90-449: Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was a patriarch of the Kennedy family , which included President John F. Kennedy , attorney general and senator Robert F. Kennedy , and longtime senator Ted Kennedy . Kennedy
180-569: A stereotypical Irish vice that he offered his sons $ 1,000 not to drink until they turned 21. Kennedy reinvested the proceeds he made from liquor importing into various residential and commercial real estate ventures, much of it concentrated in New York City, and the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida . The most important purchase of his real estate investment career was marked by
270-642: A Bachelor of Arts in 1967, before enrolling in Columbia University , where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1972 for his dissertation "Jean-Paul Sartre: Apprenticeship in History (1925–45)". While studying at Columbia University, for more than two years from 1970 Nasaw was one of two full-time teachers in the Elizabeth Cleaners Street School, a short-lived experimental alternative free high school founded in New York City. The experience gave rise to
360-422: A bachelor's degree in economics. Kennedy set his future sights on embarking on a business career upon his graduation from Harvard. During his mid to late 20s, he made a large fortune as an active commodity and stock investor; he then reinvested much of his proceeds into film studios, real estate, and shipping lines. Although Kennedy never built a significant business from scratch, his timing as both buyer and seller
450-954: A colleague, "Look at that bunch of pants pressers in Hollywood making themselves millionaires. I could take the whole business away from them." One small studio, Film Booking Offices of America (or FBO), specialized in Westerns produced cheaply. Its owner was in financial trouble, and asked Kennedy to help find a new owner. Kennedy formed his own group of investors and bought it for $ 1.5 million. In March 1926, Kennedy moved to Hollywood to focus on running film studios. At that time, film studios were permitted to own exhibition companies, which were necessary to get their films on local screens. With that in mind, he bought controlling shares in Keith-Albee-Orpheum Theaters Corporation (KAO), which had more than 700 vaudeville theaters across
540-524: A list of recommended candidates for the SEC chairmanship. Kennedy headed the list, which stated he was "the best bet for Chairman because of executive ability, knowledge of habits and customs of business to be regulated and ability to moderate different points of view on Commission." Kennedy sought out the best lawyers available, giving him a hard-driving team with a mission for reform. They included William O. Douglas and Abe Fortas , both of whom were later named to
630-618: A major in the Coldstream Guards , was killed in action in 1944. Kennedy rejected the belief of Winston Churchill that any compromise with Nazi Germany was impossible. Instead, he supported Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain 's policy of appeasement . Throughout 1938, while the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Germany intensified, Kennedy attempted to arrange a meeting with Adolf Hitler . Shortly before
720-1000: A marvelous sense of timing". During the Great Depression , Kennedy shrewdly increased his wealth by devoting most of it into investment-grade real estate. In 1929, Kennedy's fortune was estimated to be $ 4 million (equivalent to $ 71 million in 2023). By 1935, his wealth had increased to $ 180 million (equivalent to $ 4 billion in 2023). He also acquired enough capital to establish million-dollar trust funds for each of his nine children that guaranteed lifelong financial independence. Kennedy generated windfall profits from reorganizing and refinancing several Hollywood film studios . He began with film distribution in New England, buying first movie theaters in Massachusetts, but quickly moved on to industry-wide arrangements and production. While still at Hayden, Stone & Co., Kennedy boasted to
810-504: A prominent stock brokerage firm with offices in Boston and New York, where he became an expert dealing in the unregulated stock market of the day, engaging in tactics that were later considered to be insider trading and market manipulation violations. He happened to be on the corner of Wall and Broad Streets at the moment of the Wall Street bombing on September 16, 1920, and was thrown to
900-528: A raid against the stock himself. In 1933, he helped establish a "stock pool" that bought large quantities of stock in Libbey-Owens-Ford (LOF), an auto-glass manufacturer, and wash-traded huge volumes of stock among themselves while promoting the outright fraud that their company was related to Owens-Illinois , a glassmaker that made bottles which presumably would have profited from the imminent repeal of Prohibition. Kennedy later claimed he understood that
