This is the June 1, 1968,
issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Its cover photo and article are about
Bobby Kennedy’s presidential campaign. For many of us of a certain age,
this is a very poignant issue. Bobby Kennedy had the momentum and would have
likely been the Democratic nominee for president in November 1968. However,
less than a week after this magazine hit the newsstands, he had won the
California Democratic primary and then was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan
shortly after declaring victory in the primary.
Robert Francis
Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June
6, 1968) 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, when he was running for the Democratic presidential
nomination. Like his brothers John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, he was a
prominent member of the Democratic Party and is considered an icon of modern
American liberalism.
Kennedy attended Harvard
University and later received his law degree from the University of Virginia.
He began his career as a correspondent for The Boston Post and as a lawyer at
the Justice Department but resigned to manage his brother John's successful
campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1952. The following year, Kennedy worked as an
assistant counsel to the Senate committee chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy.
He gained national attention as the chief counsel of the Senate Labor Rackets
Committee from 1957 to 1959, where he publicly challenged Teamsters President
Jimmy Hoffa over the union's corrupt practices. Kennedy resigned from the
committee to conduct his brother's successful 1960 presidential campaign. He
was appointed United States attorney general at the age of 35, one of the
youngest cabinet members in American history. Kennedy served as John's closest
advisor until the latter's assassination in 1963.
Kennedy's tenure is known
for advocating for the civil rights movement, the fight against organized
crime, and involvement in U.S. foreign policy related to Cuba. He authored his
account of the Cuban Missile Crisis in a book titled Thirteen Days. As attorney
general, Kennedy authorized the FBI to wiretap Martin Luther King Jr. and the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference on a limited basis. After his
brother's assassination, he remained in office during the presidency of Lyndon
B. Johnson for several months. He left to run for the U.S. Senate from New York
in 1964 and defeated Republican incumbent Kenneth Keating, overcoming criticism
that he was a "carpetbagger" from Massachusetts. In office, Kennedy
opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and raised awareness of poverty by
sponsoring legislation designed to lure private business to blighted
communities. He advocated for human rights and social justice, traveling abroad
to eastern Europe, Latin America, and South Africa, and formed working
relationships with Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and Walter Reuther.
In 1968, Kennedy became a
leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency by appealing
to poor, Black, Hispanic, Catholic, and young voters. His main challenger in
the race was Senator Eugene McCarthy. Shortly after winning the California
primary around midnight on June 5, 1968, Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a
24-year-old Palestinian, in retaliation for his support of Israel following the
1967 Six-Day War. Kennedy died 25 hours later. Sirhan was arrested, tried, and
convicted, though Kennedy's assassination, like his brother's, continues to be
the subject of widespread analysis and numerous conspiracy theories.
The magazine contains
other articles; two listed on the cover are “New Drugs Help Leukemia
Victims” and “We’re being robbed by Corruption in Vietnam.” Others include “Pretty
Nancy” (Reagan).
The fiction
selection is Part II of “True Grit” by Charles McColl Portis (December 28, 1933 – February 17, 2020). An
American author, Portis is best known for his novels Norwood (1966) and the
classic western True Grit (1968). Both Norwood and True Grit were adapted as
films, released in 1970 and 1969, respectively. True Grit also inspired a film
sequel and a made-for-TV movie sequel. The second film adaptation of True Grit
was released in 2010.
In 2023 The Library of
America published his Collected Works. In the introduction, editor Jay Jennings
observes: "Charles Portis is now recognized as a singular American genius,
a writer whose deadpan style, picaresque plots, and unforgettable characters
have drawn a passionate following among readers and writers."
Portis also has been
described as "one of the most inventively comic writers of western
fiction."
There are many color and
black & white photos/illustrations, as well as vintage advertisements.
This issue contains 80
pages and measures approximately 10.5 x 13.25 inches.