‘I think that we can end the divisions within the United States’ — Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s remarks at the Ambassador Hotel after the June 4, 1968, California primary
Transcript of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s remarks to supporters at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel very early on June 5, 1968, on the night of the June 4 California primary. These remarks are hand-transcribed from audio of the speech recorded by ABC and CBS. In a few instances, the senator’s words cannot be discerned because of crowd noise and perhaps because of his motion around the microphone.
The senator’s wife, Ethel Kennedy, was present at the podium. In the early portion of his remarks, she is at his right side, then gradually drifts behind him. At one point, Dolores Huerta is at the senator’s right. NFL great and bodyguard Rosie Grier stands at the back of the podium. The speech began approximately a minute or two after midnight, Los Angeles time. From his opening “Thank you very much” at the podium until concluding with “let’s win there,” the senator’s remarks last approximately 12 minutes, 8 seconds. The loudest, most sustained cheering occurs after the senator says “we want peace in Vietnam.”
“Thank you very much. (Crowd chants ‘We want Bobby!’ and ‘We want Kennedy!’)
“Thank you very much.
“Thank you very much.
“Thank you.
“Thank you very much.
“Thank you very much. (Pause)
“Thank you very much.
“Thank you very much.
“I want to, uh, I want to take a, can you hear this? (Taps microphone) Can you hear? You can’t hear? Can you hear that. That’s great. Can we hear from any of this? (Talks to a person behind him, then turns around) Can we get something that works. ... Just one moment. We can’t hear. Can you hear on any of these? (Crowd responds “Yes”). Can you hear on that? (Crowd responds “Yes”) Oh that’s nice. Can you hear? (Crowd responds “Yes”).
“I want to, uh, first, uh, (Pause, looks around the crowd) express my, uh, high regard to, uh, Don Drysdale (Cheers). Who pitched his, uh, sixth straight shutout tonight. (Cheers) And I hope that we have as good fortune in our campaign. (Cheers)
“Could I express my appreciation to a number of people, first to, uh, Jess Unruh, for all that he did. First getting me into this- And I express my appreciation to him for his friendship and his help during this campaign. And for his, uh, continued, uh, perseverance and his effort and for all of those who have been associated with him. I will always be very grateful. (Cheers)
“And if I could also express my appreciation to a number of other people. If you just bear with me for, for a moment, I'd like to express my appreciation to Steve Smith, who is (Cheers) (pause), who is very, uh, who is ruthless, but, uh, but uh, has been effective. And I just wanna say how much- how grateful I am to him. To his wife, my sister Jean, and my sister Pat, and to my mother and to all of those other Kennedys who came and helped. (Cheers)
“I want to express my, uh, (pause) gratitude to, uh, my dog Freckles, who's been maligned (Cheers). I don't care what they- as Franklin Roosevelt said, I don't care what they say about me, but when they start to attack my dog ...
“And I- I'm not doing this in the order of importance, but I also wanna thank my wife, Ethel (Cheers). (Pause)
And, uh, her patience, during, uh, this whole effort, is, uh, is fantastic. (Ethel Kennedy says, "Fantastic.") Thank you very much. Freckles has gone home to bed. He, uh, thought very early that we were gonna win, so he retired.
“I also want to, uh, thank, uh, Tom, and point out Tom Rees, who is here, was an early supporter (Cheers). And I want to, uh, thank, uh, a number of other people if I may. All of those of you who worked so hard in this campaign. All of the students who worked to cross this, uh, state (Cheers). The, uh, memmbers of, uh, my delegation, or our delegation, who also worked so diligently and with such, uh, unselfishness across the state on my behalf and on behalf of this cause that we’re involved in.
“I want to thank Cesar Chavez, who was here a little earlier. (Cheers) And, uh, and Bert Corona, who also worked with him and all of those Mexican Americans who were such supporters of mine. And Dolores Huerta, who is an old friend of mine who has worked with the union, to thank her and tell her how much I appreciate her coming tonight.
