Robert Kennedy had grown up as the third son in the Kennedy family with his two older brothers the stars of the family. He was later to say 'when you come that far down, you have to fight to be noticed.' This is perhaps no different in any family but when your older brother's represent an ideal it can me more difficult. His older brother Joe Jr was a good-looking charismatic young man, the pride of his family. Everything seemed to come easy to Joe Jr, a talented athlete who made winning look easy, he was sure to be the success story his father hoped he would become. Jack came next; though he had always been a sickly child he had courage that was admired by all who knew him. Because of his illness he had a philosophy of living each day as if it were his last giving him a reckless quality that was both attractive but worrying. He had charm and polish, both with women and men with an easy, graceful way of forming friendships that were to last throughout his life.

Bobby on the other hand was the third son going through adolescence with both his older brothers away from home at school, college and later the war. He had three sisters growing up with him at the time and with his mother and father away for extended periods of time he seemed lost and lonely. He was much smaller than his brothers and this seemed only to drive him harder, when his brothers were home he would put in more effort at swimming, touch football and sailing because he seemed to feel the need to compensate for his lack of stature and self-confidence.

When Bobby was put in place as campaign manager for the run for Congress in 1946 Jack found it difficult to see anything in his younger brother that would help to inspire the campaign. On this occasion Bobby was to prove him wrong for the first time. He took the campaign as a personal sacrifice to his family and worked up to twenty hours a day, knocking on doors asking for votes and handing out buttons and flyers. His dedication to his brother was absolute. He inspired the other volunteers with his commitment and inveigled all sorts of people into the campaign to ensure his brother succeeded.

While Jack was happy to spend his time philandering and having dalliances with many young women, Bobby married Ethel Skakel in 1950. The following year they had their first baby Kathleen whom they named for Bobby's late sister. This contented family life brought Bobby much happiness and he was to find some peace within himself. He was the first of his surviving siblings to be married and felt he had succeeded in his own right. Ethel was perfect for him, a hyperactive extrovert she was able to bring him out of himself and secondly she loved him with all her heart. It was this total love and devotion that would give him the confidence he required to become the successful man we would later see.

When Jack's campaign for the Senate was not going well, once again Bobby was drafted in as campaign manager. He was to turn the campaign around while again he proved to his family his worth with his selfless sacrifices and his determination to make things easy for his brother. It was during this campaign that Bobby would first be described as 'ruthless' for his sheer determination to ensure his brothers success and welfare throughout the campaign. He became at once mother, father, wife, priest and nurse to Jack as he began the career of protecting his brother that was to last until Jack's death and beyond.

Following the successful campaign Jack began his Senate career while Bobby took a job as assistant counsel to Joe McCarthy's anti-communist investigations. Once again despite Jack's advice to the contrary he threw himself into his work with his usual determination but it would soon end when he found he was unable to work with his co-counsel Roy Cohn. Later in 1954 he got a job as Chief Counsel on Senator John McClellan's Rackets Committee. This was not popular with Joe Kennedy who had rumoured associations with Mafia figures going back through the decades. He attempted to persuade Bobby not to get involved but to no avail.

Bobby worked hard to prove that there was such a thing as organised crime within the unions and he brought his findings to Senator McClellan. He was given authorisation to investigate the Teamsters and in particular Dave Beck. Because the hearings were so high profile he prevailed upon Jack to become a member and once again, against their fathers wishes he won Jack around. These hearings were to bring corruption to the forefront of American life and in doing so were to give the Kennedy brothers their first nationwide platform when the hearings were televised live. Bobby's doggedness and determination would so impress Jack that he came to appreciate his brother's personality and qualities all the more. Here was someone who was not afraid to challenge the status quo, take on a cause he believed in such as the elimination of organised crime and openly challenge the authority of his father. He was starting to believe in himself too, he had won the approval of his brother and his colleagues on the committee, his devoted wife and sisters would come to the courtroom everyday to witness him in action and the papers were lavish in their praise of his abilities. Slowly his father came to realise that his third son had qualities not unlike himself and was impressed by his slavish devotion to his family.

