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85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy
Chronicles the primary campaign and offers a study of both the man involved and the American political system at work
365 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 24, 2011
This account of Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign and death in 1968 is far more detailed than any others I have read. It is also a very informative analysis of the social turmoil and the Democratic political landscape during that election. The chronology begins in January of that year, as the Senator began to be prodded by the media about a potential challenge to incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson. Much of author Jules Witcover's material comes from his personal observations from when he traveled in the press corps on the campaign trail with Kennedy. That is supplemented by well-researched details he obtained from meeting notes, public records, and interviews of those close to Kennedy. He has blended both types of information to form a fast-paced, cohesive, and captivating narrative.
For nearly three months - and the first 80 pages of this book - Kennedy is tormented by indecision regarding the possibility of challenging Johnson as he became increasing dismayed by decisions Johnson was making regarding Vietnam and domestic policy. But once the decision is made on March 14th, the pace quickens and stays that way until the somber contemplation and what-if speculation in the final chapters. I read the 20th-anniversary edition printed in 1988, with a new epilogue by Witcover that further discussed what might have been had Kennedy become President.
Witcover described many of the campaign events in a way that made me feel as though we were inside Kennedy's head. As the candidate struggled to develop himself as an outgoing candidate that could relate to crowds, he was always trying to analyze why he could connect with certain crowds and not others. One interesting observation he made was that people with problems tended to identify readily with him, while ones that were two comfortable tended to find his message threatening.
I was especially struck by one incident during the early days of the campaign. The crowds to see him had been growing and getting more excited. On one occasion he got more cutting in his criticism of Johnson and he and the crowd started feeding off each others sarcastic intensity. Right after the event, Kennedy and his staff were all alarmed by this off-message slide into "demagoguery", and became determined to not let it happen again. This concern might seem quaint today, in a time where the success of many politicians and media celebrities (i.e., pundits and talk show hosts) is based totally on demagoguery.
I enjoyed Witcover's style and respect his analytical abilities. I plan to read more of his many books.
For nearly three months - and the first 80 pages of this book - Kennedy is tormented by indecision regarding the possibility of challenging Johnson as he became increasing dismayed by decisions Johnson was making regarding Vietnam and domestic policy. But once the decision is made on March 14th, the pace quickens and stays that way until the somber contemplation and what-if speculation in the final chapters. I read the 20th-anniversary edition printed in 1988, with a new epilogue by Witcover that further discussed what might have been had Kennedy become President.
Witcover described many of the campaign events in a way that made me feel as though we were inside Kennedy's head. As the candidate struggled to develop himself as an outgoing candidate that could relate to crowds, he was always trying to analyze why he could connect with certain crowds and not others. One interesting observation he made was that people with problems tended to identify readily with him, while ones that were two comfortable tended to find his message threatening.
I was especially struck by one incident during the early days of the campaign. The crowds to see him had been growing and getting more excited. On one occasion he got more cutting in his criticism of Johnson and he and the crowd started feeding off each others sarcastic intensity. Right after the event, Kennedy and his staff were all alarmed by this off-message slide into "demagoguery", and became determined to not let it happen again. This concern might seem quaint today, in a time where the success of many politicians and media celebrities (i.e., pundits and talk show hosts) is based totally on demagoguery.
I enjoyed Witcover's style and respect his analytical abilities. I plan to read more of his many books.
April 1, 2016
The story of Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign is one that, with the benefit of a half-century's worth of hindsight, has a lot of built-in tension. We see him campaigning across the country, marching towards the inevitability of becoming the second Kennedy brother to fall victim to an assassin's bullet in four-and-a-half years.
While any retelling of that story has that inevitable built-in tension, it's the really good ones that still grab you by the throat and pull you into the hectic, fast-paced whirlwind through Kentucky, Indiana, Oregon, and California. It's the really good ones that still feel like a punch in the gut when Sirhan Sirhan fires the trigger, when Ethel Kennedy kneels at her husband's side, when supporters walk around the Ambassador dazed after Bobby's been transported to the hospital, when, after more than a day of increasingly dire reports, Frank Mankiewicz announced Bobby's death to a stunned traveling press corps.
Witcover was one of the boys on the bus covering the campaign, and his familiarity with the man and the events are apparent. And boy, does he know how to tell this story in a powerful way.