990-425: A run for Governor of Massachusetts in 1942. However, even during the darkest months of World War II, Kennedy remained "more wary of" prominent American Jews, such as Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter , than he was of Hitler. Kennedy told the reporter Joe Dinneen: It is true that I have a low opinion of some Jews in public office and in private life. That does not mean that I. ... believe they should be wiped off
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#17328586895261080-614: A significant share, was under threat of takeover. Kennedy borrowed $ 45,000 (equivalent to $ 1.4 million in 2023) from family and friends and bought back control. At the age of 25, he was rewarded by being elected the bank's president. Kennedy told the press he was "the youngest" bank president in America. In May 1917, Kennedy was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Electric Company, New England's leading public utility at
1170-431: A third term, which began in 1941. Kennedy may have wanted to run for president himself in 1940 or later. Having effectively removed himself from the national stage, Joe Sr. sat out World War II on the sidelines. Kennedy stayed active in the smaller venues of rallying Irish-American and Roman Catholic Democrats to vote for Roosevelt's re-election for a fourth term in 1944 . Former Ambassador Kennedy claimed to be eager to help
1260-583: A vital role in establishing the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (part of the National Institutes of Health ) and the Special Olympics . Other descendants of Joseph and Rose Kennedy have been lawyers, authors, and activists on behalf of those with physical and intellectual disabilities. According to genealogist Brian Kennedy in his work JFK's Irish O'Kennedy Ancestors ,
1350-448: Is a helluva long way from East Boston, isn't it?" On May 6, 1944, Kennedy's daughter, Kathleen , married William "Billy" Cavendish , Marquess of Hartington, the elder son of the Duke of Devonshire . The union was disapproved by Rose Kennedy due to Hartington being an Anglican. Unable to reconcile their religious backgrounds, Hartington and Kathleen were married in a civil ceremony. Hartington,
1440-518: Is cited extensively in the US and British media as an expert on the history of popular entertainment and the news media, and as a critic of American philanthropy. David George Nasaw was born on July 18, 1945, in Cortland, New York , the oldest son of lawyer Joshua Nasaw (1909–1970) and Beatrice Kaplan (1917–2010), an elementary school teacher. Nasaw is the older brother of Jonathan Lewis Nasaw (b. August 26, 1947),
1530-759: Is finished in England. It may be here [in the United States]", he stated in the Boston Sunday Globe of November 10, 1940. With German troops having overrun Poland , Denmark , Norway , Belgium , the Netherlands , Luxembourg , and France , and with daily bombings of Great Britain, Kennedy unambiguously and repeatedly stated that the war was not about saving democracy from National Socialism (Nazism) or from Fascism. In an interview with two newspaper journalists, Louis M. Lyons of The Boston Globe , and Ralph Coghlan of
1620-541: Is not an art but a craft," Nasaw has said. "It requires interpretation and fifty sources and integrating and assembling this material into a story told by an individual voice." In this Nasaw's highly cited history, Nasaw "unearthed the long-forgotten story of the Newsboy Strike." The book inspired the Disney film Newsies and the subsequent Broadway musical. Going Out "unearths fascinating details about everything from
1710-649: The Columbia Journalism Review , American Historical Review , American Heritage , Dissent , The New Yorker , The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , Slate , The London Review of Books , and Condé Nast Traveler . Nasaw has appeared in several documentaries, including The American Experience, 1996 , and two episodes of the History Channel 's April 2006 miniseries 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America : "The Homestead Strike " and "The Assassination of President McKinley ". He
1800-554: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch , Kennedy said: It's all a question of what we do with the next six months. The whole reason for aiding England is to give us time ... As long as she is in there, we have time to prepare. It isn't that [Britain is] fighting for democracy. That's the bunk. She's fighting for self-preservation, just as we will if it comes to us. ... I know more about the European situation than anybody else, and it's up to me to see that
