Robert F. Kennedy

Although it asks pointed questions about Robert F. Kennedy's involvement with extra-legal plots against Fidel Castro and the source of father Joe Kennedy's wealth, this entry from A&E's Biography series is generally laudatory, preserving the Camelot patina that has traditionally attended the story of the Brothers Kennedy (actually, RFK's life is nearly as familiar to viewers as that of his brother's). Combining rare photos, newsreel footage, and interviews with family and friends, this program traces the rise of the third Kennedy son from his early political career as part of his older brother's presidential administration to his successful 1964 senatorial run to his 1968 bid for the Oval Office itself, tragically cut short when he was assassinated two months after the slaying of Martin Luther King, Jr. Vigorously addressing political chicanery and devious sub rosa activities purportedly on Robert Kennedy's part that may have spawned the 1963 shooting that more or less officially ended American society's sense of innocence, the program stops short of suggesting that the Kennedy administration was in bed with the mob, but it does raise the specter of Joe Kennedy's involvement with organized crime and the tortuous CIA-mob-anti-Castro machinations during the Kennedy reign. Chockfull of terse exchanges between RFK and various antagonists (including wonderful footage of Kennedy calling mob boss Sam Giancana a “little girl” for giggling at a Senate hearing), this is a fine video biography, overall, of an American icon. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Tribby)