Figure 1.--Father and Sons - Joseph P. Kennedy holds sons Joseph Patrick Junior (left) and 2-year old future president John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The photograph ]was taken in 1919. |
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John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass., May 29,
1917, the great-grandson of Irish immigrants. He became one of the
most charismatic leaders of the United States when he was elected
president in 1961. He was, at the age of 43, the youngest man and
the first Roman Catholic ever elected to the presidency. Rich, handsome,
elegant, and articulate, he aroused great admiration at home and
abroad. His assassination in Dallas, Texas in November 1963 provoked outrage
and widespread mourning. His term of office as president was short
but launched American on a path of securing basic civil rights for
all its citizens and a technology race with the Russians to the moon
which was an important element in forging America's technological dominance
in the last quarter of the 20th Century.
Patrick Kennedy (b.1823 - d. November 22, 1858) came from County Wexford in Ireland during
the famine, they were a family of potato farmers. Patrick met Mary Johanna (b.1821 - d. December
20, 1888) on the ship taking them to America from Ireland. Their
children included: Mary Kennedy (1851-1926), Joanna Kennedy (1852-1926),
John Kennedy (1854-1855 died as infant), Margaret Kennedy (1855-1929),
and Patrick Joseph Kennedy (1858-1929).
Patrick Jr. married Bridget Murphy, had four children and died
peniless at the age of 35. Patrick Joseph II (PJ), the youngest of
those four children helped his mother with the small "notions"
store she managed with difficulty. PJ also took odd jobs around the
waterfront (Boston) and, when
he was strong enough, became a stevedore, then and not one of the
toughest laborer's jobs
available. Because of his family's impoverished state he never
finished grade school.
PJ had a head for business. He started with a neighborhood bar on
scrimped savings, he soon
expanded his small empire into partnerships with neighborhood
saloons; went into the coal business,
the wholesale liquor business and finally into banking.
PJ married Mary Augusta Hickey (b.December 6, 1857 - d.
May 20, 1923) and had 4 children: children: Joseph Patrick
Kennedy (1888-1969), Francis Benedict Kennedy (1891-1892), Mary
Loretta Kennedy (b. Aug 6, 1892 - d. Nov 18, 1972), Margaret
Louise Kennedy (b. Oct 22, 1898 d.Nov 14, 1974)
Mary Hickey was the daughter of a "substantial" family, and
become a political force in Boston's East End. By the time Joseph P.
Kennedy (JFK's father) was born, PJ was a success.
Unlike Honey Fitz (of the Fitzgeralds) PJ preferred to work behind the scenes to running for office,
which, however, he had also done successfully, and his awesome power
and control over his part of
the city of Boston was concentrated in the "Board of Strategy", the
group which selected candidates for political office.
Thomas Fitzgerald married Rosanna Cox. They had John Francis Fitzgerald (Honey Fitz) (b.
2/11/1863 - d. 10/1950)., he married Mary Josephine Hannon (b. 1866 - d. 1964).
Honey Fitz was the third oldest of 8 boys. After his father died he raised his five younger brother,
he grew up to become mayor of Boston. John and Josephine had six children. They were:
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (Mrs. Joseph P., Sr.) (born 7/22/1890; died 1/1995)
Agnes Fitzgerald Gargan (Mrs. Joseph F. Gargan). Agnes was born in 1892 and died in 1936.
She and Joe Gargan had three children: Joseph, Jr. (Ted Kennedy's
buddy), Mary Jo, and Ann.
Eunice Fitzgerald (1900-23). Died of tuberculosis.
Thomas Acton Fitzgerald (no dates available)
John Francis Fitzgerald (no dates available). Frederick Fitzgerald
(no dates available but he died a drunk at age 31).
"Honey Fitz' father, Thomas had come to Boston from County Wexford in Ireland, during the potato
famine of 1840, one of a group of penniless desperate men and women, for whom survival in the
new land meant poverty, tenements and endless hours of backbreaking labour. Rose Mary Murray
had also made that journey from Ireland and married Thomas in Boston, where they met. But both
died in there 30's, leaving behind 9 children and little money.
Honey Fitz, third in line, had to leave Harvard Medical School, where he had been accepted after
promising years at Boston Latin School, in order to help care for his brothers and sisters left behind.
He and the family survived and soon entered ward politics, one of the few professions left open to
the Irish in a city dominated by the "Boston Brahmins". By 1895 he had run successfully for
Congress, serving three terms, and by 1906 he had been elected Mayor of Boston, a tenure which
preserved his fame. His political bailiwick was the North End the place where young Jack Kennedy
was to start his rise to the White house, and, an insufferable extrovert, he had attended every
wedding, wake and holy communion, singing his famous "campaign" ditty "Sweet Adeline", often
standing on a table.