“We have, uh, certain obligations and responsibilities to our fellow citizens, which we talked about during the course of this campaign, and I want to make it clear that if I’m elected president of the United States with your help, I intend to keep (unclear) (Cheers)
“I want to also thank all my friends in the- all my- all my friends in the black community. (Cheers) Who- who made such an effort in this campaign, with such a high percentage voting today I think really made a major difference for me. I want to express my appreciation to them. (Cheers)
“To uh, my old friend, uh, if I may, to Rafer Johnson, who’s here (Cheers). And to, uh, Rosie Grier, who said that, uh (Cheers), who said that he’d take care of anybody who didn’t vote for me. (Laughter) In a kind way, because that’s what we are in our campaign. Smile.
“And I wanna also, if I may, just take a moment more, of your time to express my appreciation to Paul Schrade, who uh, from the UAW, who, uh, worked so hard and all the other members of the labor organizations, the members of the labor unions. (Cheers)
“And I’m very grateful for it- to him, and uh, for what he’s done and the effort that he’s made on behalf of the working man here in the state of California. I’m very, very appreciative.
“I’m very grateful for the vote that I received and for all- that all you worked on behalf of- in the agricultural areas of this state, as well as in the cities. I think it indicates quite clearly as well as in the suburbs, I think it indicates quite clearly what we can do here in the United States. The vote here in the state of California. The vote in the state of South Dakota. Here is the most urban state of any of the states of our union. South Dakota, the most rural state of any of the states of our union. Able to win them both. I think that we can end the divisions within the United States. (Cheers)
“What I think is, uh, what I think is quite clear is, is that we can work together in the last analysis. And that what has been going on within the United States over the period of the last three years, the divisions, the violence, the disenchantment with our society, the divisions, whether it’s between blacks and whites, between the poor and the more affluent, or between age groups or on the war in Vietnam, that we can start to work together. We are a great country, an unselfish country and a compassionate country. And I intend to make that my basis for running in over the period of the next few months. (Cheers)
“Ladies and gentlemen if I can just take a moment more of your time because everybody must be dying from the heat. (Cheers) But uh, What I think all of these primaries have indicated, if I can just take a minute or two minutes more of your time, what all of these primaries have indicated and all the party caucuses have indicated whether they occurred in Colorado or Idaho, or Iowa, wherever they occurred, it was the people in the Democratic Party and the people in the United States wanted change. And that change can come about only if they- those who are delegates in Chicago recognize the importance of what has happened here in the state of California. What has happened in South Dakota. What happened in New Hampshire. What happeneed across the rest of this country. The country wants to move in a different direction. We want to deal with our own problems within our own country, and we want peace in Vietnam. (Extended cheers)
“I can- I- I congratulate, uh, Senator, uh, McCarthy and the- those who have been- those who have been associated with him and their efforts that they have, uh, started in New Hampshire and carried through to this- through to the primary here in the state of California. The fact is that all of us are involved in this great effort. And it’s a great effort not on behalf of the Democratic Party. It’s a great effort on behalf of the United States. On behalf of our own people. On behalf of mankind all around the globe and the next generation (unclear) (Applause).
“And I would hope- I would hope- I would hope now that the California primary is finished, now that these primaries are over, that we could now concentrate on having a dialogue or a debate I hope, between the vice president and perhaps myself on what direction we want to go in the United States (Cheers).
“What we’re going to do in the rural areas of our country. What we’re going to do for those who still suffer within the United States from hunger. What we’re going to do around the rest of the globe. And whether we’re going to continue the policies that have been so unsuccessful in Vietnam. Of American troops and American Marines carrying the major burden of that conflict. I do not want to. And I think we should move in a different direction. (Cheers)
“So I- So I thank- I thank all of you who made this possible this evening. All of the effort that you made and all of the people whose names I haven’t mentioned. But who made all- did all of the work at the precinct level, who got out the vote, who did all the effort, brought forth all of the effort that’s required. I was a campaign manager eight years ago. I know what a difference that kind of an effort and that kind of commitment make. So I thank all of you (unclear) if you were here. (Pause)
“Mayor- Mayor Yorty has just sent me a message that we’ve been here too long already. So, uh, my thanks to all of you. And now it’s on to Chicago and let’s win there. Thank you very much.” (Cheers) (Flashes peace sign, waves, shakes hands over the podium)
