaigned for robert Kennedy in 1968. He was truly committed to those who were left on the fringes. I gave this book 5 stars because it allowed one to see all sides of the man. It brought him back to life for a brief moment. A must read!
July 15, 2020
Extremely disappointing. Reads like a first draft: a number of lazy, inexcusable typos and a loose, almost non-structural organization. Both Halberstam and RFK are personal heroes of mine, but there's nothing heroic here about either author or subject. A pity; I was looking forward to a finding a source of inspiration in this election year.
April 10, 2023
Not a best effort.
Maybe, Halberstam didn’t have anything better to do.
Not many political insights, almost meaningless to any truth about America today.
Could sight the disjointed nature of California, “The paper revolutionaries.”
The new election of Biden, a non campaign.
Ended weirdly.
Maybe, Halberstam didn’t have anything better to do.
Not many political insights, almost meaningless to any truth about America today.
Could sight the disjointed nature of California, “The paper revolutionaries.”
The new election of Biden, a non campaign.
Ended weirdly.
November 8, 2023
Good inside look at RFK at the end
I picked this book up on sale as I am a big Kennedy fan. I found the writing to be more from an inside person than a biography but it also make it more personal. It was a good look from someone who saw alot during the tumultuous time of RFK deciding and then running for President. I recommend this book to any Kennedy fan.
I picked this book up on sale as I am a big Kennedy fan. I found the writing to be more from an inside person than a biography but it also make it more personal. It was a good look from someone who saw alot during the tumultuous time of RFK deciding and then running for President. I recommend this book to any Kennedy fan.
January 9, 2026
I thought I was going to read a biography of Robert Kennedy but in fact this book is just an account of his presidential campaign and it was frequently very boring.
After about 1/4, I started scanning it rather than reading it and by the time I got to the half, I simply abandoned it, something I very rarely do
After about 1/4, I started scanning it rather than reading it and by the time I got to the half, I simply abandoned it, something I very rarely do
August 26, 2017
A masterful work!
As usual, Halberstam has done a masterful job of capturing many of the disparate elements of a time of great change, placing them in a context of understandability. He was one of the greatest non-fiction writers of our time.
As usual, Halberstam has done a masterful job of capturing many of the disparate elements of a time of great change, placing them in a context of understandability. He was one of the greatest non-fiction writers of our time.
August 20, 2017
Excellent read.
December 26, 2017
Interesting content, but I found difficult it to follow at times.
October 29, 2018
Ends up abruptly which is fitting considering Bobby's untimely demise. But still a great account of what Bobby was really like from someone who covered him up close in that 1968 campaign.
October 1, 2021
An insightful book about the political journey of Bobby Kennedy from 1960 to 1968, principally his decision to run for the presidency in 1968
April 11, 2023
Less annoying than most Halberstam non-sports books.
April 13, 2024
It's all summed up in the last paragraph on the last page.
October 7, 2015
Summary: This is a classic account of Robert Kennedy's last campaign tracing his decision to run, primary campaigns and evolving political vision that ended on the night of his primary victory in California.
We are entering primary season again. So I turned to this classic account by distinguished journalist David Halberstam, who traveled with Robert Kennedy during his 1968 campaign for the presidency, cut short on the night of his primary victory in California.
He begins with Kennedy's struggle with the decision to run, which initially meant challenging the incumbent President in his own party. Veteran politicos still urged him to wait until 1972. Yet ever since Kennedy had broken with the Johnson administration on Viet Nam, many younger political advisers and many among the young and disaffected looked to him as a new kind of politician. Yet Kennedy kept waiting, allowing Eugene McCarthy to run a strong second to Johnson in New Hampshire. Halberstam traces the tormented realization that 1972 would be too long to wait. His entry and the continually eroding support for the war led to Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for another term.
Halberstam narrates the mad scramble to mount campaigns in Indiana and Nebraska, where Kennedy won victories. Then on to Oregon with neither the labor vote, nor large populations of disaffected. It was particularly chilling to read one narrative of Kennedy's encounter with gun rights advocates who he accused of deception on the issue of passing gun registration and background check laws. He said,
"If we're going to talk about this legislation, can't we do it honestly and not say it does something that it doesn't do? All this legislation does is keep guns from criminals and the mentally ill and those too young. With all the violence and murder and killings in the United States I think you will agree that we must keep firearms from those who have no business with guns or rifles."
Halberstam's comment is that the crowd "was not impressed." I could not miss the ironic and almost prophetic character of Kennedy's words, reading them a few days after the mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon and the sadness that 47 years later and after a record number of mass shootings, we are still in the deadlock Kennedy faced in 1968.
The concluding chapter chronicles the exhausting campaign across California, Kennedy's growing support among Blacks and Hispanics, his courageous engagement with radicals who tried to shout him down while they advocated anarchy, and the continued challenges of strategy as McCarthy turned more to media interviews rather than big but exhausting rallies. The book concludes with the Kennedy team plotting strategy to block Humphrey, who inherited Johnson's delegates, while Kennedy headed to the hotel ballroom to give his victory speech only to be cut down by an assassin.
The "unfinished odyssey" was not simply about the tragically interrupted campaign. It was also about the evolution of Bobby Kennedy's vision of and for America. As he distanced himself from the Johnson administration, he not only spoke out more against the quagmire of Viet Nam but also for the minorities struggling to find a place at America's table. His family's wealth freed him from the rich political patrons and enabled him to see the "other America". We see his evolution from an aide to Joe McCarthy in the 1950's and the oft-considered ruthless brother during John Kennedy's presidency to an outsider with a breadth of vision and compassion that captured the imagination of the young and the disaffected. We're left wondering what kind of president he might have been, where his odyssey would have ended, and how different America might be today.
