( CNN ) -- A few days before the 1968 California Democratic primary , Washington Post reporter Richard Harwood told his editor he wanted to stop covering Robert F. Kennedy 's campaign for president . Robert Kennedy 's campaign for president lasted 82 days before he died on June 6 , 1968 . `` I 'm falling in love with the guy , '' he said , according to Thurston Clarke 's `` The Last Campaign : Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America '' ( Henry Holt ) . It was easy to see why . During his ill-fated run for the presidency , Kennedy appeared to be that rarest of candidates , the truth teller . By many accounts , he meant every word he said , particularly those about fighting prejudice and poverty . He refused to kowtow to his audiences , and he wore his emotions on his sleeves ( adoring crowds sometimes shredded his cuffs ) . And he pondered questions before offering thoughtful , sometimes stammering , answers . Indeed , if Clarke 's careful and moving book has a problem , it 's that the author also seems to have fallen a little in love with his subject . The hard-nosed -- the preferred adjective was `` ruthless '' -- RFK who shrewdly managed his brother 's presidential campaign gets short shrift . The book sometimes seems to exist in its own bubble , lacking the uncertainty that afflicted Kennedy in fighting his uphill nomination battle . But if you can get past the occasional hagiography , what emerges is a fine addition to the Kennedy canon . Watch photographer , writer recall RFK 's last days » . Clarke 's book is illuminated by his interviews with Kennedy beat writers and audience members , which give his retracing of the campaign 's exhaustive travels a striking immediacy . Given that there 's no shortage of material on the man himself -- Arthur Schlesinger 's mammoth 1978 `` Robert Kennedy and His Times '' and Evan Thomas ' 2000 biography `` Robert Kennedy : His Life '' come to mind -- that 's a worthy achievement . Clarke usually works on a grass-roots level , providing welcome glimpses of Kennedy 's sense of humor and showing how even small RFK gestures stayed with people for decades . What they often remember is the challenge of the man , a candidate unafraid of campaigning among the poorest of the poor in cities and on reservations . While Hubert Humphrey preached the `` Politics of Joy '' in that brutal year -- and Eugene McCarthy simply lectured -- Kennedy answered questions with questions , at his best when he asked as much from his audience as he did from himself . Indeed , Kennedy seemed to revel in hostile audiences , Clarke observes . Some he won over with his candor . Others he could n't have cared less about accommodating . At a speech at the Indiana University Medical School , he faced a stony crowd of doctors-to-be . `` All these programs sound very find and nice and all that , but where 's the money gon na come from ? '' one student asked about Kennedy 's proposals to help the poor . Having listened to several similar questions , Kennedy had had enough . `` From you ! '' he roared , pointing at people around the hall . `` From you ! ... You ! '' Probably only Mr. Smith , `` The Candidate 's '' Bill McKay and Jay Bulworth could have gotten away with that . In Clarke 's telling , the end comes quietly , two pages after the June 5 shooting . There 's no investigation of conspiracy theories , no long recollections by friends . It 's appropriate to his tone . Watch Clarke talk about why RFK resonates » . There is , however , a fascinating postscript . Clarke found RFK 's post-California schedule in the Kennedy Library , and the document shows what might have been , at least for 10 days : campaigning in his home state New York primary , bicycling in Central Park , attending a firemen 's association event . Whether it would have led to the presidency is a cruel question history never answered . And with Robert Kennedy , questions are all that 's left . `` Some men see things as they are and ask why . Others dream things that never were and ask why not , '' he often said , quoting George Bernard Shaw . Edward Kennedy read those words at his funeral .
Reviewer : `` The Last Campaign '' worthy addition to Robert Kennedy books . Thurston Clarke 's work follows RFK through his 82-day presidential run . Book sometimes glorifies Kennedy , but with apparent reason .