Grandfather Fitzgerald was a mayor of Boston and a congressman and then my Grandfather Kennedy was a political leader of East Boston, although they didn't get along well. They lived and operated at the same time. My grandfather Kennedy operated at a tavern in East Boston, but he was terribly staigh-laced and he sometimes disapproved of my grandfather Fitzgerald.[- Robert F. Kennedy]
Old Orchard Beach, Maine, was the summer retreat for both the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys,
along with most of Boston's Irish politcians. Rost first met Joe there.
At a time when the "Help Wanted" ads still specified "No Irish
Need apply", Honey Fitz continued to
dominate Irish Politics, etertaining in grand style the likes of
Sir Thomas Lipton,the tea magnate and
Admiral Togo of Japan. It was at this time that Joe and Rose began
to 'go steady'--although they did not tell their parents.
Few presidents have been fortunate to have such strong willed
and determined parents or to come from such a colorful political
family. Jack and his older brother were old enough to know their
grandparents and to be regailed with their political stories.
Jack's father, Joseph P. Kennedy was the son of a saloon keeper.
He graduated from Harvard and at age 25 became the youngest bank
president in the United States. He was a combative businessman
and highly skilled investor. He made a fortune and got out of
the stock market before the crash. He supported Franklin Roosevelt's
candicacy, but never got the appointment in the adnministration he
expected.
The President did appoint him to head the Securities and Exchange
Commission and he help craft needed legislation to restore public
confidence in the stock market. He was appointed Ambassador to
Great Britain in the critical years leading up to World War II. His
efforts, however, to keep the United States from aiding Britain and
out of the War destroyed the political anbitiond he held.
Rose had a traditional Catholic girlhood, but bloosemed into
a strong-willed thoughtful young woman. She wanted to attend a liberal
university, but the Catholic hierarchy objected and for political
reasons her father insisted she attend a strict French convent.
As a dutiful daughter she complied with her father's wishes. Rose, because of her mother's reluctance to leave the hearth, became her father's official companion, hostess, and assistant on his travels, whether political or in aid of Boston's Chamber of Commerse,
which included trips to Hamburg, and the newly built Panama Canal to guage the effects of these ports on the well-being of "A Bigger, Better, Busier Boston". In 1908 they set out on a trip that wasto take them to Ireland, England, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland. Joe's courtship of Rose finally led to their mairrage in
October 1914. Their mairrage was opposed by
Rose's father, who had arranged trips to Palm Beach, Florida and
even Europe and Central America to try to break up the romance. But
Rose was determined. Honey Fitz eventually had to consent, but
never regretted it.
During that last year a Dorchester High and the following year..joe and I managed to see each other rather often. Less often than we would have liked, but more often than my father was aware of, and enough in any case to reaffirm in our hearts how deeply we cared for eachother....I suppose no father really thinks that any man is good enough for his daughter. But my father was a hopeless case...believing that I could take my pick of any beau...he didn't want me..pledging my heart prematurely to any young man, however attractive and brilliant he might be.[- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy ]
We went steady for 7 years before we were married...but I was never seriously interested in anyone else.[- Joseph P. Kennedy]
Joe Kennedy in 1914 married Rose Fitzgerald, the daughter of
John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a colorful Boston politician.
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Rose incouraged her children to read. She bought the boys' biographies of great men. When Jack was sick he read many biographies.
Joe and Rose Kennedy founded aised a remarkable family, both their nine children and a substanial number of grandchildren.
Jack Kennedy was the second child in a family that would
eventually have nine children.
Joe Jr.: Joseph Patrick was the eldest child. He and Jack were about the same age and grew up together. They competed intesely with each other as boys with Jack who was younger and smaller usully coming off second best. It was Joe that their father dreamed of, after the colapse of his own political career because he refused to back FDR's efforts to support Britain aftr World War II broke out. One of his concerns as was the case for many parents was that they would lose their sons in a war. Joe almost lost both his older boys. He did lose Joe who volunteered to fly a B-24 into a fortified beach position in the Atlantic wall. His bomb laden B-24 exploded before he could bail out, ending his father's dream.
Jack (1917-63): Jack was the second eldest. He had medical problems from an early age, but strode to keep up with his elder brother. He did not contemplate a political career of his own until he returned after the war.
Rosemary: Rosemary was retarded as she grew older she became frustrated at her inability to keep up with her brothers and sisters. Her father tried an operation that was recommended at the time (a lobotomy) which proved disastrous and she had to be instituionalized.
