RARE, HISTORIC ROBERT KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN LETTER WEEKS BEFORE DEATH!

Description

VERY RARE, HISTORIC LETTER FROM SENATOR ROBERT KENNEDY SEEKING SUPPORT FROM A MEMBER OF THE ORANGE COUNTY (CA) CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.  DATED MAY 10, 1968 WEEKS BEFORE SENATOR KENNEDY'S ASSASINATION.
I acquired this letter at auction a few weeks ago from an auction house in the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  It is a letter from Robert Kennedy to a Mrs. Lydia Smith in Fullerton, California.  In this letter, Senator Kennedy is seeking support in his campaign to be the Democratic nominee for President in 1968.  It has folds and minor wrinkles but even with that, I would rate this as VG.  The letter is 10 1/2" x7".  The text is as follows:
May 19, 1968
" Dear Mrs. Smith, as a candidate for the Presidency of the United States, I wish it were possible to meet personally with every Democrat in Fullerton and throughout California.
This is not, of course, feasible.  However, I would like to have an opportunity to meet you, Mrs. Smith, when I visit Orange County during the course of this all-important California primary election campaign.
The campaign is a great challenge.  It is my hope that you will choose to join with your Orange County Committee in this effort.  They have set a number of local events which I will attend.  In addition, we have arranged for your participation, Mrs. Smith, in the Gala scheduled for the Los Angeles Sports Arena on May 24th.
I need your help.  We have the opportunity to shape the course of human events into the 1970's.  I want to work with you to insure success in this campaign, and the future of our nation.
Looking forward to meeting you in Orange County, I am
Respectfully yours, Robert F. Kennedy"
The letter is signed "Robert F. Kennedy" which may be stamped rather than personally signed.  If I were able to guarantee this as being his original signature, I would likely offer this at twice or three times or more, what I am actually seeking.
As is, this is a very historic letter.  It is dated at a time when Robert Kennedy is at the height of his 1968 campaign to be the Democratic nominee for President.  Given California's significant electoral vote count in the Presidential election, California is a major state for primary elections.  This letter speaks to the urgency of Senator Kennedy's reaching out to California Democratic committees to help him win the nomination in California, and seeks the help of Mrs. Smith and the Orange County Democratic Committee.  In Senator Kennedy's own words, he was engaged in the
"all-important California primary election campaign"
.  Senator Kennedy acknowledges he cannot meet all voters in California but he does indicate a desire to meet her, which seems to indicate she had a significant role in Orange County Democrat politics.
Mere weeks later from this May 10 letter, and the same day that Senator Kennedy won the vital California primary vote on June 5, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel.  He died the next day, June 6, 1968.  In a violent, turbulent decade that also saw the death by assassin of his brother John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's death added to the "What If" of history.  Would Kennedy have won the Democratic nomination?  And if so, could he have gone on to win the Presidential election of 1968?  We can only speculate on an outcome that never had the chance to take place.
30 day return guarantee as long as the Senator Kennedy document and envelope are returned in the same condition as sent.  Mailing cost includes insurance and is based on domestic mailing; international mailing cost is based on destination and is through the Ebay Global Shipping Program.
This rare, poignant letter would make a fine addition to several types of historic collections including documents and artifacts associated with the 1968 Presidential election campaign, as well as a collection that focuses on the Kennedy family in general or Senator Kennedy in particular.