WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- President Bush on Tuesday renamed the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington in honor the nation's 64th attorney general Robert F. Kennedy calling him "deserving" and a "great part" of American history.
"I am so pleased in being with you in giving this building a great American name," Bush said.
The president joined Kennedy's widow, Ethel, son, Patrick, brother Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and other members of the Kennedy family, lawmakers and former staff who worked in the Kennedy Justice Department for the ceremony.
Also attending were former attorneys general Edwin Mease III who served under President Ronald Reagan and Dick Thornburgh who served under both President Reagan and the first President Bush.
The dedication of the building came on what would have been Robert Kennedy's 76th birthday.
"Today we are not just relabeling this building in the memory of Robert Kennedy, we are rededicating the Department of Justice to the causes he served. We must rededicate ourselves to the protection of dignity, respects, rights and freedom. We must rededicate ourselves to the preservation of our way of life," said Attorney General John Ashcroft.
A liberal Democrat, Kennedy served as attorney general from 1961 to 1964 during his brother John F. Kennedy's administration. He also served in the 1950s as counsel to a U.S. Senate committee investigating labor unions and was known for his feud with then-labor leader Jimmy Hoffa.
"America first saw him and heard his voice in the mid-50s, when he was minority counsel to the Senate committee investigating organized crime. There was something about him that no one could miss: an intense, intelligence present, and a voice that could quiet a room. As a friend has remembered him, Robert Kennedy was not a hard man, but he was a tough man. He valued bluntness and precision and truth. Those under investigation learned those qualities firsthand," Bush said.
After his brother's 1963 assassination, Robert Kennedy served briefly with Lyndon Johnson's administration before running for senator from New York. In early 1968, Kennedy declared his candidacy for the U.S. presidency. After winning the California primary on June 5, 1968, he was shot by Sirhan Sirhan as he walked through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, shortly after delivering a victory speech to supporters. He died early the next day at the age of 42. Sirhan was a Palestinian reportedly disturbed by Kennedy's pro-Israel positions.
Bush pointed to Kennedy's children as a testament to his legacy; many of them now have careers in different aspects of public service.
"There's no doubt in my mind that he would look upon his sons and daughters and his grandkids with such incredible pride," the president said.
Kennedy's son Massachusetts Democrat Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr., served in the U.S. House of Representatives. His oldest daughter, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, is lieutenant governor of Maryland. His son David died of a drug overdose in 1984, and his son Michael was killed in a skiing accident four years ago.
Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. offered a stirring tribute to his father, recalling his commitment to the civil rights movement and to impoverished people living in rural communities.
"Robert Kennedy recognized that in times of national crisis we always be vigilant not only to protect the innocent, but to protect our liberties," said Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr.
He went to remember: "Perhaps you like to hear what my dad had to say to the lawyers at the Justice Department on his first day on the job: 'I started at the Justice Department as a younger lawyer in 1951. The salary was about $4,000 a year. I worked hard. I was ambitious. I studied. I applied myself. Then my brother was elected President of the United States.'" Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. said with a chuckle.
