University of Virginia Library

'Kennedyism'

in the last three years. It was an entirely different
and it makes very little sense for the United States to
there. I think it's quite outside the authority and
of the administration.

Q. "Is there any pending legislation to curtail our
involvement?"

A. "The best that we can do is to get up another amendment
to terminate it. Those things take four to five weeks, but there
will be that effort."

The idea that Senator Kennedy has had second thoughts
about the direction of the nation's internal politics, and
particularly his party, might indeed be true. The fact that he is
to speak in Mobile on the same podium with Governor Wallace
might be an indicator of this.

But one of the most remarkable things about the
Kennedys seems to have been their ability to convey sincere
concern, consternation, and outrage over problems in this
country, to convince people of their honest belief in progress, and
yet at the same time be able to carry off slick professional
shrewdly political, sometimes ruthless campaigns.

Although there is just a slight tone of paranoia in the air when
he's present (a paranoia reflected in the nervousness of those
responsible for his safety and a pervading fear of a third tragedy)
it does not detract from his appeal.

Indeed, this touch of explosiveness, combined with his natural
charm, further charges the emotion of those around him.

You could see this emotion in the crush of the crowd after the
speech Monday night.

Whether Senator Edward Kennedy will use his dedication and
appeal to continue the ideals and politics ushered on to the
American scene by his brother, John, early in the last decade,
remains to be seen.

One should remember however that it is only early 1973.
Whether one feels the Kennedy electricity now is of little
importance. In 1957 people probably didn't perceive it's
abundance in JFK, or in early 1967 the dynamism of Robert
Kennedy. Nor is it on the coattails of his illustrious brothers, that
he now derives (or will derive) his popularity.

The fashionable conjecture that Senator Kennedy has toned
down somewhat is indeed true; only not so much his rhetoric, as
his magnetism. For it is too early to charge the American people
with the Kennedy emotion, even accidentally.