Changes

John Kennedy became heir apparent, returning to Boston to take a seat in Congress in 1946 and defeating the prototypical Yankee, Senator [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], in 1952.  Robert entered politics as an aide to Republican Senator [[Joe McCarthy]], then at the peak of his anti-Communist career.  Robert built his reputation as an aide to his brother Senator Kennedy in highly publicized investigations into racketeering in the [[Teamsters Union]], the largest labor union and one that had broken with the Democratic phalanx of the AFL-CIO unions.  John Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960 was a family affair, funded by the father and orchestrated by Robert.  John preferred Ivy League policy advisors; but unlike his father he enjoyed the give and take of Massachusetts politics and built a largely Irish team of campaigners, headed by Larry O’Brien and Kenneth O’Donnell.  The new president shook off nepotism charges and appointed his brother Attorney General in 1961.   

John Kennedy became heir apparent, returning to Boston to take a seat in Congress in 1946 and defeating the prototypical Yankee, Senator [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], in 1952.  Robert entered politics as an aide to Republican Senator [[Joe McCarthy]], then at the peak of his anti-Communist career.  Robert built his reputation as an aide to his brother Senator Kennedy in highly publicized investigations into racketeering in the [[Teamsters Union]], the largest labor union and one that had broken with the Democratic phalanx of the AFL-CIO unions.  John Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960 was a family affair, funded by the father and orchestrated by Robert.  John preferred Ivy League policy advisors; but unlike his father he enjoyed the give and take of Massachusetts politics and built a largely Irish team of campaigners, headed by Larry O’Brien and Kenneth O’Donnell.  The new president shook off nepotism charges and appointed his brother Attorney General in 1961.   

The First Lady '''[[Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy]]''' (1929-1994) added fresh glamor to the family, even as she disdained the roughhousing of her in-laws.  Kennedy’s 1963 assassination turned JFK into a martyr and, indeed, a saint in the Catholic community.  It also shifted the glare of publicity away from Joe (who had suffered an incapacitating stroke) and the surviving children, and onto widow Jacqueline.  She remarried and, became in her own right a celebrity who overshadowed her in-laws.

The First Lady '''[[Jacqueline Kennedy|Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy]]''' (1929-1994) added fresh glamor to the family, even as she disdained the roughhousing of her in-laws.  Kennedy’s 1963 assassination turned JFK into a martyr and, indeed, a saint in the Catholic community.  It also shifted the glare of publicity away from Joe (who had suffered an incapacitating stroke) and the surviving children, and onto widow Jacqueline.  She remarried and, became in her own right a celebrity who overshadowed her in-laws.

 

==Robert==

==Robert==

Robert, increasingly at odds with president Lyndon Johnson, resigned the cabinet in 1964 to run for the Senate from New York.  In 1968 he broke decisively with Johnson on the issue of the Vietnam War.  Liberals who had long distrusted this former McCarthyite rallied to his side, fighting not just the forces of Johnson and [[Hubert Humphrey]], but also those of [[Eugene McCarthy]], a rival Irish Catholic senator who claimed primacy in the antiwar movement.  Multiple deep chasms opened in the Democratic party, with the intellectual and radical student wings supporting McCarthy, the southern whites rallying to Alabama's segregationist governor [[George Wallace]], and Kennedy and Humphrey battling for control of the blue-collar white ethnics and the African American voters.  At the climax of a bruising, nasty and often violent primary season Robert won the decisive California primary, but was assassinated when he walked to the podium to claim victory.  In the presidential election the Irish Catholic vote for the first time splintered, showing that at long last the iron grip of the Democratic party had been permanently broken.

Robert, increasingly at odds with president Lyndon Johnson, resigned the cabinet in 1964 to run for the Senate from New York.  In 1968 he broke decisively with Johnson on the issue of the Vietnam War.  Liberals who had long distrusted this former McCarthyite rallied to his side, fighting not just the forces of Johnson and [[Hubert Humphrey]], but also those of [[Eugene McCarthy]], a rival Irish Catholic senator who claimed primacy in the antiwar movement.  Multiple deep chasms opened in the Democratic party, with the intellectual and radical student wings supporting McCarthy, the southern whites rallying to Alabama's segregationist governor [[George Wallace]], and Kennedy and Humphrey battling for control of the blue-collar white ethnics and the African American voters.  At the climax of a bruising, nasty and often violent primary season Robert won the decisive California primary, but was assassinated when he walked to the podium to claim victory.  In the presidential election the Irish Catholic vote for the first time splintered, showing that at long last the iron grip of the Democratic party had been permanently broken.