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Beginning in 1966, he expressed his doubts with increasing vehemence. His proposal two years ago, that the Viet Cong be assured a role in South Viet Nam's future political life, brought an angry rebuttal from the Administration; today some such arrangement seems likely if a settlement is to be negotiated. Despite the rift with the White House, Kennedy insisted that he had no 1968 ambitions; that he would support Johnson regardless of the war. He maintained this posture even after Eugene McCarthy challenged Johnson last fall on grounds virtually indistinguishable from Kennedy's. It was then that Kennedy felt a double crunch, from within and from without. To run and lose would be to risk his entire political career. To remain on the sidelines would be to violate his own principles and his pugnacious spirit—and perhaps throw away his future as events passed him by. Already the liberals whom he had so assiduously cultivated were deserting him.
The timing of his entry into the race was proof to many that Kennedy had been slyly scheming all along, waiting for someone else to do his dirty work. His argument that an earlier challenge would have been interpreted as merely anti-L.B.J. animus did not save him from being colored ruthless and opportunistic once again. Even Arthur Schlesinger Jr. felt obliged to write a defensive article conceding that Kennedys "always do these things badly."
The Camelot Kids. Once the decision was made, all else flowed easily. Kennedy had all along retained a kind of prefabricated campaign organization. Although he is among the most junior of junior Senators, his office staff numbered over 40—the largest of any member. Then he drew on Brother Ted's aides, and, of course, Ted himself. Brother-in-Law Steve Smith was there to handle the money. Bobby always maintained widespread contacts in the academic world. And he had but to toot the trumpet to assemble such erstwhile Camelot trusties as Salinger, Ted Sorensen, Lawrence O'Brien, Kenneth O'Donnell, Dick Goodwin. Most of the oldtimers are even working without pay, although, as Rose Kennedy has pointed out, money is no object. For a bodyguard, he retained Bill Barry, a former FBI agent who happens to be a New York City bank vice president.
It is a staff of many levels, myriad contacts, much expertise. McCarthy has not been able to build one like it in seven months. Humphrey, despite his official perquisites, cannot match it. And no candidate of either party can boast aides who themselves have celebrity status. The impression that the Kennedy combine is principally retreads from the 1960 quest is illusory. A number of leading members are primarily Bobby's rather than Jack's. Adam Walinsky, 31, a former Justice Department aide, is the chief traveling speechwriter; Jeff Greenfield, 24, out of Yale Law, works with Walinsky; Peter Edelman, 30, another Justice Department veteran, concentrates on research; Frank Mankiewicz, 43, a former Peace Corps official, is chief press aide. Others, like Arthur Schlesinger Jr., move in and out. Fred Dutton, 44, a bit player in 1960, who became an Assistant Secretary of State, is now a luminary, traveling and advising Bobby constantly as a road-show coordinator.