Robert Kennedy called LBJ “Uncle Rufus” while LBJ called Robert Kennedy either a “snot nosed privileged kid” or a “grandstanding runt”. The intense rivalry and mutual contempt damaged the Democratic Party in the 1950s and 1960s. Both Presidents Nixon and Johnson loathed “Harvard elites” from the East Coast. LBJ chose not to run for President again in 1968 fearing Robert Kennedy would nominate against him in the Democratic Party but then Robert Kennedy was assassinated only 3 months after Johnson refused to nominate. When Johnson died in 1973 he was embittered by “living in the shadow of the Kennedy brothers.”

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• Mutual Contempt, Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy and the Feud that Defined a Decade, Jeff Shesal, (Norton Publishing: 2010), ISBN 0393318555
• Bad Blood, LBJ and RFK and The Tumultuous 1960s, Jeffrey K Smith, (Norton Publishing: 2010), ISBN 1452084424
• Study in Power, LBJ, Volumes 3 and 4, Robert Caro, (Vintage 2003/2006), ISBN 0394720954 (Vol 3) and 1847922953 (Vol 4)

COURSE OUTLINE

• Early careers of RFK and LBJ and origin of the mutual contempt from 1940
• Presidential campaign of JFK 1958-1960 and further development of the personal and political feud
• Presidency of JFK 1961-1963 and LBJ as VP
• Presidency of LBJ from Nov 1963 -Nov 1968
• Impact of the feud on the Democratic Party

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Gain and understanding of the extent of the feud between the two Democrats and the responses from colleagues at the time
2. Discuss the inter relationship between the personal and the political in public office