Books RFK, 1964-68

Doubleday; 388 pages; $7.95

THOSE PEOPLE who pride themselves on owning the complete set of Kennedy biographies might buy On His Own: RFK 1964-68, but there is no compelling reason why anyone should read it. For even though this book chronicles episodes in Kennedy's life that have not been covered in detail before, it is basically a reiteration of the worn cliches about Robert Kennedy and a re-hash of the controversial incidents that have preoccupied his other biographers.

In a way, On His Own is a pointless book. It is a biography of Robert Kennedy and yet does not attempt to understand or explain him. Its failure to present a single coherent view of Kennedy-to illuminate his personality and probe it in depth-is a damning fault. Both authors were Kennedy "insiders": Milton Gwirtzman 54 was a political associate of Kennedy and William vanden Heuval was a close friend. It is surprising that they fail to go beyond the public view of Kennedy in their description of him.

The coverage of Kennedy's activities in the four and a half year period from his brother's death to his own is-in contrast to the overall lack of profundity-quite comprehensive. The book describes RFK's trips to South Africa and Latin America in greater detail than previous biographies, includes better coverage of his involvement in New York politics, and does add new information concerning the epsodes which have already been written about to death. Much of this new material is interesting, some of it is lucidly written-but it is included with little or no purpose: the authors fail to make any significant conclusions from all that they have discussed. The accounts ramble on-some good, most tedious-more like a topical transcript of Kennedy's activities in his last few years than a true biography. The problem is that On His Own's various parts do not directly contribute to the formulation of a single, comprehensive view of Kennedy or his life work. Its chapters remain disjointed from any main theme. What is so frustrating is that the authors choose not to show the significance of the episodes they spend so many pages describing.

TAKEN individually, some of the book's sections are partially successful. On His Own does a good job analyzing Kenned's involvement in New York state polities. Author William vanden Heuval knows Tammany well: he ran against John Lindsay for Congress in 1960 and was a candidate for governor this year until he failed to win any votes at the Democratic state committee meeting in March. His account of Kennedy's role in the campaign to clean up the Manhattan Surrogate Court by challenging the bosses candidate in the primary is written with a passion that is rare for this book. Vanden Heuval goes on to show how Kennedy's unwillingness to involve himself in party politics at crucial times limited his effectiveness in the state. But Vanden Heave does not follow up his analysis with the logical conclusions.

Kennedy's behavior in New York politics illustrated a dichotomy in his personality. Often he would throw himself into some political crusade with an almost reckless fervor while at other times his cautiousness would inhibit him from making any commitment. This ambivalence surfaced later when he tried to decide whether or not he should run for the Presidency. The authors document the consequences of the inner contradiction in Kennedy's character, but they never explore it directly.

In the last chapter, appropriately entitled "A Summing Up." the authors attempt to accomplish in five pages what they have not done in the previous 381-that is, to explain Kennedy. This quickie-analysis, in which the authors announce that Kennedy "was a radical and a revolutionary." does not help. The authors might declare what Kennedy was like, but they fail to show what he was like.

Some books which are just as pointless as On His Own redeem themselves through the quality of their writing. But the writing in On His Own is too mediocre to provide salvation. In its description of Kennedy this book never goes beyond the vocabulary already overused in the mass media and in the books of other New Frontiersmen. Its attempts at eloquence end in cliches. Amidst the plodding style of this narrative, passage quoted from Kenndy's speeches seem like rare oases.

An earlier biography, Jack Newfield's Robert Kennedy: A Memoir, is without doubt the best of the Kennedy books; in comparison to it, On His Own seems especially vacuous. Newfield does not try to defend Kennedy's mistakes, but rather makes them understandable-and forgivable-within the context of his character. Writing largely from his personal contact with Kennedy, Newfield succeeds in developing a comprehensive view of him and his political development. His Robert Kennedy is outstanding. There is no reason to read On His Own: RFK 1964-68 in addition to it.