Robert F. Kennedy's funeral

Robert F. Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles shortly after winning the California Democratic primary, and died the next day. He was killed by Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted in 1969 and later resentenced to life in prison. The assassination led to expanded Secret Service protection for presidential candidates and became one of several major political killings in the turbulent 1960s.

After Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, his casket was flown to New York aboard a presidential jet sent by Lyndon B. Johnson and viewed by thousands at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. At his June 8 funeral, his brother Ted Kennedy delivered a widely remembered eulogy. Kennedy’s body was then taken by train to Washington, D.C., as mourners lined the route, and he was buried at night near his brother John at Arlington National Cemetery. In the aftermath, Congress expanded Secret Service protection for major presidential candidates. Although Kennedy had trailed Hubert Humphrey in delegates, many believed he could have won the Democratic nomination; Humphrey ultimately secured it but narrowly lost the 1968 election to Richard Nixon.