Q: This week, the nation has been remembering Robert F. Kennedy. RFK was killed 50 years ago this week in Los Angeles. Less than three months before he died, Kennedy was in Kansas, campaigning for president. At the time, he was a Democratic Senator from New York. So, what brought him here? What was the original reason for Kennedy's visit to Kansas?
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A: Kennedy came to Kansas to deliver a Landon Lecture at Kansas State University
This week, the nation has been remembering Robert F. Kennedy. RFK was killed 50 years ago this week in Los Angeles. Less than three months before he died, Kennedy was in Kansas, campaigning for president. Kansas might seem like an odd place to campaign. Traditionally, the state voted Republican and Kennedy was a Democratic Senator from New York. But Kennedy's trip to Kansas had been planned well before he announced he was running for the White House. Former Kansas Governor Alf Landon had invited RFK to deliver a Landon Lecture at Kansas State University, and that's what brought him here. Kennedy delivered the Landon Lecture on March 18, 1968. After his speech at Ahearn Fieldhouse in Manhattan, Kennedy visited Lawrence and spoke at Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas. RFK also visited the Haskell Indian Institute, now known as Haskell Indian Nations University.
Learn more about Bobby Kennedy's visit to Kansas in this article by The Hutch News.