1890-479: The 1960 presidential election , John narrowly defeated Republican opponent Richard Nixon . During John's administration , Robert served as attorney general , their brother-in-law Sargent Shriver served as director of the new Peace Corps , and Ted became the U.S. Senator from Massachusetts until his death in 2009. The Kennedy administration's accomplishments include the Alliance for Progress with Latin America,
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#17328586895261980-498: The 2024 United States presidential election. He originally ran as a Democrat, but changed his party affiliation to Independent in October 2023. Robert Jr.'s campaign drew controversy among other family members, who publicly spoke out against him mainly due to his anti-vaccine views, instead endorsing President Joe Biden . In August 2024, two months before the election, Robert Jr. dropped out and endorsed Donald Trump , who went on to win
2070-500: The Massachusetts state legislature from 1884 to 1895. P. J. and his wife, Mary Augusta Hickey, had four children. Their oldest was Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy Sr. , a businessman who amassed a private fortune in banking and securities trading, which he further expanded by investing in filmmaking and real estate. He also founded Somerset Importers and owned Chicago's Merchandise Mart . In 1914, Joseph Sr. married Rose Fitzgerald ,
2160-591: The Nazi bombing of British cities began in September 1940, Kennedy once again sought a personal meeting with Hitler without the approval of the U. S. Department of State, in order to "bring about a better understanding between the United States and Germany". When war came in September 1939, Kennedy's public support for American neutrality conflicted with Roosevelt's increasing efforts to provide aid to Britain. "Democracy
2250-584: The New English order in the Kingdom of Ireland , they moved to Dunganstown, New Ross , County Wexford . Patrick Kennedy was born there. Patrick Kennedy (1823–1858) and Bridget Murphy (1824–1888) sailed from Ireland to East Boston in 1849. Patrick worked in East Boston as a barrel maker, or cooper, and had five children with Bridget. Their youngest, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy , went into business and served in
2340-555: The United States Congress and as U.S. President ; Robert F. Kennedy , who served as U.S. Attorney General and as a U.S. Senator ; and Ted Kennedy , who served more than 46 years in the U.S. Senate. Other descendants include members of the U.S. House of Representatives , two U.S. ambassadors, one U.S. envoy, a lieutenant governor , three state legislators (one of whom also served in the U.S. House of Representatives), and one mayor. Joseph and Rose's daughter Eunice played
2430-463: The richest people in the United States in 1957, it placed Kennedy in the $ 200–400 million group, which is equivalent to roughly 3.2 billion dollars in 2023. Kennedy's first job after graduating from Harvard was a position as a state-employed bank examiner, where the job allowed him to learn a great deal about the banking industry. In 1913, the Columbia Trust Bank, in which his father held
2520-703: The "Jew media" in the United States to become a problem, that "Jewish pundits in New York and Los Angeles" were already making noises contrived to "set a match to the fuse of the world". By August 1940, Kennedy worried that a third term for President Roosevelt would mean war. Biographer Laurence Leamer in The Kennedy Men: 1901–1963 reports: "Joe believed that Roosevelt, Churchill, the Jews, and their allies would manipulate America into approaching Armageddon ." Nevertheless, Kennedy supported Roosevelt's third term in return for Roosevelt's promise to support Joseph Kennedy Jr. in
2610-582: The "shining star among the dim 'knights' in the [Roosevelt] Administration". In 1938, Roosevelt appointed Kennedy as the United States ambassador to the Court of St James's (United Kingdom). Kennedy hoped to succeed Roosevelt in the White House, telling a British reporter in late 1939 that he was confident that Roosevelt would "fall" in 1940 (that year's presidential election). Kennedy and his family retreated to
2700-544: The 1930s, with a radio audience that reached millions every week. Having been a strong supporter of Roosevelt since 1932, in 1934 Coughlin broke with the president, who became a bitter opponent and a target of Coughlin's weekly anti-communist, anti-Semitic , far-right, anti–Federal Reserve and isolationist radio talks. Roosevelt sent Kennedy and other prominent Irish Catholics to try to tone down Coughlin. Coughlin swung his support to Huey Long in 1935, and then to William Lemke 's Union Party in 1936. Kennedy strongly supported
