And yet, through the nostalgia seeped the sorrows of opportunities not explored, chances not taken, possibilities wasted. It all might have been different.

Kennedy’s long days of trudging through Wisconsin paid off on April 5, primary day. He never developed the boisterous and friendly chumminess, the genial touch of Hubert Humphrey. There was always a distance, as if something was withheld, setting him apart and making him less accessible. In the end, that line was perhaps not a liability at all, but

The country sorely needed reassurance that together, we would continue, that if the nation was brokenhearted, it was not broken.

“I loved being in the middle of the fight. The effort didn’t take away energy, it gave me energy.

The end of our country has loomed many times before. America is not as fragile as it seems.”

Unlike the candidate’s aides, who had reached the point of near total exhaustion, Kennedy understood the importance of pacing himself, of relaxing and replenishing his energy.

It began with a quote attributed to an unnamed American playwright: “On the wreckage of all dead civilizations should be inscribed, ‘They did not dare.’ ” Beneath this bombastic opening, however, was an exhortation that touched a nerve, a summons that would come to characterize a core theme of the campaign to come—a challenge to shake off the letha

He was constantly worried that if the justices imposed their own social or political views, the authority of the court itself would be chipped away. His institutional conservatism left a permanent mark on me.

“Let me say in conclusion, this University is not maintained by its alumni, or by the state, merely to help its graduates have an economic advantage in the life struggle. There is certainly a greater purpose, and I’m sure you recognize it.”