About this item
In early 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy ventured deep into the heart of eastern Kentucky to gauge the progress of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. Kennedy, already considering challenging Johnson for the Democratic presidential nomination, viewed his two days in Kentucky as an opportunity to test his antiwar and antipoverty message with hardscrabble white voters. Among the strip mines, one-room schoolhouses, and dilapidated homes, however, Kennedy encountered a strong mistrust and intense resentment of establishment politicians. In All This Marvelous Potential, author Matthew Algeo meticulously retraces RFK's tour of eastern Kentucky, visiting the places he visited and meeting with the people he met. Algeo explains how and why the region has changed since 1968, and why it matters for the rest of the country.
About the Author
When he's not writing his own biography in the third person, Matthew Algeo writes about unusual and interesting events in American history.His latest book is "All This Marvelous Potential: Robert Kennedy's 1968 Tour of Appalachia."Algeo is also a journalist. He has reported from four continents, and his stories have appeared on some of the most popular public radio programs in the United States.In addition to reporting and writing, Algeo has held jobs as a convenience store clerk, a gas station attendant, a Halloween costume salesman, and a proofreader. He also worked in a traveling circus (as a hot dog vendor; no acrobatics involved) .His wife Allyson is a U.S. Foreign Service officer. They live in Sarajevo with their daughter Zaya (and two cats) .