ARLINGTON, Va. — National figures past and present tried to fashion Robert F. Kennedy’s words for today’s politics Wednesday during a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death at Arlington National Cemetery.

There was Emma Gonzalez, the high school student from Parkland, Fla., who has become an antigun activist. She received a standing ovation when she stepped onstage at an amphitheater to read a quote from RFK’s famous 1966 anti-apartheid speech.

There was US Representative Joe Kennedy III, the grandson of RFK, who arrived carrying his infant son in a bassinet. He lauded his grandfather’s habit of seeking out those on the fringes of society, saying, “He said to those forgotten: ‘Your country sees you. Your country values you. America would not be America without you.’ ’’

And there was former president Bill Clinton, speaking amid a national re-examination of his treatment of women while he was in office. He tried to offer an antidote to President Trump’s nativist message. He earned two standing ovations from the crowd.

Robert Kennedy, then a senator from New York, was assassinated moments after winning the Democrats’ presidential primary in California.

The Kennedy clan has a habit of holding massive public commemorations for family events, marking them with traveling museum exhibits, galas, dinners, and, and this case, somber graveyard ceremonies.

Last year would have been president John F. Kennedy’s 100th birthday, a symbolic spot on the calendar formally observed in Boston and Washington, among other places. The 25th and 50th anniversaries of JFK’s death were marked lavishly. As were the 25th and 50th anniversaries of RFK’s assassination. (Next summer will be the 10th anniversary of Senator Edward Kennedy’s death.)

Key to these moments of reflection are speakers interpreting how a Kennedy would have handled today’s problems.

After listening to 10 people read quotes from RFK’s famous speeches, including Gonzalez and civil rights icon Representative John Lewis, Clinton ruminated on his poetic words.

“I think if he were here today,’’ said Clinton, “he would remind us that perhaps the words he spoke then were truer today than they were then.’’

Clinton lauded Kennedy’s consistency of his core beliefs: “His message, really, no matter how dressed up in the finest poetry, really never changed: We can do better,’’ said Clinton.

Clinton said the country can find its way to a less divided time. “We can do it all over again,’’ Clinton said. “But we have to do it the way he did: Speaking to everybody. Saying the same thing to everybody.’’

The former president also used the moment to re-examine a piece of his own record — though not the parts making headlines this week. He earned some applause when he noted that he’d signed an assault weapons ban into law in 1994.

But the former president quickly shushed the audience as they began to applaud the accomplishment.

“We did it,’’ Clinton said. “But we didn’t make it a voting issue,’’ he lamented. The current generation of gun control activists, he said, are making the issue into a central part of campaigns around the country.

He praised the audience for standing for Gonzalez. “You stood up with Emma. You know why I love that?’’ he asked. He later answered: “She made [gun control] a voting issue.’’

Clinton has been beset with criticism this week over his role as one of the most high-profile men accused by women of sexual misconduct. He fumbled answering questions about his past in a widely panned NBC interview, insisting that he doesn’t owe former White House intern Monica Lewinsky a private apology for his treatment of her.

Reaction ­from some leading women in Congress was devastating.

“I think we’re undergoing a long overdue examination of people like President Clinton,’’ said Representative Katherine Clark of Melrose in a WGBH interview that aired Monday. “It’s about time.’’ She refused to say if she would welcome Clinton to campaign with her, as some Democrats have done. “You know, I’d have to think about it.’’

But Democrats present on Tuesday were willing to forgive Clinton. “We’ve all had our challenges,’’ said Democratic strategist David Mercer after the speeches. “You have to not let them beat you down.’’

But he saw Joe Kennedy III as the start of a new Kennedy resurgence. “He’s definitely taking the torch, which is great to see,’’ Mercer said.

The 37-year-old congressman and his wife sat on the opposite side of the amphitheater from Bill Clinton, making it difficult for the cameras to capture them together. Kennedy’s name did not appear on the initial invitation, and one draft of the timeline for the event that was obtained by the Globe had him slated to speak for only one minute, from 10:28 a.m. to 10:29 a.m. to “introduce the Honorable Bill Clinton.’’

Kennedy spoke much longer, focusing on his grandfather’s life. “He wasn’t radical or revolutionary,’’ Kennedy said. “He was human — willing to be vulnerable. It was his greatest gift to give. He felt intensely the suffering of others and from that pain arose the moral force to relieve it. He saw their dreams and dared to ask ‘Why not?’ ’’

When he introduced Clinton, he quoted the former president’s words from a 1993 address marking the 25th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy’s assassination.

“President Clinton implored us to remember ‘the powerful, beautiful lesson, the simple faith of Robert Kennedy: We can do better,’ ’’ Kennedy said.

Onlookers — who were admittedly Kennedy family fans — were quick to praise him.

“Joe was spectacular,’’ gushed Representative John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, after attending.

Larson acknowledged an awkwardness to having Clinton featured at the event as the president is struggling to reckon with his past aggression toward women.

“He will always continue to play a good role in the party,’’ Larson said. “As important as the #MeToo moment is, he still is the one who connects.’’

Annie Linskey can be reached at annie.linskey@globe.com.