2790-518: The German ambassador to the United Kingdom, who claimed upon his return to Berlin that Kennedy had told him that "it was not so much the fact that we want to get rid of the Jews that was so harmful to us, but rather the loud clamor with which we accompanied this purpose. [Kennedy] himself fully understood our Jewish policy." Kennedy's main concern with such violent acts against German Jews as Kristallnacht
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-591: The House. The only exception was the period between John F. Kennedy's resignation from the Senate on December 22, 1960, and his assumption of the office of President on January 20, 1961. In 2013, two years after Patrick Kennedy left the House, Joseph P. Kennedy III was elected U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and served until 2021. Below is a timeline of the Kennedys' tenure in the U.S. Congress. On March 17, 1961, John F. Kennedy
2970-635: The Kennedy family's private fortune, including being a source of funding for financing his sons' future political campaigns. In 1932 , Kennedy supported Franklin D. Roosevelt in his bid for the presidency. This was his first major involvement in a national political campaign, and he donated, lent, and raised a substantial amount of money for the campaign. In 1934, Congress established the independent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to end irresponsible market manipulations and dissemination of false information about securities. Roosevelt's brain trust drew up
3060-516: The Kennedys—who would go on to play a significant role in the United States of America—originated from an Irish clan called Ó Cinnéide Fionn (which, along with the Ó Cinnéide Donn and Ó Cinnéide Ruadh, were the three Irish Gaelic Ó Cinnéide clans who ruled the Kingdom of Ormond ). In 1546, their progenitor Diarmaid Ó Cinnéide Fionn became the owner of Knigh Castle, located close to what is today Puckane , County Tipperary . In 1740, having lost out to
3150-688: The Monongahela) whose confluence makes the site of Pittsburgh possible." The book was among The New York Times' 100 Notable Books of the Year, and among the Favorite Books of 2006 by the Los Angeles Times , which praised it as "a fresh and thorough assessment." Following the success of Nasaw's 2000 biography of William Randolph Hearst , Senator Ted Kennedy approached Nasaw to write a biography of his father, Kennedy patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy . Nasaw told
3240-569: The New Deal (Father Coughlin believed that the New Deal did not go far enough, and thought that Franklin Roosevelt was a tool of the rich) and reportedly believed as early as 1933 that Coughlin was "becoming a very dangerous proposition" as an opponent of Roosevelt and "an out and out demagogue". In 1936, Kennedy worked with Roosevelt, Bishop Francis Spellman and Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII ) to shut Coughlin down. When Coughlin returned to
3330-507: The SEC was protecting their interests. He resigned from the SEC in September 1935. In 1936 , Roosevelt sought Kennedy's help on the campaign, and Kennedy responded with his book I'm for Roosevelt , which he had published and made sure was widely distributed. The book presented arguments for why businessmen should support Roosevelt and the New Deal , told from the perspective of Kennedy's own personal endorsement. The book had significant impact in
3420-494: The Supreme Court. The SEC had four missions. First was to restore investor confidence in the securities market, which had collapsed on account of its questionability, and the external threats supposedly posed by anti-business elements in the Roosevelt administration. Second, the SEC had to get rid of penny-ante swindles based on false information, fraudulent devices, and get-rich-quick schemes . Thirdly, and much more important than
3510-581: The U.S. According to Harvey Klemmer, who served as one of Kennedy's embassy aides, Kennedy habitually referred to Jews as " kikes or sheenies". Kennedy allegedly told Klemmer that "[some] individual Jews are all right, Harvey, but as a race they stink. They spoil everything they touch." When Klemmer returned from a trip to Germany and reported the pattern of vandalism and assaults on Jews by Nazis, Kennedy responded, "Well, they brought it on themselves." On June 13, 1938, Kennedy met in London with Herbert von Dirksen ,
3600-411: The United States that had begun showing movies. In October 1928, he formally merged his film companies FBO and KAO to form Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) and made a large amount of money in the process. Kennedy had no interest in vaudeville; he just wanted the theaters, which he planned to convert to movie houses for the film booking interests he ran in cooperation with Radio Corporation of America (RCA). As