While any retelling of that story has that inevitable built-in tension, it's the really good ones that still grab you by the throat and pull you into the hectic, fast-paced whirlwind through Kentucky, Indiana, Oregon, and California. It's the really good ones that still feel like a punch in the gut when Sirhan Sirhan fires the trigger, when Ethel Kennedy kneels at her husband's side, when supporters walk around the Ambassador dazed after Bobby's been transported to the hospital, when, after more than a day of increasingly dire reports, Frank Mankiewicz announced Bobby's death to a stunned traveling press corps.
Witcover was one of the boys on the bus covering the campaign, and his familiarity with the man and the events are apparent. And boy, does he know how to tell this story in a powerful way.
March 20, 2017
It was truly hard to read this book after 2016's election. RFK cared, he showed us the way to be kind and caring to ALL. The what ifs will ever haunt me. How many lives in Vietnam alone would have been saved? Please God send us another Bobby.
March 26, 2021
Jules Witcover is one of the premier political journalists of the middle to late twentieth century. I have read several of his previous books (some with Jack Germond). "85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy" is by far his most moving work.
As a member of Kennedy's traveling press corps, Witcover witnessed the 85 day campaign of the younger brother of America's 35th President. The reader knows how this ends: with Kennedy's tragic and senseless assassination in a Los Angeles hotel kitchen. However, the strength of the book is in the narrative leading up to that fateful event. The author captures Kennedy's uncertainty about challenging President Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primaries. Once decided, he takes one on a journey across the United States as Kennedy excites the faithful but also grapples with setbacks and gaffes.
The close of the book left this reader with tears in his eyes, wondering what might have been?
As a member of Kennedy's traveling press corps, Witcover witnessed the 85 day campaign of the younger brother of America's 35th President. The reader knows how this ends: with Kennedy's tragic and senseless assassination in a Los Angeles hotel kitchen. However, the strength of the book is in the narrative leading up to that fateful event. The author captures Kennedy's uncertainty about challenging President Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 Democratic primaries. Once decided, he takes one on a journey across the United States as Kennedy excites the faithful but also grapples with setbacks and gaffes.
The close of the book left this reader with tears in his eyes, wondering what might have been?
May 13, 2023
Just another great book by Jules Witcover I really enjoyed. Read it like a thriller allthough we know who did it, why and how. But the suspence to June the 6th is always there. And I have the idea that I read things about Robert Kennedy that I didn't read before. My earlier reads where about Bobby Kennedy as the brother of John F and his role in the adminstration. It was nice to read how he changed after the horror in Dallas, looks like RFK became a different man with his focus on the Hispanic workers, the Native Americans in their reservations and the Blacks in the poor side of the cities. All in all another wonderfull piece of history written by Jules Witcover.
August 5, 2021
If you think politics should be about helping and empowering the poor, disposessed and discriminated parts of a scociety, then Robert F. Kennedy should be a blitz of inspiration.
RFK is as relevant today as he was in the 60s, demonstrated with the growing support of the two latest Bernie Sanders presidental campaigns.
RFK is as relevant today as he was in the 60s, demonstrated with the growing support of the two latest Bernie Sanders presidental campaigns.
August 11, 2022
If there’s a book about Robert Kennedy, chances are I have read it. This was a new one for me & incredible. Being that it was written so soon after his assassination, I feel like there are small details about his life and campaign that are missed now days when we talk and learn about it. A fantastic depiction of Senator Kennedy’s last campaign.
July 19, 2024
Wanted to learn more about 1968 Presidential campaign history—this was a great read for my purposes. Got a little weedy in spots but some readers may be looking for that level of detail. Timely history.
March 25, 2020
Appreciated this as my first exposure to Bobby Kennedy. Went a bit in the weeds. But conveyed a sense of his force of purpose and the tragedy of his death.
October 27, 2013
Written the year after RFK's murder, this is a reserved, considered, but still sometimes raw account of Kennedy's short run for the presidency. The author accompanied Kennedy's campaign in the days when the press could get much closer to the candidate than it can now, and the book benefits a great deal from that close access. Those like me who are too young to have formed an impression of Robert Kennedy during his life can get a real sense of the man here.
The first three-quarters of the book is a day-by-day detailed look at the campaign from the days before its start, when Kennedy hesitated (too long, it seems now) to enter the race for fear of having his candidacy mistaken as a personal vendetta against President Johnson. It's the final quarter, dealing with the assassination and its immediate aftermath, that will be most gripping to most readers. Because the Kennedys loomed larger than life in so many ways, it's too easy to forget that they are men and women just like the rest of us, and Witcover makes their personal uncertainties--and agonies--very vivid.