When Jack decided to try for the Vice Presidency at the 1956 Democratic Convention Bobby was once more at his side, bullying and harassing delegates to deliver their votes to his brother. He was unrelenting in his appeals to people. Bobby was not afraid to play the baddie, to argue and fight if necessary to get his way. In this way he allowed Jack to remain aloof from any ugliness that transpired. Jack would remain on good terms with people and would have deniability about his brother's actions if toes became stepped on along the way. While Jack was unsuccessful in his attempt to gain the nomination he did improve his political standing as he narrated the short film that opened the convention and was asked to nominate Adlai Stevenson the democratic candidate for the Presidency. Along the way he had made numerous contacts and friends who would help him on his way.

Over the course of the next four years always with an eye on the Presidency Jack fulfilled his Senate obligations and won a place on the Foreign Relations Committee, experience that was a necessity for any future Presidential candidate. Bobby continued his work on the McClellan committee gaining a reputation for ruthlessness that would remain with him for the rest of his life.
In truth he wasn't ruthless, he was instead deeply committed to his work and the people that worked with him. He was a shy man who wasn't good with words but he felt deeply and had a deep devotion to his family, friends and colleagues. He was to win total loyalty from the people who worked with and for him and he in turn returned this absolutely. Where Jack was a detached but amusing personality, Bobby was an emotional being who felt things intensely. Because of his lonely childhood he had a natural empathy for anyone who he sensed was suffering and as we would see in his later life he was able to reach out to minority groups and people who suffered the hardships of poverty. While Jack built and maintained friendships all throughout his life they would never be as deep and fulfilling as the ones that Bobby was to enjoy.

1960 came around with the inevitable decision that Jack would run for the Presidency. The decision made Jack announced his candidacy in the Senate Caucus Room that January. Bobby resigned his position and once again took up his position as campaign manager. He was an effective manager leaving nothing to chance and demanding long hours and sacrifice of himself and the volunteers in the campaign. He rounded up all his family including his mother to go out on the stump. Jackie was pregnant with her second child at this time and Bobby as always was particularly protective of her particularly with her poor history of childbirth. He ensured that she attend carefully managed and scheduled events that would allow her to be comfortable but accessible to people.

Bobby and Jackie had a special relationship, one built entirely on trust. In reality they

were kindred spirits, both had lonely childhoods that were far from stable. Both were introverts who found it difficult sometimes to interact with people. Both had a deep capacity to feel emotions and they both had a strong bond in their common love for Jack. Bobby had always been kind to Jackie when it was obvious that neither his wife, mother nor sisters held her in high regard. He had been there for her since first baby Arabella had been stillborn. He appreciated her virtues and gifts and she in turn appreciated his loyalty and devotion to both her and Jack.

Throughout the campaign Bobby fielded any unpleasantness from his brother ensuring the candidate was able to stay 'whiter than white'. He pulled no punches when he felt that someone stood in their way or let them down. He was not above swinging his fist if necessary and would do almost anything to advance his brother's chances. He sometimes seemed angry but this was more a frustration born out of the knowledge that nothing really came easy to him. He had not been blessed with Jack's easy charm or his younger brother Ted's optimism and humour so at times he seemed to be nothing more than an angry young man bent on putting his brother in the White House at any cost.

Throughout the election night he manned the command post at his house in Hyannis Port while Jack sauntered in and out watching the returns coming in. It had been a very close race between Jack and Richard Nixon and Jack went to bed that night without knowing whether he had won. Bobby stayed up throughout the night until the election was beyond doubt and watched the Secret Service move into view. He had helped fulfil his family's ultimate ambition and finally he felt free to begin his own life.