3690-439: The air in 1940, Kennedy continued to battle against his influence among Irish Americans. Despite his public disputes with Coughlin, it has also been acknowledged that Kennedy would also accompany Coughlin whenever the priest visited Roosevelt at Hyde Park. A historian with History News Network also stated that Coughlin was a friend of Kennedy as well. In a Boston Post article of August 16, 1936, Coughlin referred to Kennedy as
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-515: The bomber he was piloting exploded in flight. Joseph Sr.'s desire to see the family involved in politics and government then focused on John, who had considered a career as a journalist, having authored a book ( Why England Slept ) and done some reporting for Hearst Newspapers . After returning from Navy service, John served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Massachusetts's 11th congressional district from 1947 to 1953, and then as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1953 to 1960. In
3870-590: The book "Starting Your Own High School," written by the students and edited by Nasaw. Nasaw began teaching history at the College of Staten Island in 1978. During the 1987–1988 academic year, he was as a Fulbright Professor of American Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Nasaw has been on the doctoral faculty of the City University of New York's Graduate Center since 1990, where he also served as chairman. He
3960-537: The business community and after his re-election, Roosevelt appointed Kennedy as Chairman of the United States Maritime Commission , which built on his wartime experience in running a major shipyard. Kennedy spent only ten months at the Commission. Father Charles Coughlin , an Irish Canadian priest near Detroit , became the most prominent Roman Catholic spokesman on political and financial issues in
4050-659: The coat of arms of the United States of America and also symbolic of Kennedy and his brothers. David Nasaw David Nasaw (born July 18, 1945) is an American author, biographer and historian who specializes in the cultural, social and business history of early 20th Century America. Nasaw is on the faculty of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York , where he is the Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Professor of History. In addition to writing numerous scholarly and popular books, he has written for publications such as
4140-452: The country gets it. Kennedy's views became inconsistent and increasingly isolationist . British MP Josiah Wedgwood IV , who had himself opposed the British government's earlier appeasement policy, said of Kennedy: 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
4230-519: The countryside during the bombings of London by German aircraft in World War II. In so doing, he damaged his reputation with the British. This move prompted Randolph Churchill to say, "I thought my daffodils were yellow until I met Joe Kennedy". Kennedy developed a reputation as a defeatist . According to the U.S. National Archives: In London, the American Ambassador and his wife soared to
4320-530: The developer of photophone , a sound system for the new " talkies ", RCA needed to forge a connection with Hollywood to sell its product. At the same time Kennedy knew that he needed to compete in the new market of sound films and to do so he would have to have access to a technology that was not proprietary. Keen to buy the Pantages Theatre chain, which had 63 profitable theaters, Kennedy made an offer of $ 8 million (equivalent to $ 142 million in 2023). It
4410-580: The early history of the movies to pre-World War I dance crazes," wrote critic Jackson Lears in the New York Times. Nasaw "raises fundamental questions about the web of connections joining commercial play, public space and cultural cohesion," he wrote. Nasaw's 2000 biography of the American newspaper baron was praised as "an absorbing and ingeniously organized biography... of the most powerful publisher America has ever known", and for "immediacy that almost makes
4500-490: The eldest daughter of John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald , who served six years as mayor of Boston and six years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The couple had nine children: Joseph Jr. (1915–1944), John (called Jack) (1917–1963), Rose Marie (called Rosemary) (1918–2005), Kathleen (called Kick) (1920–1948), Eunice (1921–2009), Patricia (1924–2006), Robert (called Bobby) (1925–1968), Jean (1928–2020) and Edward (called Ted) (1932–2009). Joseph Sr.
