Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.: The Life and Legacy of the Patriarch Behind America’s Most Famous Political Dynasty

*Includes pictures
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents

"We have a rich man, untrained in diplomacy, unlearned in history and politics, who is a great publicity seeker and who apparently is ambitious to be the first Catholic president of the U.S." – British MP Josiah Wedgwood’s description of Joe Kennedy, Sr. as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom

In many ways, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his young family were the perfect embodiment of the ‘60s. The decade began with a sense of idealism, personified by the attractive Kennedy, his beautiful and fashionable wife Jackie, and his young children. Months into his presidency, Kennedy exhorted the country to reach for the stars, calling upon the nation to send a man to the Moon and back by the end of the decade. In 1961, Kennedy made it seem like anything was possible, and Americans were eager to believe him. The Kennedy years were fondly and famously labeled “Camelot,” by Jackie herself, suggesting an almost mythical quality about the young President and his family.

As it turned out, the ‘60s closely reflected the glossy, idealistic portrayal of John F. Kennedy, as well as the uglier truths. The country would achieve Kennedy’s goal of a manned moon mission, and the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally guaranteed minorities their civil rights and restored equality, ensuring that the country “would live out the true meaning of its creed.” But the idealism and optimism of the decade was quickly shattered, starting with Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. The ‘60s were permanently marred by the Vietnam War, and by the time Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated in 1968, the country was irreversibly jaded. The events of the decade produced protests and countercultures unlike anything the country had seen before, as young people came of age more quickly than ever.

While JFK was the member of the Kennedy dynasty to reach the White House, he was hardly the first to seek the presidency. In fact, that ambition was held by his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the family’s most controversial figure. The son of working class Irish Americans, Joe, Sr. fought his way to fame and fortune in every way available to him, both legal and illegally, morally and immorally. As he was in business, so he was with his family - devoted and underhanded, determined and cutthroat. He knew what he wanted for himself, his wife, and his children, and he was unwilling to let anyone or anything stand in the way. From his wife, he wanted children, devotion, and silence about his many affairs. From his sons, he wanted power and position. From his daughters, he expected beauty, grace, and absolute loyalty. For the most part, the Kennedy patriarch would get what he wanted, but he frequently paid a terrible price for it.

Of course, Kennedy also had his own personal ambitions, which included residing in the White House. A mover and shaker in Democratic politics, he threw his support behind Franklin Roosevelt, a man he later came to hate. The most he got out of this alliance was a brief appointment as the U.S. Ambassador to the UK, where he made himself increasingly unpopular by devoutly opposing American involvement in World War II even as the situation got more desperate for the British by the day. Later, he wanted the presidency for his sons, three of which he would help bury. Finally, he wanted peace for himself and his family, a simple desire that proved to be more elusive than any of his more ambitious hopes. In the end, one of his peers may have summed it up best when he said, “I like Joe Kennedy but I have no illusions about him. He understands power. Everywhere he went, from Brahmin Boston to the Court of St. James’s, he saw great hypocrisy about the philosophy of those who rule. Power is the end. What other delight is there but to enjoy the sheer sense of control?"