It was not to be for him however, Joe Kennedy demanded that Jack make Bobby the Attorney General despite the fact that Bobby had never actually practiced law and there were sure to be cries of nepotism. Despite pleas from his both his sons and advances from many of their advisers he would not back down. Jack needed someone he could trust by his side and besides he felt that Bobby had earned his position. The decision was made; Bobby was to be Attorney General and would take his place alongside Jack in the new Cabinet.

From the Bay of Pigs fiasco onwards Jack came to understand and appreciate his brother's loyalty even more. He understood that Bobby would ask the difficult questions, and give the difficult answers that sometimes it was impossible for his advisers to do. His trust in Bobby was implicit and to this end he was given extra responsibility in the day-to-day business at the White House.

However, it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 that Bobby really excelled. He managed the group of advisers called the Ex-Comm. that remained together for the thirteen terrifying days that America hovered on the brink of War. Knowing that people could feel stifled while making decisions in front of the President, Bobby took over and ran the Ex-Comm. working with the Joint Chiefs and other advisers in the cabinet and allowing the President to maintain the façade that it was business as usual in the Government while the Ex-Comm. deliberated in total secrecy. Bobby was to prove invaluable at this time when he opened back-room negotiations with the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. Through their personal relationship he was able to request information that no one in the White House had the access to. This was managed in total secrecy and had a profound impact on the resolution of this crisis when Jack and Bobby made the crucial decisions of putting a blockade in place off the coast of Havana and only replying to the first of two letters sent by Khrushchev explaining his countries stance on the affair.

During this time the Kennedy's communicated to each other in their own particular way, they used short sentences, with often only a word sufficing, their conversations have often been described as cryptic and they were. Because each brother was so in tune with what the other was thinking, the need for words was minimal, they would complete each other's sentences and quite often a look was enough explanation.
When the blockade ended successfully and the Russian ships turned back from the coastline of Cuba, it was not just a success for Jack but for a partnership that had been growing and blossoming over the past ten years. From this time onwards it became something of a joint presidency where Bobby took on more of an active role in affairs at the White House and in particular Foreign Affairs.

With their father felled by a stroke that was to leave him incapacitated for the remainder of his life, much of the responsibility for the family fell to Jack and Bobby and here too their partnership was strong. For the remainder of Jacks life he would sit in his father's chair as the symbolic head of the family. But it was to Bobby the clan came if something was wrong or when there were problems. He was strong, utterly dependable and a good listener. His role had been set and he would become a father figure to all.

For the remainder of Jack's short presidency the brothers spent a good deal more time together socially. Because Jack and Bobby's wives were not close and because Jack had always seen Bobby as being too intense they had never built up the social side of their relationship. Jack had preferred the company his youngest brother Ted. A typical younger child, Ted was quite comfortable in his own skin, and was an affable young man with a great sense of humour quickly becoming one of the most popular Senators on Capitol Hill since his election there in 1962. He and Jack were able to sit and gossip, swapping stories about colleagues and enjoy a laugh together. But October 1962 had forever forged the bond between Jack and Bobby and they were to spend far more time together, at functions, sailing on the cape, playing golf and enjoying their children together. It was for them a time of great hope and they looked forward to 1963 and 1964 when they would be campaigning for re-election.

Jack's Presidency had brought so many incidents in a relatively short space of time. The

Bay of Pigs, the building crisis in Vietnam where they had begun placing advisers and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The racism issue was building to a head also, the problems experienced by the Freedom Riders, the James Meredith enrolment battle at Ole Miss and the race riots in the South. The NAACP and the SCLC lead by Martin Luther King Jr were also putting enormous pressure on the administration to do something about the segregation laws, culminating in the March on Washington and King's inspirational 'I have a dream' speech. Jack had realised that the Presidency could be isolated; he knew that America was changing and he was grateful for the support his brother gave him. He had been disappointed that his first thousand days had not brought the accolades he had anticipated. He knew too that he had made promises that he had to keep in what he hoped to be a second successful term. Spoken promises such as sending a man to the moon before the end of the decade, the war on poverty and other programmes that meant so much to him.