4590-433: The election. On November 14, 2024, Trump nominated him to be United States Secretary of Health and Human Services for his cabinet , pending Senate approval. In addition, some Kennedy spouses have served in government: There was a member of the Kennedy family in public office nearly continuously from 1946, when John F. Kennedy was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, until early 2011, when Patrick J. Kennedy left
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#17328586895264680-940: The establishment of the Peace Corps, a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution ending the poll tax , the continuation of the Apollo spaceflight program with the goal of landing a man on the Moon , and the introduction of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to Congress (signed into law by Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson ). The family
4770-467: The exclusive American agent for Haig & Haig Scotch, Gordon's Dry Gin and Dewar's Scotch. Kennedy kept his Somerset company for years. In addition, Kennedy purchased spirits-importation rights from Schenley Industries , a Canadian distillery and liquor company. Though he possessed substantial investments in various shipping lines that imported significant shipments of liquor, Kennedy himself drank little alcohol. He so disapproved of what he considered
4860-473: The face of the Earth. ... Jews who take an unfair advantage of the fact that theirs is a persecuted race do not help much. ... Publicizing unjust attacks upon the Jews may help to cure the injustice, but continually publicizing the whole problem only serves to keep it alive in the public mind. When the White House read his quotes, it became clear that Kennedy was completely out of step with Roosevelt's policies. Kennedy
4950-410: The family has contributed greatly to that university's John F. Kennedy School of Government . Joseph Sr. expected his eldest son, Joseph Jr., to go into politics and to ultimately be elected president. Joseph Jr. was elected as a Massachusetts delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention and enlisted in the U.S. Navy after the United States entered World War II . He was killed in 1944 when
5040-472: The family that as an academic historian, he had no interest in writing an "authorized biography". "I told him I would undertake this project if I had guarantees to see all the documents at the Kennedy Library and elsewhere, and if I were free to write whatever I wanted, with no censorship or interference of any kind," Nasaw said. Senator Kennedy said he had read and admired Nasaw's book on Hearst and believed
5130-503: The fascinating world of business moguls, statesmen, journalists and intellectuals in which Carnegie moved." Praising Nasaw's "keen all-rounder's eye", Christopher Hitchens wrote: "The great strength of this immense biography is the way in which David Nasaw causes these tributaries — capitalism, radicalism, and educational aspiration — to converge like the three rivers (the Allegheny, the Ohio, and
5220-541: The federal government. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was named Papal Countess of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Pius XII in 1951 in recognition of her "exemplary motherhood and many charitable works." Every Kennedy elected to public office has served as a Democrat , while other members of the family have worked for the party or held Cabinet posts in Democratic administrations. Many have attended Harvard University , and
5310-572: The first Kennedy elected to public office, serving in the Massachusetts state legislature until 1895. At least one Kennedy family member served in federal elective office from 1947, when P. J. Kennedy's grandson John F. Kennedy became a member of Congress from Massachusetts , until 2011, when Patrick J. Kennedy II (John's nephew) retired as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island . P. J.'s son Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and his wife, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy , had nine children, including John F. Kennedy, who served in both houses of
5400-464: The frauds, the SEC had to end the million-dollar maneuvers in major corporations, whereby insiders with access to high-quality information about the company knew when to buy or sell their own securities. A crackdown on insider trading was essential. Finally, the SEC had to set up a complex system of registration for all securities sold in America, with a clear set of rules, deadlines and guidelines that all companies had to follow. The main challenge faced by
5490-420: The ground by the force of the blast. In 1923, he established his own investment company. Kennedy subsequently became a multi-millionaire as a result of taking " short " positions following the 1929 stock market crash. Kennedy was enlisted in 1924 to help stabilize the stock of John D. Hertz 's Yellow Cab Company , a taxi cab operator, against a bear raid ; afterward, Hertz suspected Kennedy of carrying out such
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#17328586895265580-570: The heights of British society. In the spring of 1938...the couple luxuriated in the warmth of English hospitality, hobnobbing with aristocrats and royalty at the many balls, dinners, regattas, and derbies of the season. The highlight was surely the April weekend that they spent at Windsor Castle , guests of King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth . While getting dressed for an evening at Windsor Castle soon after he arrived, Kennedy paused in momentary reflection and remarked to his wife, "Well, Rose, this