The first three-quarters of the book is a day-by-day detailed look at the campaign from the days before its start, when Kennedy hesitated (too long, it seems now) to enter the race for fear of having his candidacy mistaken as a personal vendetta against President Johnson. It's the final quarter, dealing with the assassination and its immediate aftermath, that will be most gripping to most readers. Because the Kennedys loomed larger than life in so many ways, it's too easy to forget that they are men and women just like the rest of us, and Witcover makes their personal uncertainties--and agonies--very vivid.
January 26, 2014
This is a painful book to read. It's like if they made a three-hour movie about the Titanic. Bobby just gets closer and closer to the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel.
Witcover, although he writes about his worries that he might be in the tank for RFK, is totally in the tank for RFK. RFK's only flaw is that he did not run for president soon enough. Well, there are a couple of times Witcover believes he patronizes Native Americans and Hispanic Americans. But it's clear Witcover sees a Christlike story -- except Bobby's desire to let he cup pass ruins him and there is no resurrection, only the prospect of Teddy.
Still the close up is compelling and exciting, even if ultimately not too purposeful.
Witcover, although he writes about his worries that he might be in the tank for RFK, is totally in the tank for RFK. RFK's only flaw is that he did not run for president soon enough. Well, there are a couple of times Witcover believes he patronizes Native Americans and Hispanic Americans. But it's clear Witcover sees a Christlike story -- except Bobby's desire to let he cup pass ruins him and there is no resurrection, only the prospect of Teddy.
Still the close up is compelling and exciting, even if ultimately not too purposeful.
July 30, 2007
Author Jules Witcover was a newsman assigned to cover RFK's presidential campaign. Witcover was not a fan of RFK when the assignment began, but by its tragic end, he had come to believe in RFK. This book is a fabulous run along a campaign trail bursting with youth and energy and ideals - and also provides quieter, more reflective moment with the Bobby Kennedy who became so connected to suffering and poor people throughout this country. Even if you do not believe (as I do) that Kennedy was a rare visionary and that had he lived, this world would be a different and much better place, "85 Days" is a compelling read.
March 3, 2008
Robert Kennedy immediately became of of my favorite Americans after reading this book. The energy, effort and inspiration that he was able to collectively channel during his bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination was amazing to read about. The what ifs that surround his assassination may be greater than those surrounding his Presidential brother. What if he had won the nomination? What if he had become President? What could he have accomplished? This book is incredibly detailed when recounting the decision to run, the assistance he received from friends and family members and most interestingly the opposition he faced from colleagues running against him.
January 31, 2012
This book focused (obviously, by the title) on Robert Kennedy's last campaign. The book went into the political wheelings and dealings that went on during those years. It went into how personalities affected the political decisions of the day and how the smallest decisions had the greatest impact on political calculations of the day. It was both a wonderful & a terrible read. Wonderful for it's enlightening nature and terrible because it gave me wounds that I was too young to have at the time, and then re-opened them. It taught me what a wonderful leader Robert Kennedy was and what a great President he might have made.
January 7, 2015
Great great great read. Couldn't put it down. A very well paced book that takes you through the agonizing decision RFK made to run and then takes you through the 85 days from the first days on the campaign trail, primaries, stump speeches throughout the country, to the last days in Los Angeles and finally the funeral in New York and funeral train to Arlington. Wish I had known about this book sooner. Schlesinger's book is exhaustive and covers his whole life. Evan Thomas's is good too but feels kind of like Schlesinger-lite. If you want a quick read that covers his last campaign, this is it.
June 30, 2015
I found this by accident in an old bookstore. It was interesting to read this right after finishing "passage of power" by Robert Caro which also has an exhaustive account of JFK's assassination and then the subsequent years of dislike between LBJ and RFK.
This book was written in 1969, just a year after RFK's death. It doesn't have the thousands of hours of interviews and research of some other biographies you might read, but what it does have is a very personal account of what it was like to be with Robert Kennedy on his final trip across the country. It's a wrenching, but I think indispensable book if you want to get a sense of who the man had become by the end of his life.
This book was written in 1969, just a year after RFK's death. It doesn't have the thousands of hours of interviews and research of some other biographies you might read, but what it does have is a very personal account of what it was like to be with Robert Kennedy on his final trip across the country. It's a wrenching, but I think indispensable book if you want to get a sense of who the man had become by the end of his life.
January 12, 2009
From a front row seat, Witcover wrote the best book specifically focusing on Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign.
February 18, 2013
I read this book in 1988 when it came out and still consider it a very authoritative look at the RFK presidential bid. Whitcover knew the right players to this story.
May 11, 2015
I read this when it first came out (1969?). Still brilliant and powerful.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews