The Last Campaign

Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America

By: Thurston Clarke

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

With new research and previously unavailable interviews, The Last Campaign provides an intimate and absorbing historical narrative that goes right to the heart of America's deepest despairs - and most fiercely held dreams - and tells us more than we had understood before about this complicated man and the heightened dramas of his times.

After John F. Kennedy's assassination, Robert Kennedy - formerly Jack's no-holds-barred political warrior - almost lost hope. He was haunted by his brother's murder, and by the nation's seeming inabilities to solve its problems of race, poverty, and the war in Vietnam. Bobby sensed the country's pain, and when he announced that he was running for president, the country united behind his hopes. Over the action-packed 82 days of his campaign, Americans were inspired by Kennedy's promise to lead them toward a better time. And after an assassin's bullet stopped this last great stirring public figure of the 1960s, crowds lined up along the country's railroad tracks to say goodbye to Bobby.

Clarke's The Last Campaign is the definitive account of Robert Kennedy's exhilarating and tragic 1968 campaign for president - and a revelatory history that is especially resonant now.

©2008 Thurston Clarke (P)2008 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

" The Last Campaign is a great read....Thurston Clarke's keen eye for the telling detail and his fast-paced narrative make the The Last Campaign a must-have for any student of American politics." (Tom Brokaw)
"This is a book worthy of the man and that moment, an honorable and unforgettable piece of work. The Last Campaign should be required reading for anyone seeking public office, and for the rest of us, too." (Joel Klein, author of Primary Colors)

it is what it is

Details of Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign were enlightening, surprising and often moving. At times one wishes that today's political leaders would listen to this book and take to heart the ideas and stated priorities of Robert Kennedy as conveyed through the speeches here presented.


One cannot avoid thinking, "what if." What if RFK had not been gunned down? How different the United States and its place in the world might be today. Would the US have converted its economy to peaceful production and help the world avoid the waste and destruction of preventable wars and arms proliferation? Would his administration have effectively addressed poverty and racism? Would he have blazed a new path? Would his example establish a new model for political engagement? The author doesn't pretend to know what is unknowable, but the listener/reader is left with much to think about.

Great book

Highly recommend this book about a history changing man that was lost too soon. Who knows how the world would be different today

Very Well Done!

This book provides an insight to REK without idolizing him. He is portrayed as a leader who struggled as we all do and was stolen from us too early. It also provides excellent insight into concepts of the times.

Hopeful and Still Heartbreking

I feel Clarke has detailed the 82 Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. although the outcome was not a surprise, his humanitarian ism answer wisdom for humanity that he possessed shine through. I keep wondering: "Will we have another person run for easy political office who is as op Ryu idiotic about Domestic affairs as Kennedy was during 1968?" only time shall tell.

Timely. Revealing. Inspiring. Heartbreaking.

We think we know who RFK was but, like most heroes and icons, we assign more of us to their legacy than we do learning more. This brought me back and gave me new vision and insight.

Very compelling and inspiring story

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. The sound quality and the narraitor were excellent. This was an intimate, up close look at a unique canidate and campaign during troubled times. I've read the other reviewers complaints that the author was biased and romanticized RFK's campaign. This may be the case but I can recall a few points when the author makes objective points that aren't flattering for RFK. Bottom line, if you're interested in history, politics, the Kennedys, or RFK you'll love this book. There is a wealth of interesting information and campaign stories that wont disappoint.

A Very Personal Story

Listening to this, I'm not sure how objective the author was. I felt that he had been captivated by the legend of Senator Kennedy. This made it all the more interesting for me. As a 16-year-old student at a Catholic girls school, I worked as a volunteer at Kennedy's campaign headquarters in Indianapolis. I, too, was captivated. When I listened to stories of the senator in a motorcade slowing down to shake hands with bystanders, I remember standing along a street where I knew his car was going to pass on it's way to a speech. My friends and I hoped to get a glimpse of him. Instead, the car stopped and he shook hands with each of us. We were obviously not old enough to vote. We felt very special.

As a 16-year-old, I assumed that everyone was as excited about the senator as I was. Listening to this book has opened my eyes to the bigotry and closed-mindedness that he encountered in Indiana during that campaign. Now I understand why my mother warned me that not everyone might be interested in my campaign literature when I went out knocking on doors.

There was no 24-hour television then. I stayed up until the stations went off the air waiting to hear the final California primary election results. They were still counting ballots when I went to bed. My mother woke me the next morning with the news that the senator had been killed. I couldn't believe it. Listening to this book brought all that back. It made me even more grateful for the experience that I had.

Beautiful tribute

I was not born during RFK’a lifetime, but he resonates with me to this day. This book is a wonderful retelling of his ‘68 campaign, providing new insight to those 82 days. Today’s candidates still can learn a lot from RFK, and they should.

It was more than Indiana, more than South Dakota

Thurston Clarke has written a panoramic history of a few days in 1968. The world changed in 1968, but not for the better with the loss of Bobby Kennedy. The thrill of the campaign becomes more exciting with the backdrop of all the other major events of that year. Clarke transports us to Bobby's inner circle where we are privy to the grand swells and the meaningless minutiae of Bobby's death defying run for the Democratic nomination. Death defying because everyone - even Bobby - believed that Bobby's death was the inevitable end of the campaign. We experience Bobby's rapid evolution into a peoples candidate - even of people who eventually "had to" vote for Wallace instead of Bobby.

We sit in the car with Bobby when he is accosted by Ernesto Jaurez who says, "Remember my name." We hold our breathe when Bobby throws all caution to the wind and does two things on that final evening in L.A. that he would never ever do any other time during the campaign.

Clarke has written a history which resounds with the era and the man. It's a great and bittersweet listen.

Never Knew

I've heard stories but never knew the history of RFK send what this campaign meant at this time in history and the type of man he was. The only complaint about the book i have is that it is a bit repetitive in describing K's emotions around the issues he was most passionate about but perhaps it is necessary to drive the point home.
If you are unfamiliar with who he was and what he meant to so many people at an important time in history, this is a great account of his final days.