5670-433: The land acquisition of the largest privately owned building in the country, Chicago's Merchandise Mart (the world's largest building at the time), which gave his family an important base in that city and an alliance with the Irish-American political leadership there to lay the groundwork for realizing his sons' future political ambitions. The Merchandise Mart's revenues became a principal source of wealth that formed much of
5760-441: The late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th congressional district . In 2020, Joseph P. III lost the U.S. Senate primary election in Massachusetts to incumbent Ed Markey , the first Kennedy to ever lose an election in the state. In the 2020s, three Kennedy family members were serving as U.S. ambassadors or envoys. Victoria Reggie Kennedy , second wife of Ted Kennedy,
5850-437: The parents of twin sons: Peter Caleb Nasaw and journalist Daniel Allen Nasaw, born in 1980. Although he has published three biographies, Nasaw describes himself as an academic historian, rather than a biographer. A historian, he says, "sweeps away the fables, the myths, the stories" and places scholarly subjects "in time and over time", while for biographers, the organization of the work is laid out in advance. "Writing history
5940-520: The prolific author of at least nine thrillers ; and Elizabeth Perl Nasaw (May 29, 1956 – February 28, 2004), who as "Elizabeth Was" (later "Liz Was" and finally "Lyx Ish") was a poet and publisher of avant-garde magazines, and the cofounder of Xexoxial Editions and Dreamtime Village in West Lima, Wisconsin . Nasaw grew up in Roslyn, New York , and, after a year studying in Denmark as an exchange student, graduated from Roslyn High School in 1963. Nasaw graduated from Bucknell University with
6030-430: The rampant stock speculation of the late 1920s would lead to a market crash . It is said that he knew it was time to get out of the market when he received stock tips from a shoe-shine boy, but no evidence has been found of the anecdote and the first known version of the same tale was associated to Bernard Baruch in 1957. Kennedy survived the crash "because he possessed a passion for facts, a complete lack of sentiment and
6120-407: The reader forget that the author himself was not there as the story unfolded". In 2001, The Chief won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and the Bancroft Prize for American history. It was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Nasaw's 2006 biography of the American steel mogul, was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for biography. A reviewer praised Nasaw for "bringing to life
6210-431: The time. Kennedy emerged as an astute businessman who possessed an eye for value , both with regard to his shrewd entrepreneurial acumen and savvy investment foresight. For example, as an active real estate investor , he turned a handsome profit from his privately-controlled ownership of Old Colony Realty Associates, Inc., an investment company which bought distressed real estate throughout the United States. Although he
6300-423: The war effort, but as a result of his previous gaffes, he was neither trusted nor invited to do so. Kennedy family The Kennedy family ( Irish : Ó Cinnéide ) is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics , public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from County Wexford , Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy became
6390-409: The young lawyers was drafting precise rules. The SEC succeeded in its four missions, as Kennedy reassured the American business community that they would no longer be deceived and taken advantage of by Wall Street. He trumpeted for ordinary investors to return to the market and enable the economy to grow again. Kennedy's reforming work as SEC Chairman was widely praised on all sides, as investors realized
6480-490: Was recalled from his diplomatic duties and returned to the United States. Roosevelt urgently needed his support to hold the Catholic vote and invited him to spend the night at the White House. Kennedy agreed to make a nationwide radio speech to advocate Roosevelt's reelection. Roosevelt was pleased with the speech because, Nasaw says, it successfully "rallied reluctant Irish Catholic voters to his side, buttressed his claims that he
6570-685: Was a leading member of the Democratic Party and of the Irish Catholic community. President Roosevelt appointed Kennedy to be the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which he led from 1934 to 1935. Kennedy later directed the United States Maritime Commission . Kennedy served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1938 to late 1940. With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Kennedy
6660-618: Was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), chairman of the Maritime Commission , and U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1940. He served from 1947 to 1949 on The Hoover Commission (the "Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government"), which was appointed by President Harry Truman to recommend administrative changes in
6750-561: Was born into a political family in East Boston , Massachusetts. He made a large fortune as a stock and commodity market investor, and later rolled over his proceeds by dedicating a substantial amount of his wealth into investment-grade real estate and a wide range of privately controlled businesses across the United States. During World War I he was an assistant general manager of a Boston area Bethlehem Steel shipyard; through that position he became acquainted with Franklin D. Roosevelt , who
