Moments after celebrating a monumental victory in the California primary, Senator Robert F. Kennedy walked through the crowded kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968. This final photograph captures the optimistic, triumphant energy of a campaign that seemed to have a clear, unstoppable path to the presidency.
Having just delivered an inspiring speech to his passionate supporters, Kennedy took a fateful shortcut through the hotel pantry to reach a press conference. It was in that crowded walkway where a shooter opened fire, mortally wounding the candidate and shattering the political landscape of a turbulent decade. His assassination just moments after his greatest political triumph remains one of the most profound tragedies in American history.
