Dead Women Can't Talk
In this a.m.'s New York Times' Dowd column, ex-Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) said, "I'm not comparing myself to Bobby Kennedy by any stretch, but he was opposed by the liberal establishment, too, Eleanor Roosevelt was the biggest opponent to him running."
It seems on odd statement, seeing as Eleanor Roosevelt died in '62, two years before Kennedy's '64 SEN election. In the year of her death, Kennedy was JFK's AG and was pre-occupied with the Cuban Missile Crisis and Civil Rights, and per most biographies, a Senate seat was hardly on Kennedy's agenda.
In fact, in Evan Thomas' biography, "Robert F. Kennedy: His Life," spring '64 was the first mention of the NY Senate seat as a possibility, along with MA GOV. And even then, Kennedy only seriously began to consider a SEN run after failed efforts to position himself as LBJ's VP in the '64 race.
Thomas' book -- a much respected, scholarly and modern look at Kennedy -- does not even have Eleanor Roosevelt listed in the index. Hotline OnCall was unable to locate a documented instance of Roosevelt going on the record in opposition to Kennedy.
But according to Thomas, Kennedy, did however, meet "resistance" from various liberal constituencies in New York, including "Jewish reformers" who remembered his father's Anti-Semitism and the New York Times' edit board.
Efforts to reach Ford for comment have so far been unsuccessful.
How irresponsible to attribute a statement- and the time frame- to such a famous person as ER without checking the facts. Facts seem irrelevant to this "Great Pretender" to our cherished NY Senate seat. The Empire State deserves better -- and has it in Kirsten Gilibrand MB
i remember reading about roosevelt being against kennedy's run but im not positive which bio it was in. i think it might of been in "The Last Campaign"
Hello, great comment. I look forward to your next post. Thanks, Zoe
Ford has his Kennedys and elections mixed up. ER opposed the idea of JFK running for president in 1956 and only supported him late in the 1960 campaign. Current day liberals and other Kennedy hero-worshippers conveniently forget that as a senator, JFK did not to oppose Sen. Joseph McCarthy (perhaps because his younger brother, Robert, was a counsel to McCarthy) and failed to support civil rights legislation.
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Nice post. Keep up the great work
Wow! what an idea ! just how people come with these ideas ! Beautiful .. Amazing …