Fifty-five years ago today, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy whistle-stopped his way across Nebraska during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.Â
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While Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed paperwork to run for president earlier this month, he officially announced his candidacy on April 19. "My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now – threatening now – to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country;" Robert F. Kennedy Jr., via statement. "...to commoditize our children, our purple mountain's majesty; to poison our children and our people with chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs..."
Photos: Robert F. Kennedy's whistle-stop tour through Nebraska
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Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate in the primary election for president, addresses a Lexington crowd during his rail trip across Nebraska on April 27, 1968. The women behind Kennedy are his wife, Ethel Kennedy (in orange), and Marylin Fowler of Bertrand, Nebraska (in yellow).
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Robert F. Kennedy shakes hands during a stop at North Platte, Nebraska during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president on April 27, 1968. Mary Ann Strasheim, left, is reaching for her mother and children, who were being pushed in the crowd.
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Robert F. Kennedy’s train leaves North Platte, Nebraska during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president on April 27, 1968.
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Robert F. Kennedy looks out at the crowd during a stop at North Platte, Nebraska during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president on April 27, 1968.
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Robert F. Kennedy’s train pulls into North Platte, Nebraska, during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president in 1968.
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Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, during his whistle-stop campaign appearance aboard a Union Pacific Railroad train in Sidney, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 1968. Kennedy was campaigning in the Democratic primary election.
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Robert F. Kennedy’s seven-car Union Pacific Railroad train pulls into Sidney, Nebraska, during his whistle-stop campaign tour across the state April 27, 1968. He was campaigning in Nebraska’s Democratic presidential primary election.
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Robert F. Kennedy waves goodbye from his railcar during a whistle-stop campaign appearance aboard a Union Pacific Railroad train in Sidney, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 1968. Kennedy was campaigning in the Democratic primary election.
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Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, during his whistle-stop campaign appearance aboard a Union Pacific Railroad train in Sidney, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 1968.
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In Fremont, dozens of spectators climbed the ladders of parked, nearby railroad box cars to catch a glimpse of Kennedy at his last stop before Omaha.
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Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate in the Nebraska presidential primary election, waves to the crowd gathered at North Platte, Nebraska, during his whistle-stop tour across Nebraska on April 27, 1968.
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Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate in the Nebraska presidential primary election, addresses a crowd gathered at Lexington, Nebraska, during his whistle-stop tour across Nebraska on April 27, 1968. His wife, Ethel, stands at right.
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Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate in the Nebraska presidential primary election, addresses a crowd gathered at North Platte, Nebraska, during his whistle-stop tour across Nebraska on April 27, 1968. Behind him are Mary Ann Hanson (now Strasheim) of North Platte, left, Ethel Kennedy and Irene Bystrom of North Platte.
