What would Robert Kennedy think of today’s politics if he was still alive? - Yorkshire Post Letters

It was heartwarming to see former two term American president Robert Kennedy enjoying his one hundredth birthday celebrations while being cared for by his extended family. I also appreciated the televised documentary about his achievements and those of the Democratic president who followed him, Dr Martin Luther King. These were the presidents of my youth as they ran the US from 1972 through 1988.

If only. What if? Who knows what Robert Kennedy could have achieved had he decided against that fateful campaign in 1968 that led to the tragedy of the Ambassador Hotel. There’s no certainty he’d have been elected in 1972. What is certain is that Kennedy would have found many of the policies adopted by subsequent administrations and especially those of the current incumbent quite repugnant.

For many on the left, Kennedy, born in Brookline Massachusetts on November 20, 1925, embodies the spirit of the liberal 1960s when American ideological conservatism was a small political sect.

Born to privilege and not initially preoccupied with civil rights, Kennedy came to view racial equality as essential to the future of America. Improvements have been made but genuine equality still awaits.

Closer to home let’s not forget that failure by UK governments to ensure civil rights in Northern Ireland contributed in no small way to that lengthy period somewhat euphemistically described as The Troubles.

Counterfactual history may be fascinating as it sheds light on the present but thereby can lie madness.