LAT obituary: Fred Dutton, 82; Key Aide to Kennedys and Gov. Pat Brown

[DeepModem Mom]

Fred Dutton, 82; Key Aide to Kennedys and Gov. Pat Brown
By Myrna Oliver, Times Staff Writer


Fred Dutton, a Democratic power broker in both Washington and California who served as assistant to President John F. Kennedy and chief of staff for Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, has died. He was 82.

Dutton died Saturday at George Washington University Hospital in the nation's capital of complications from a stroke....

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When Kennedy was slain, Dutton was tapped as coordinator of the John F. Kennedy Library, where he organized the Kennedy Oral History Project. Loyal to the Democratic party as well as the Kennedy family, Dutton took charge of the platform committee for the 1964 convention and wrote speeches for Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign.

When Robert F. Kennedy ran for president in 1968, Dutton served as behind-the-scenes campaign manager. He was with the candidate when he was slain at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel, and rode with Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, in the ambulance to the hospital. Later, Dutton served as founding director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation.

He also served on the Democratic National Committee's McGovern Commission from 1969 to 1972 to revamp the convention delegate selection process. His effort to include more women prompted feminist Betty Friedan to dub him "the Papa Bear of the women's liberation movement."...


http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-dutton27jun27,0,7710460.story?coll=la-home-obituaries