Kathleen: Kathleen was the revbelious daughter. She was killed in a car accident in Europe.
Eunice:
Patricia:
Robert: Robert was several years younger than his big brothers and did not serve in the World War II. He looked up to both his older btothers. He was probably the most
intense and driven of the btothers. He was devestated when Jack was assassinated.
Jean:
Edward (1932- ): Teddy was the baby of the family and doughted on by
his parents. Because of the age difference he did not spend much time with his two oldest brothers, Joe and Jack. He was still relatively young when his father was appointed ambassador to Great Britain. While in England, Rose took the children to Rome for an audience with the pope. President Kennedy helped to get his younger brother
elected to the Seate. He has proven an effective senator, although
his reputation was severely compromised when a young campaign assistant
was killed in an car accident.
The Kennedy family has lost three of the four brothers, all in
tragic circumstances. While only Senator Ted Kennedy survives, there
is a large number of grand children and great grand children to carry
on the Kennedy name.
Jack was a descendant of Irish Catholics who had immigrated to
America in the 19th century. Jack was born into a political family.
Jack attended Choate, an exclusive prep school in Connecticut. He was a member of the Muckers, a group that delighted in practical jokes and bucking the school's traditions. Their antics nearly got
Jack expelled. Surprisingly voted "Most Likely to Succeed." As a final joke on the school, Jack had rigged the election. Jack briefly attended Princeton University, and then entered Harvard University in 1936. At Harvard he wrote an honors thesis on British foreign policies in the 1930s; it was published in 1940, the year he graduated, under the title Why England Slept. Jack graduated from Harvard in 1940.
President Roosevelt appointed Jack's father Ambassador to Great Britain in 1938??. It was the most prestigious post in American diplomacy. Kennedy's appointment was a controversial appointment given Kennedy's Irish background. (Irish-Americans because of English policies in Ireland were ravidly anti-English.) Ambassador Kennedy proceed to oppose Ameruican support for Britain after the NAZI's launched World War II at the same time President Roosevelt was attempting to marshall support for Britain. Jack and his brother disagreed with their father. While Ambassador, Kennedy and his children traved to Rome or an audience with the Pope. Jack had toured Germany while his father was in London and got a little personal taste of what the NAZIs were like. He went on to enter the Navy after Pearl Harbor and distinguish himself when his PT boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors through perilous waters to safety. His brother Patrick was tragically killed in a bomber mission over the English Channel.
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born in 1929 and grew up in affluent family circumstances. . Her father was John Vernon Bouvier III. Her mother was Janet Lee. The family lived in New York City and East Hampton, Long Island. She learned to ride at an earky age and had a passion for horses as a girl. Jackie was sent to exclusive private schools. In addition to her horses she akso studied balet. At school she liked to write poems and stories as well as draw illustrations for them. Her mother divorced her father and married Hugh D. Auchincloss (1942). Their mother brought Jackie and her sister to "Merrywood," his rural home near Washington, D.C. They spent summers at Auchincloss' Newport, Rhode Island estate for the summer social season. It was there that she received "the Debutante of the Year" accoldae during the 1947-1948 season. She went to Vassar. She spent her junior year in France pefecting her French and learning a great deal about French culture. She graduatied from George Washington University. As a result, Mrs. Kenndy entered the White House as one of the most urbanne cultured women in history. After receiving her degree she got a job as the "inquiring photographer" for the Washington Stara local newspaper. It was at this time that she meant then Senator Kennedy, one of Washington's most elugible bachelors.
Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier were married at Newport in 1953.
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Senator Kennedy's election in 1960 meant that that the first young children of a president would be at the White House for the first time since Theodore Rossevelt's children at the beginning of the 20th century. The Kennedy children delighted the nation as they covorted around the White House during the 3 years of the Kennedy administration.
Their first chid was stillborn.
Caroline was one of the most popular presudetial kids. Her explots on the White House grounds with dogs and other animals delighted the public although her mother strictly limited press access to her. Wondrful images show affectionatemoments with hr father. Her pony was named Macaroni. The public was deeply affected with images of her and her mother kissing her father;s casket in the Capitol Rotunda. Carlone studied fune arts at Radcliffe and earned a degree from Columbia Law School. She worked on film and television with the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some of her worked has been broadcast on Public Television. She coauthored books on the Bill of Rights and the right to privacy with laws school classmate Ellen Alderman. She married artist and museum designher Edwin Schlossberg in 1986. They are bringing up three children in New York.