The Open Road edition also includes a brief biography and photo spread chronicling the life of David Halberstam, who died tragically in an auto accident in 2007.
Reading this narrative is risky because one cannot help comparing Kennedy with today's field. I suspect our judgments may vary with our political commitments. For me it reminded me of that tragic spring of 1968 (I was in eighth grade at the time) when we lost King and Kennedy. Read this if nothing else to understand the "Kennedy mystique" narrated by one of the great journalists and writers of this period.
We are entering primary season again. So I turned to this classic account by distinguished journalist David Halberstam, who traveled with Robert Kennedy during his 1968 campaign for the presidency, cut short on the night of his primary victory in California.
He begins with Kennedy's struggle with the decision to run, which initially meant challenging the incumbent President in his own party. Veteran politicos still urged him to wait until 1972. Yet ever since Kennedy had broken with the Johnson administration on Viet Nam, many younger political advisers and many among the young and disaffected looked to him as a new kind of politician. Yet Kennedy kept waiting, allowing Eugene McCarthy to run a strong second to Johnson in New Hampshire. Halberstam traces the tormented realization that 1972 would be too long to wait. His entry and the continually eroding support for the war led to Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for another term.
Halberstam narrates the mad scramble to mount campaigns in Indiana and Nebraska, where Kennedy won victories. Then on to Oregon with neither the labor vote, nor large populations of disaffected. It was particularly chilling to read one narrative of Kennedy's encounter with gun rights advocates who he accused of deception on the issue of passing gun registration and background check laws. He said,
"If we're going to talk about this legislation, can't we do it honestly and not say it does something that it doesn't do? All this legislation does is keep guns from criminals and the mentally ill and those too young. With all the violence and murder and killings in the United States I think you will agree that we must keep firearms from those who have no business with guns or rifles."
Halberstam's comment is that the crowd "was not impressed." I could not miss the ironic and almost prophetic character of Kennedy's words, reading them a few days after the mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon and the sadness that 47 years later and after a record number of mass shootings, we are still in the deadlock Kennedy faced in 1968.
The concluding chapter chronicles the exhausting campaign across California, Kennedy's growing support among Blacks and Hispanics, his courageous engagement with radicals who tried to shout him down while they advocated anarchy, and the continued challenges of strategy as McCarthy turned more to media interviews rather than big but exhausting rallies. The book concludes with the Kennedy team plotting strategy to block Humphrey, who inherited Johnson's delegates, while Kennedy headed to the hotel ballroom to give his victory speech only to be cut down by an assassin.
The "unfinished odyssey" was not simply about the tragically interrupted campaign. It was also about the evolution of Bobby Kennedy's vision of and for America. As he distanced himself from the Johnson administration, he not only spoke out more against the quagmire of Viet Nam but also for the minorities struggling to find a place at America's table. His family's wealth freed him from the rich political patrons and enabled him to see the "other America". We see his evolution from an aide to Joe McCarthy in the 1950's and the oft-considered ruthless brother during John Kennedy's presidency to an outsider with a breadth of vision and compassion that captured the imagination of the young and the disaffected. We're left wondering what kind of president he might have been, where his odyssey would have ended, and how different America might be today.
The Open Road edition also includes a brief biography and photo spread chronicling the life of David Halberstam, who died tragically in an auto accident in 2007.
Reading this narrative is risky because one cannot help comparing Kennedy with today's field. I suspect our judgments may vary with our political commitments. For me it reminded me of that tragic spring of 1968 (I was in eighth grade at the time) when we lost King and Kennedy. Read this if nothing else to understand the "Kennedy mystique" narrated by one of the great journalists and writers of this period.
October 1, 2014
3 STARS
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).
"Structured around the 1968 Democratic presidential campaign, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy offers an in-depth exploration of Robert Kennedy, both as a man and a politician.
Kennedy’s mass appeal to minority groups, his antiwar stance, and his support from Catholics made him unlike any other politician of his stature in the late 1960s. Acclaimed journalist David Halberstam dives into Kennedy’s career, covering his work as US attorney general and campaign manager for his brother John, his run for a New York state senate seat, and his candidacy in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary. Through this crucial period, he charts Kennedy’s evolution as one of the nation’s most clear-headed progressives, ultimately revealing a man who—even now—personifies the shift toward a more equal America." (From Open Road website)
I loved how this book looked at Bobby without the shadow of Jack. The elder Kennedy is in the book as he was a big part of RFK's life but this book looks at him as a secondary character. A great short book written by a journalistic writer that writes what he sees than what he wants to see.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).
"Structured around the 1968 Democratic presidential campaign, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy offers an in-depth exploration of Robert Kennedy, both as a man and a politician.
Kennedy’s mass appeal to minority groups, his antiwar stance, and his support from Catholics made him unlike any other politician of his stature in the late 1960s. Acclaimed journalist David Halberstam dives into Kennedy’s career, covering his work as US attorney general and campaign manager for his brother John, his run for a New York state senate seat, and his candidacy in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary. Through this crucial period, he charts Kennedy’s evolution as one of the nation’s most clear-headed progressives, ultimately revealing a man who—even now—personifies the shift toward a more equal America." (From Open Road website)
I loved how this book looked at Bobby without the shadow of Jack. The elder Kennedy is in the book as he was a big part of RFK's life but this book looks at him as a secondary character. A great short book written by a journalistic writer that writes what he sees than what he wants to see.
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