Jeff Greenfield was a fresh out of Yale Law School when he took a speechwriting position with the Robert F. Kennedy campaign. Now, 40 years after RFK’s assassination, the CBS News senior political correspondent will reflect on those tumultuous times in a piece for tonight’s CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Greenfield writes:
It all came to an end in a hotel kitchen in Los Angeles. But my last memories are not of that moment-but of the train ride that took his body from New York to Washington-a train ride that stretched for eight hours. Inside, there was something of an Irish wake; family members greeting friends and campaign workers, telling old campaign stories.
Tomorrow markes the 40th anniversary of the RFK assassination. TVNewser’s Gail Shister will speak with Greenfield for her column tomorrow.
Meanwhile, CNN is putting together an hour special which will examine, “the historical and cultural parallels of 1968 and 2008.”
“Something’s Happening Here: 1968 — 2008” to Air on Friday, June 6 at 8:00 pm, ET
Program Note
The issues surrounding a prolonged war, race in America, an empowered women’s movement and an energized electorate were all topics that confronted Americans forty years ago in 1968, and it is remarkable how the nation is facing similar issues today. On Friday, June 6, CNN’s Campbell Brown: Election Center will offer a special hour-long program which will explore the historical and cultural parallels of 1968 and 2008. The report will air on CNN at 8:00 pm, ET.
In the upcoming special, Something’s Happening Here: 1968-2008, Campbell Brown will examine the challenges the nation faced with an unpopular war in Vietnam and today’s war Iraq, report on how the civil rights movement then, may have led to the first African American presumptive presidential nominee today, and how the women’s liberation movement of 1968 may have paved the way for the first major female candidate for president.
Joining Brown to talk about these topics along with the issue of a deeply inspired electorate, will be author, Douglas Brinkley, Center for the Advancement of Women founder Faye Wattleton, CNN’s senior political analyst David Gergen and CNN’s senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Also contributing will be Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder and former RFK bodyguard Rosie Grier.