Today marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Rather than summarize Kennedy's lengthy and impressive accomplishments as a Senator and Attorney General, I will instead focus on a quality he had that has become lost in American politics today. That quality, is courage.

Today, politicians on Capitol Hill are surrounded by an army of consultants and advisors that often make decisions for them based solely on public opinion. Many Democrats, including my favorite, John Edwards, were deeply conflicted in voting for the Iraq War but were pressured into the decision because their consultants warned them of a public backlash if they didn't support it. Politicians have become too obsessed with reelection and not obsessed enough with making the right decisions for the American people. Robert Kennedy saw politics a little differently.

Instead of constantly courting affluent Washington insiders at $500 dollar plate dinners, Kennedy frequently toured impoverished inner city areas where people struggled to make ends meet on a daily basis. These people were not able to give thousands of dollars to his campaign. They were not the most influential voting block, and supporting them was not necessarily politically rewarding. Nonetheless R.F.K was their greatest champion. He was a guy who understood their plight, and vowed to change their lives with every fiber of his being. He did so, because he was courageous.

Then came his comments about the civil rights movement. Kennedy stood before a Georgia crowd and vowed that "We will not stand by or be aloof. We will move. I happen to believe that the 1954 Supreme Court school desegregation decision was right. But my belief does not matter. It is the law." Some of you may believe the decision was wrong. That does not matter. It is the law." This is a man who had presidential ambitions. He knew that the South was an integral piece of the pie he would need to take to the presidency. But all that didn't matter to him. Kennedy valued his cause and beliefs well before his ambitions.

In addition to being a champion of the poor and an enemy of racism, Bobby Kennedy fiercely opposed the Vietnam War. He was one of the few politicians to stand up against it so vociferously. Hindsight is 20/20, and now we understand how horribly mistaken we were to be in Vietnam. Bobby knew it then. If only he became president and ended it a little sooner..

To me, bobby kennedy's legacy is more about who he was, than what he accomplished. I admire his ability to stand courageously in the name of our country. I admire his love for mankind that he humbly and graciously put before his personal ambition. although his death came too soon, the legacy of his life will always be timeless.