title: In His Own Right
author:  Joseph A. Palermo 
description: During the last years of his life from his Senate election in 1964 to his murder in 1968 Robert F. Kennedy underwent a profound transformation, according to Palermo in this sympathetic but not uncritical study. Known primarily during his brother's presidency as a ruthless political operative with few obvious populist sentiments, Kennedy emerged during this later time as the passionate, compassionate and effective leader of a diverse coalition of grassroots organizations encompassing antiwar protestors, working-class whites, African Americans and others. The arc of Kennedy's odyssey forms Palermo's story. Drawing on a wide array of correspondence and documents, many previously unseen, Palermo portrays Kennedy as a person with an enormous ability to learn and to empathize. Cautious at first in his opposition to the Vietnam War, through conversation and correspondence with both scholars and common soldiers Kennedy soon turned solidly against the conflict and against a sitting president, Lyndon Johnson. (The story of the relationship between the two men, as well as that of Kennedy's interactions with Eugene McCarthy, whom he opposed in the 1968 Democratic presidential primaries, is well told here.) Similarly, Kennedy became ever sharper in his critiques of racism and economic inequality, ever more aligned with those he saw as disenfranchised. Yet he was able to maintain ties with mainstream politicians such as Mayor Daley of Chicago. Tragically, this fragile politics of inclusion could not survive Kennedy's death. Palermo, who teaches at Cornell and has written for Peace &amp; Change and other journals, paints a vivid portrait of the problems and promise of the 1960s and the way Kennedy shaped and was shaped by that era. Photos.
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  **THE CAPTURE**
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  by
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  **Adrienne Giordano**
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  **Chapter Eight**
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Gabe sat in a chair with two of the bikers standing over him, one with a
  knife, the other with the bad news end of a .38 pointed at him. The second
  that .38 made its appearance, their odds plummeted. And with Palermo half-
  conked out, well the fight turned from a bar brawl to survival. And at the
  moment, survival meant letting Palermo get his head straight before they took
  another run at these boys.
  
  
  
  
  
  Gabe shifted his gaze to Palermo, who faced similar circumstances with Jimmy
  and another knife. Palermo had taken a pretty good beating. Blood poured from
  his nose and left eye and streamed down his face.
  
  
  
  
  
  “Stand ’em up,” Jimmy said. “Search them.”
  
  
  
  
  
  They were hauled to their feet and held at gunpoint while the two bikers
  grabbed Gabe’s wallet and phone and set them on the bar next to Palermo’s.
  
  
  
  
  
  “Fucking cops!” Gus yelled. “You sons of bitches. I