‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’ often welcomed special guest hosts over the years. In 1968 Harry Belafonte filled in for Johnny and interviewed Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
Harry asks Robert, “Senator, how do you feel?” Robert replies, “Fine, thank you. Delighted to see you,” he chuckles. Kennedy says he’s delighted to see Harry because he rides the elevator in his building daily. He sees a man that says he is Johnny Carson.
Robert says, “So, it’s great to see you’re fine.” The crowd laughs with the two men. They talk about how Robert likes to state his opinion on movie casts. In a recent movie, Kennedy wanted to change the entire cast of the film ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
Harry asks who Robert wants to put in the movie. Robert says, “President Johnson, Jean McCarthy, and myself!” Everyone laughs at the surprising joke. Later in the interview, they discuss serious matters such as declining employment rates.
Kennedy says he intends to change this because it is projected that there will be 70,000 fewer jobs this Summer, according to his secretary. He said there is no hope for people in these situations.
Then, Kennedy talks about how he had an experience with this and mentions that Harry did too. He says America is a society, and it has to be understood that as a part of the establishment, the nation will deal with it and overcome it.
The crowd loves Robert, and they cheer for him as they look forward to the future and his possible presidential run. It is a fascinating interview that covers many hot political topics of the late ’60s.
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