Indiana was set as a presidential battleground complete with a blitz of television commercials and appearances by the candidates. Volunteers set up election centers where thousands of phone calls were made and pamphlets distributed throughout the southern part of the state.

A Democratic Party presidential hopeful rode into New Albany before a Jeffersonville stop to cheers and boos. Supporters swooned while protesters — some from the same political party — grumbled complaints as they waited to see their proclaimed enemy.

The anticipation, the sounds and the energy proved how important Indiana has become in deciding the possible next leader of the United States.

This was 1968.

The 2008 election has reintroduced presidential primary campaigning four decades later to Indiana with high-profile visitors and advertising directed at Hoosier votes. However, 40 years ago this month, it was Robert F. Kennedy twice visiting Clark and Floyd counties to gain support in a tightly contested primary.

The former U.S. Attorney General and brother to an assassinated president was not the only candidate to come to Southern Indiana. Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy traveled to the area on April 26, 1968, just two days after Kennedy’s visit.

Indiana Gov. Roger Branigan — the favorite son candidate who started as a sit-in for President Lyndon Johnson — sandwiched a stop in-between when he strolled through downtown New Albany on April 25.

Kennedy’s April visit precluded a May 5 trip to New Albany, just two days before the 1968 primary, when he scraped out a narrow victory over Branigan. McCarthy, known as the anti-war candidate, finished third in Indiana.

But by several accounts, Kennedy’s trips along the north side of the Ohio River drew the most excitement.

Pat Geary is a Jeffersonville resident who served as a hostess during one of Kennedy’s trips to New Albany. She said meeting the junior senator from New York was one of the highlights of her life.

“He was just like royalty. I thought, ‘this is the closest I’ll ever get to a prince’,” Geary said.

She was working as a dental assistant at the time and said she will always remember Kennedy’s beautiful smile.

“He was such a charming man,” she said.

Clark County resident Laura Jackson recalls Kennedy’s April visit to New Albany and Jeffersonville.

Jackson and several family members gathered along Charlestown Road in New Albany to “get a glimpse” of Kennedy, who was making his way to give a speech to an estimated 5,000 people at the corner of Pearl and Market streets.