what was robert kennedy's experience before he became attorney general

by Florine Batz 7 min read

What did Robert Kennedy do as Attorney General?

Mar 16, 2021 · Download image. Robert Francis Kennedy. Sixty-Fourth Attorney General 1961-1964. Robert Francis Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 20, 1925. He served with the United States Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946. He earned a B.A. degree from Harvard University in 1948, was a correspondent on The Boston Post, and in 1951 graduated …

Who was Robert Kennedy?

Nov 08, 2009 · Robert Kennedy was the U.S. attorney general from 1961 to 1964 and a U.S. senator from New York from 1965 to 1968. A graduate of Harvard University and the

When did John F Kennedy become an attorney?

Robert Francis Kennedy, also referred to by his initials RFK or by the nickname Bobby, was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. Senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968.

Who was the Attorney General in 1961?

According to many, Robert Kennedy, the youngest attorney general since 1814, lacked experience in practicing law. But he silenced the critics by assembling a skilled and dedicated staff, and by promoting innovative and aggressive programs to enforce civil rights, combat organized crime, improve legal access for the poor, and develop new approaches to juvenile delinquency.

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Kennedy continued to serve as attorney general until he resigned in September 1964. The months after his brother’s death were a desperate time for him. He was stooped by grief and spent long periods staring out windows or walking in the Virginia woods. He had presided over the Department of Justice for 44 months. He had emerged as a statesman of the law, improving …

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What was Kennedy's experience?

After a brief stint in journalism, Kennedy represented a working-class Boston district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953. He was subsequently elected to the U.S. Senate and served as the junior senator for Massachusetts from 1953 to 1960.

How did Robert Kennedy become attorney general?

Kennedy resigned from the committee to conduct his brother's successful campaign in the 1960 presidential election. He was appointed United States Attorney General at the age of 36, becoming the youngest Cabinet member in U.S. history since Alexander Hamilton in 1789.

How long did Robert Kennedy live after he was shot?

Earlier that evening, the 42-year-old junior senator from New York was declared the winner in the South Dakota and California Democratic presidential primary during the 1968 presidential election. He was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. PDT on June 6, about 26 hours after he had been shot.

Who was JFK attorney general?

Robert Francis KennedyPresident Kennedy's appointment of his 35-year-old brother Robert Francis Kennedy as the attorney general of the United States was controversial.

What is JFK's full name?

John Fitzgerald KennedyJohn F. Kennedy / Full name

Who is the youngest attorney general?

In 1814 Madison offered Rush the choice of Secretary of the Treasury or Attorney General of the United States, of which positions Rush chose the latter. With his appointment as Attorney General, Rush became the youngest person to serve in that office.

Why did Robert Kennedy get assassinated?

A motive cited for Sirhan's actions is the Middle East conflict. After his arrest, Sirhan said, "I can explain it. I did it for my country." Sirhan believed that he was deliberately betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel in the June 1967 Six-Day War, which had begun one year to the day before the assassination.

What were John F Kennedy's last words?

Nellie Connally, the First Lady of Texas, turned to Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you". Kennedy's reply – "No, you certainly can't" – were his last words.

Where was Robert F Kennedy shot?

PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, CARobert F. Kennedy / Place of deathPIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital is a hospital in Los Angeles, California. The hospital has 408 beds. In 2019 Good Samaritan joined the PIH Health network. Wikipedia

When was Robert Kennedy shot?

June 6, 1968, PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, CARobert F. Kennedy / Assassinated

Who did JFK appoint?

Kennedy appointed two men to the Supreme Court of the United States: Byron White and Arthur Goldberg.

Who was the attorney general in the 1960s?

Ramsey ClarkClark in 196866th United States Attorney GeneralIn office November 28, 1966 – January 20, 1969 Acting: November 28, 1966 – March 10, 1967PresidentLyndon B. Johnson28 more rows

Overview

Attorney General of the United States (1961–1964)

After winning the 1960 presidential election, President-elect John F. Kennedy appointed his younger brother attorney general. The choice was controversial, with publications including The New York Times and The New Republiccalling him inexperienced and unqualified. He had no experience in any state or federal court, causing the president to joke, "I can't see that it's wrong to give him a littl…

Early life and education

Robert Francis Kennedy was born outside Boston in Brookline, Massachusetts, on November 20, 1925. He was the seventh of nine children to businessman/politician Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and philanthropist/socialite Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. His parents were members of two prominent Irish-American families in Boston. His eight siblings were Joseph Jr., John, Rosemary, Kathleen,