John was the first child born to a president elect. As a boy he was enamored of helicoptors, presumably because they iften delivered his father to him on the White House grounds. John was always a free spirit. Once when his father was fdelivering a radio address, Jojn wandered into the room and started pulling on the wires. His father had to continue his address and encourage his son, "John now be a good boy" at the same time. John;s shaggy bangs and shortalls became extrenely popular. Some of the most touching photographs of presidential children are those of John and Caroline with their father
The images of President Kennedy and his young son and John saluting the casket of his slain father on his third birthday are burned into the American psyche. John wanted to be an actor, but Jackie disuaded him, although he continued with amateur theatricals. He studied law and his efforts tompass the Bar were headline news in New York. He served as an assistant district attorney for a time. He founded George magazine which achieved critical success. He was America's most eligible bachelor when he married Carolyn Bessette in 1996. There were no children. John was active in social causes. He helped the Peace Corps in Guatemalam earthquake assistance and tutored underprivlidged children. John never lost his love affair with aviation began as a small boy. He was a pilot. He was klled in 1999 when his small plane crashed off Martha's Vinyard.
Patrick was born in 1963 about 3 months before his father's assasination. He lived only 3 days.
Jack after the War decided to run for political office after the War. In 1946, he was elected to
the U.S. Congress; serving 6 years in the House of Representatives and 8 years as a Senator.
Sentator John F. Kennedy helped build his national reputation with a book--Profiles in Courage. Actually it was his second book. The first was Wild England Slept which repudiated the isolationist views of his father, Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy. Kennedy was more of an editor of , but it won him a Pulitzer prise and helped burish his reputation, almost winning him the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1956.
Senator Kennedy's book Profiles in Courage and his good looks and carisma helped make him a star in the Democratic Party. He was a much sought after speaker in Democratic events, helping to build contats throughout the country. This made him an early front-runner when he announced his candidacy. It was to have a major impact on American politics. One major inniovation was Kennedy's skillful use of television. And he helped break the religious issue wide open. He was the first successful Catholic candidate for the presidency. He also revolutionized how presidential candidates run their campaigns. Candidates before the 1960 election financed their efforts to obtain the nomimation. Than the campaign was largely financed by their party. Kennedy changed this. The failure of the Democratic Party to match the fund raiding prowss of the pro-business Republicans was a factor in several Demnocratic losses. Senator Kennedy was blessed with a wealthy father whose financial support had been a major factor in his Congressional and Sebatorial campaigns and in winning the Democrativ nomination--especially the primary victories over rival Senator Hubert Humprey. Ambassador Kennedy had reportedly spent over $1 million even befor the 1960 primary season. Kennedy's innovation was a highly organized campaign staff. Knnedy set up a 9-room headquarters near Capitol Hill. From here staffers made contact with Party leaders all over the country, especially Party bosses and potential convention delegates. Large wall maps plotted the successes. The headquarters was essentially a corportae effot including not just political experts, but accountants, lawyers, and communicatiins specialists. A byword for successful campaign staffs became a rapid resppnse to events and moves by the opposing camp.
President Kennedy spent only 1,000 days in offices. He did not have the opportunity to persue many of the ininiatives he began. The Presidents detractors chrge that he was all fluff and image and that he was neithr a substantial figure nor did he have any important achievements. The vehemence of these asertions is string evidence that he did achieve something and that it is these achievements that critics dislike. The most important are thise in Civil Rights. He set in motion the Civil Rights legislation that President Johnson would finally push through Congress, But even without these laws, President Kennedy put the full force of the presidency behind the civil rights movement. Some argue that he was forced to do this. It is probably true that his focus was on the Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union, but he also came to see the moral issues involved with Civil Rights. This chabged the dymamic of the Civil Rights movement and the ability of white racists to use terror to prevent change. In doing so, he began a major shift in American politics. Blacks turned to the Democratic Party and conservative southerbners to the Republican Party. The President's economic policies also put the country on course for a period of sustained prosperity during the 1960s. There were other important initiatives in domestic affairs, especially food stamps. The President's masterful handling of the Cuban Missle Crisis overted what could have easily turned into a nuclear exchange. It also demonstrated American resolve to the Soviet leadership. President Kennedy continued the American policy of resisting Soviet expansion in Europe, speaking to the Berlin people before the Berlin Wall, but began the movement toward disarmament with an initiative on nuclear testing. Other important orogramd were the Peace Corps and Space program. While today somewhat forgotten, the American success in the race to the moon would change attitudes around the world about Soviet science and progress, It also laid the foundaion for the modern Amerucan leadership in electronics and computers.
Wead, Doug. All the President's Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families (Atria: New York, 2003), 456p.
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