Palermo, Joseph A.

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Palermo, Joseph A.
(Joseph Anthony Palermo)

PERSONAL:

Education: University of California, Santa Cruz, bachelor's degree; San Jose State University, master's degree; Cornell University, master's degree, Ph.D., 1998.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—jpalermo@csus.edu.

CAREER:

California State University, Sacramento, assistant professor of history; has also taught at Cornell University and State University of New York, Cortland; Mectapus (musical group), drummer; former musician in several musical groups, including Sweet Pete and the Funk Farm, Buddha Nature, Jubilee's Ball, Pet Stinky State of Siege, Montaj, Touch, Daily Planet, and Framework.

WRITINGS:

In His Own Right: The Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Also author of a short biography of Robert F. Kennedy for the Pearson/Longman "Library of American Biography" series. Contributor to periodicals, including Peace & Change, and to the Huffington Post Web site.

SIDELIGHTS:

In his debut book, In His Own Right: The Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, historian Joseph A. Palermo focuses on the political life of the late U.S. senator who was also a former U.S. Attorney General during his brother President John F. Kennedy's administration. The author delves into issues such as Kennedy's support of traditionally "liberal" causes, including civil rights. He also writes about Kennedy's ability to gather together various people—such as the working class and African Americans—to garner grass-roots support for his run in the 1968 Democratic primaries as he sought the nomination for the presidency. Drawing on previously unseen documents and letters, the author provides an in-depth profile of Kennedy and sheds new light on his views about the Vietnam War, racism, economic inequality, and the disenfranchised. Palermo also explores what he views as a profound change that Kennedy underwent from the time of the assassination of his brother John in 1963 to his own assassination in 1968. Karl Helicher, writing in the Library Journal, commented that the author "provides a thorough investigation of RFK as political leader." A Publishers Weekly contributor concluded that Palermo "paints a vivid portrait of the problems and promise of the 1960s and the way Kennedy shaped and was shaped by that era."