Naval service (1944–1946)

Six weeks before his 18th birthday in 1943, Kennedy enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve as a seaman apprentice. He was released from active duty in March 1944, when he left Milton Academy early to report to the V-12 Navy College Training Program at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His V-12 training began at Harvard (March–November 1944) before he was relocate…

Further study, journalism, and marriage (1946–1951)

In September 1946, Kennedy entered Harvard as a junior, having received credit for his time in the V-12 program. He worked hard to make the varsity football team as an end; he was a starter and scored a touchdown in the first game of his senior year before breaking his leg in practice. He earned his varsity letter when his coach sent him in wearing a cast during the last minutes of a game against

Senate committee counsel and political campaigns (1951–1960)

In November 1951, Kennedy moved with his wife and daughter to a townhouse in the Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and started work as a lawyer in the Internal Security Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He prosecuted a series of graft and income tax evasion cases. In February 1952, Kennedy was transferred to Brooklyn, and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New Yorkto help prepare fraud cases against former officials …

Vice presidential candidate

In the wake of the assassination of his brother and Lyndon Johnson's ascension to the presidency, with the office of vice president now vacant, Kennedy was viewed favorably as a potential candidate for the position in the 1964 presidential election. Several Kennedy partisans called for him to be drafted in tribute to his brother; national polling showed that three of four Democrats wer…

U.S. Senate (1965–1968)

Nine months after his brother's assassination, Kennedy left the cabinet to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate representing New York, announcing his candidacy on August 25, 1964, two days before the end of that year's Democratic National Convention. He had considered the possibility of running for the seat since early spring, but also giving consideration for governor of Massachusetts or, as he p…

Early Life

Washington Career

  • Kennedy joined the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1951. In 1952, his older brother, Congressman John F. Kennedy, successfully ran for the U.S. Senate. Robert Kennedy then resigned from the Justice Department. He was hired as a staff attorney for the U.S. Senate committee run by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Kennedy worked for McCarthy's committeefor five …
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Kennedy vs. Jimmy Hoffa

  • At the Rackets Committee, Robert Kennedy focused on investigations of the Teamsters Union, which represented the nation's truck drivers. The union's president, Dave Beck, was widely assumed to be corrupt. When Beck was replaced by Jimmy Hoffa, who was rumored to be deeply associated with organized crime, Robert Kennedy began to target Hoffa. Hoffa had grown up po…
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Attorney General

  • When John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, his brother Robert served as his campaign manager. After Kennedy defeated Richard M. Nixon, he began to select his cabinet, and there was talk of picking Robert Kennedy to be the nation's attorney general. The decision was naturally controversial, as it sparked charges of nepotism. But the new president felt strongly that he nee…
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Senator from New York

  • Following his brother's violent death in November 1963, Robert Kennedy went into a period of mourning and sadness. He was still the nation's attorney general, but his heart wasn't in the job, and he was not happy working with the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson. In the summer of 1964, Kennedy began to seriously think of running for a U.S. Senate seat in New York. The Kennedy fa…
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The Anti-War Candidate

  • Another Democratic senator, Eugene McCarthy, had entered the race against President Johnson and nearly beat him in the New Hampshire primary. Kennedy sensed that challenging Johnson was not an impossible quest, and within a week he entered the race. Kennedy's campaign immediately took off. He began attracting large crowds at campaign stops in states holding pri…
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Death

  • After celebrating his victory in a Los Angeles hotel ballroom, Kennedy was shotat close range in the hotel's kitchen in the early hours of June 5, 1968. He was taken to a hospital, where he died of a head wound on June 6, 1968. After a funeral mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, Kennedy's body was taken to Washington, D.C., by train on Saturday, June 8, 1968. In a scene re…
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Sources

  1. Edelman, Peter. "Kennedy, Robert Francis." The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s, edited by William L. O'Neill and Kenneth T. Jackson, vol. 1, Charles Scribner's S...
  2. "Robert Francis Kennedy." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 8, Gale, 2004, pp. 508-509.
  1. Edelman, Peter. "Kennedy, Robert Francis." The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s, edited by William L. O'Neill and Kenneth T. Jackson, vol. 1, Charles Scribner's S...
  2. "Robert Francis Kennedy." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 8, Gale, 2004, pp. 508-509.
  3. Tye, Larry. Bobby Kennedy: the Making of a Liberal Icon. Random House, 2016.