All Political Preferences Aside: Avert Another Tragedy Before It Happens

Dear Friends,

As the days get shorter and we move closer to the holiday season, I am always prompted to imagine the prospects for our coming year. Two thousand and twenty three has already been a turbulent one with two major wars underway, geopolitical upheaval around the globe and a debt crisis pending before the U.S. House of Representatives, which has struggled to elect a speaker. 

It is not unreasonable to ask what other black swans might swim into the picture and create even more political chaos that could significantly undermine our country’s stability and security.

One such event would be the assassination of a candidate for the presidency.

That prospect is more than theoretical. On September 15, presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was speaking at a campaign event when a man, dressed as a U.S. Marshal, arrived at the gathering with a small arsenal under his shoulder and strapped to his back. He was determined to see Kennedy, who was speaking not far from the site where his father was assassinated in 1968.  RFK, Jr.’s private security company apprehended the man, without incident. It is a miracle that the imposter’s guns, already loaded, were not used.

I was shocked and frankly deeply unsettled by the news that the Biden administration has denied RFK, Jr. a Secret Service detail. He is a uniquely vulnerable candidate, more likely than others to be assaulted by haters, would-be assassins or copy-cat attackers. Even decades after my grandfather left the White House, we were targeted on a few occasions by people who had recently been released from mental health institutions. Potential assassins or dangerous stalkers are not always haters. Sometimes they are delusional and believe that they are members of the presidential family and have not been properly acknowledged as such. A deranged sense of humiliation, rage and rejection can make them dangerous too.

Given the recent attention on JFK’s assassination in 1963—largely because of a new book by Paul Landis, a Secret Serviceman who was in Dallas—RFK, Jr. is more vulnerable than any other candidate. Yet according to Kennedy, President Biden has again refused his application for Secret Service protection during this pre-presidential election year, even though the Secret Service has acknowledged the dangers to him.

The White House apparently deferred this matter to Biden’s Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, who has the power to make this determination, just as the President clearly does. The few news organizations that did cover this “near miss,” quote the Secret Service website, which states that the department is limited in who they can protect until a “major candidate” emerges and then they can only offer protection 120 days before the election. In extraordinary circumstances, the website says, they can make an exception, based on threat assessments. What they don’t say is that over the years countless presidential hopefuls have been given Secret Service details well before the 120-day mark, including Teddy Kennedy, who was given Secret Service protection more than once, even when he was not a candidate. Barack Obama was given a Secret Service detail 551 days in advance, according to RFK, Jr.’s Substack blog.

Who, pray tell, might need this protection more than RFK, Jr.? You don’t have to agree with his views to see that should a third Kennedy be assassinated while running for president it would throw the nation into a dangerous tailspin—creating a loss of bearings which could have a devastating impact on this country and far beyond our borders. The tragic events that led to the early death of JFK, our 36^th president in 1963, his brother “Bobby” and Martin Luther King in 1968, was enough to mark the 1960s as a decade of turmoil and loss of faith in our institutions. We as a nation cannot afford a reoccurrence, especially as there are other significant challenges to our democratic way of life.

One is prompted to ask if perhaps the reason for denying RFK, Jr.’s request is motivated by sheer politics, as a way to avoid taking RFK’s challenge seriously. The issue of candidate Kennedy’s “qualifications” for such protection is irrelevant—the Kennedys are not a conventional political family. 

Our country is a considerably more violent place than it was when RFK, Jr.’s father was assassinated. Even Congress recognized this after the January 6 attack on Congress. They have radically increased spending on their own protection since that pivotal event.

President Biden owes Secret Service protection to independent candidate Kennedy. He also owes it to RFK, Jr.’s mother, Ethel. She has experienced more tragedy than any wife or political family member should have to endure. This year Ethel Kennedy turned 95 years old.

Making such an “exception” has been commonplace. It is not about overriding bureaucratic regulations or even about the grip Biden has as the incumbent Democratic candidate—it is about what is good for the country.

With my best wishes,
Susan