It was with an eye on this next term that he left for Dallas in November 1963 despite many warnings from members of his cabinet about the feeling of unrest that existed down there. The night before he left had been Bobby's birthday and there had been a dinner in his honour at the White House. The brothers had walked in the Rose Garden as was their habit discussing a future that was never to be.

Jack and Jackie had enjoyed a warm welcome in Texas on their first day and had begun to relax as they made their way from Love Field Airport in a motorcade to downtown Dallas. However, as their limousine made a slow turn onto Houston Street near Dealey Plaza shots rang out. The President was hit in the throat and in the head. The last shot split his head open and he slumped into the seat beside Jackie. Only then did the Secret Service driver speed up, racing towards Parkland hospital. Jackie was aware that his injuries would be fatal as she sat in the car holding his damaged head in her lap. He was taken from her into the emergency room at the hospital where he was to die from his injuries shortly before 1.00 pm on Friday 22 November 1963.

Bobby was at home on that afternoon having a meeting by the pool at this home in McLean Virginia. He received a telephone call from J.Edgar Hoover informing him of his brother's death. Bobby's only thought was for Jackie and he made arrangements for them to get back to Washington immediately where he would meet the coffin of his beloved brother. In the meantime while Jacks aides struggled to get his body back to the airplane at Love Field Lyndon B. Johnson made arrangements to be sworn in as the next President. This was done almost immediately on Air Force one while Jackie bravely stood by his side.
The presidents' body was flown back to Andrews Air Force base where Bobby waited for Jack and Jackie.
The body was then taken for autopsy while Jackie went through the events of the day in excruciating painful detail to a severely traumatised Bobby.

Jackie organised a funeral on the grandest scales for her martyred husband, basing it on the funeral of Abraham Lincoln, that of a fallen leader. She, Bobby and Teddy walked behind the coffin down Pennsylvania Avenue with hundreds of leaders, colleagues, friends and family walking behind her. Jack was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery below the Lee Mansion in a spot that overlooks the White House and the Capitol beyond it. It was a fitting tribute to a man who had so dreamed of greatness.

For Bobby however the hardest part was to come. So much of his identity was enmeshed within his brother's life and he didn't know where to turn. He was overwhelmed with grief, a burden so heavy people who knew him worried for his state of mind. He retreated into himself, unable to talk, smile or even eat. He suffered a huge amount of guilt wondering always if he hadn't pushed organised crime so hard would this have happened. There had been death threats, he knew that, from Mafia leaders who felt they were being persecuted by the Kennedy brothers. Had he through his crusading investigations somehow been responsible for his brother's death?

A man given to feeling deep emotions he isolated himself from his family, his wife and his friends and spent lonely hours walking along the beach at Hyannis Port with his dogs trying to come to terms with the tragedy that had befallen his family.
When he finally returned to the Justice Department his colleagues saw someone so fragile and vulnerable that they hardly recognised him. The impact of his brother's death had changed him and he would never recover from it carrying a deep scar that would remain with him for the rest of his life.

For Bobby Kennedy the five years that he had left in his own short life were spent continuing his brother's work. He was elected Senator to New York in 1964 and from here he began his own campaign for the Presidency. He was to become a peoples champion. Minority and ethnic groups were to see him a saviour and he in turn was to have such empathy with these groups that he could begin to feel passionately again. He spent the last five years of his life defying death, running rapids, making a spectacular ascent of a mountain that was being renamed for his lost brother, skiing impossible slopes and generally tempting fate. His life too is a tragic story, for he was gunned down minutes after making his victory speech in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in June 1968 by an assassin's bullet. Shot in the head at close range he remained alive for several hours in hospital but finally succumbed to his injuries. His death brought about an outpouring of grief not known before. There would be no return to the golden age of Camelot. For Americans everywhere the dream was finally over.