Searching for America's Heart: RFK and the Renewal of Hope

Edelman's book examines the failures Welfare Reform--essentially punishing the poor--and how Bill Clinton co-opted RFK's memory to push his own centrist agenda. This is the kind of book conservatives hate, because it is hard to refute on emotional or straw man grounds.

Robert Kennedy had a rare understanding of the poor, and he tried to help those that live in poverty. He understood poverty in terms of individual faces; and not as a nameless mass of people that can be easily grouped together or defined. Often he would go and meet people that lived in desperate conditions of poverty. He cared enough to go to places that other political leaders would avoid. Peter Edelman worked for Robert Kennedy in the years from 1964-1968. He believes that the vision that Robert Kennedy had for America's poor is still very valid today. That vision is presented in "Searching For America's Heart". Kennedy believed in a very broad based effort against poverty that recognized the responsibility of government and all other segments of society; combined together with the vital responsibility of the individual. He believed that there should always be a safety net for those in dire need. He genuinely wanted to help people to have a better life, and to care for their children. That spirit has often been lost in today's world, and millions of Americans, a great number of them children; still live in poverty. Most of the poor are rarely thought about or seen by other people, and it is almost as if they do not exist at all. They are truly the forgotten Americans. But Edelman points out that there is much that we can do that could change this tragic reality, and that we can remember the heart that Robert Kennedy saw in America. That American heart is defined by decency, justice and fairness for all citizens. This book presents the challenge of finding and rekindling that most essential American heart.

Robert Kennedy remains a central figure in recent history. He had an impressive resume -- mafia prosecutor, Attorney General 1960-1964, Senator 1964-1968 and presidential candidate, 1968.Edelman contrasts the fiery idealism of the 1960s with the seemingly more jaded approach towards political issues in recent times. To his credit, Edelman treats Robert Kennedy with respect. During his career in public office, Robert Kennedy was the advocate of disenfranchised persons. He encouraged people to work together as a community and seemed to feel that group efforts towards a common goal would ameliorate many societal ills such as poverty and bigotry. While Edelman praises the late Senator, he appears to take a rather condemnatory posture with President Clinton, whose tenure in office (1992-2000) came some 30 years after the incindiary activism of Robert Kennedy's times. Edelman does not appear to take into account that due to the different issues and questions of the times, the approaches that seemed to work in one era might not work in another. It is just an opinion. Times usually dictate the responses and approaches that are made toward issues. Although Edelman knew both Robert Kennedy and President Clinton, he seems to view them as a study in contrasts. The former was a passionate activist and the latter a jaded politician. Edelman seems to take the position that persons currently in public office take a more opportunistic approach than those who held high public office in the 1960s. All in all, this is a very well written book that will leave readers thinking about it for a long time.

RFK began to lay the foundations for a newly conceived politics in this country. And indeed now more than ever we need such a bold and practical approach and Edelman, with his vast experience seems to clearly underastand this and pick up where RFk left off. An excellent and important book, particularly when our country has largely forgotten or left behind RFK's vision of great hope and inspiration in our present age of unprecendented prosperity. I would also highly recommend another excellent book "Robert F. Kennedy: A Spiritual Biography" by Konstantin Sidorenko for those who are not already familiar w/ RFK and his life and the politics of the 60s. It is a superb short and vigorous biographyand a good introduction to further reading of one of this country's most complex and fascinating politicians and leader.

In a time where liberalism has been (supposedly) consigned to the back burners, this book is a rich portrait of a personally and politically complex man.Even more than that, it is a reach back to an earlier time of more civil public dialogue and compromise. It's hard to read this book and not wonder what might have been, and to think hard on what RFK's true legacy is. Great book.