6840-505: Was declined. He then stopped distributing his movies to Pantages. Still, Alexander Pantages declined to sell. However, when Pantages was later charged and tried for rape, his reputation took a battering, and he accepted Kennedy's revised offer of $ 3.5 million (equivalent to $ 62.1 million in 2023). Pantages, who claimed that Kennedy had "set him up", was later found not guilty at a second trial. The girl who had accused Pantages of rape, Eunice Pringle , confessed on her deathbed that Kennedy
6930-671: Was director of the CUNY Graduate Center's Center for the Humanities, and the chairman of the advisory board of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the university. Nasaw is a founder of the Radical History Review . Since June 10, 1978, Nasaw has been married to Dinitia Smith , a novelist, Emmy award -winning filmmaker, and journalist, who worked as a correspondent for The New York Times for 12 years. They are
7020-454: Was excellent. Various criminals, such as Frank Costello , have boasted they worked with Kennedy in mysterious bootlegging operations during Prohibition . Although his father was in the whisky importation business, scholars dismiss the claims. The most recent and most thorough biographer David Nasaw asserts that no credible evidence has been found to link Kennedy to bootlegging activities. When Fortune magazine published its first list of
7110-468: Was heavily involved in the political careers of his sons. Three of Kennedy's sons attained distinguished political positions: John served as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and as the 35th president of the United States, Robert as the U.S. attorney general and as a U.S. senator from New York, and Ted as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. was born on September 6, 1888, at 151 Meridian Street in East Boston, Massachusetts . Kennedy
7200-535: Was involved in was the importation of large shipments of high-priced Scotch where he earned a handsome profit in the process. Various contradictory "bootlegging" stories surrounding Kennedy have circulated but historians have not accepted them. At the start of the Franklin Roosevelt administration in March 1933, Kennedy and future Congressman James Roosevelt II founded Somerset Importers, a business entity that acted as
7290-441: Was named in 2021 by President Biden as U.S. ambassador to Austria . Caroline Kennedy , daughter of President Kennedy, was named in 2022 by President Biden as U.S. ambassador to Australia ; she previously served as U.S. ambassador to Japan under President Barack Obama . In the same year, Joseph P. Kennedy III was named by President Biden as U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland . Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran for president in
7380-490: Was not going to take the nation into war, and emphasized that he alone had the experience to lead the nation in these difficult times." After Roosevelt was reelected, Kennedy submitted his resignation as ambassador. Throughout the rest of the war, relations between Kennedy and the Roosevelt administration remained tense, especially when Joe Jr., a Massachusetts delegate at the 1940 Democratic National Convention , vocally opposed President Roosevelt's unprecedented nomination for
7470-506: Was pessimistic about Britain's ability to survive attacks from Nazi Germany . During the Battle of Britain in November 1940, Kennedy publicly suggested, "Democracy is finished in England. It may be here [in the United States]." After a controversy regarding this statement, Kennedy resigned his position. Kennedy was married to Rose Fitzgerald ; the couple had nine children. During his later life he
7560-551: Was presented with a grant of arms for all the descendants of Patrick Kennedy (1823–1858) from the Chief Herald of Ireland . The design of the arms (three gold closed helmets on a black field) strongly alludes to symbols in the coats of arms of the O'Kennedys of Ormonde and the FitzGeralds of Desmond , from whom the family is descended. The crest is an armored hand holding four arrows between two olive branches, elements taken from
7650-589: Was skeptical of American involvement in World War I , Kennedy sought to participate in wartime production as an assistant general manager of Fore River , a major Bethlehem Steel shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts . There, he oversaw the production of transports and warships. Through this job, he became acquainted with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1919, Kennedy joined Hayden, Stone & Co. ,
7740-550: Was that they generated bad publicity in the West for the Nazi regime, a concern that he communicated in a letter to Charles Lindbergh . Kennedy had a close friendship with Viscountess Astor , and their correspondence is replete with anti-Semitic statements. According to Edward Renehan: As fiercely anti-Communist as they were anti-Semitic, Kennedy and Astor looked upon Adolf Hitler as a welcome solution to both of these "world problems" (Nancy's phrase). ... . Kennedy replied that he expected
7830-513: Was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In the 1920s Kennedy made huge profits by reorganizing and refinancing several Hollywood studios; several acquisitions were ultimately merged into Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) studios. Kennedy increased his fortune with distribution rights for Scotch whisky . He owned the largest privately owned building in the country, Chicago's Merchandise Mart . Kennedy
7920-547: Was the elder son of Mary Augusta (née Hickey) Kennedy and businessman and politician Patrick Joseph "P.J." Kennedy . Kennedy attended Boston Latin School , where he excelled at baseball and was elected class president before graduating in 1908. Kennedy then attended Harvard College , where he gained admittance to the prestigious Hasty Pudding Club but was not invited to join the Porcellian Club . Kennedy graduated in 1912 with
8010-674: Was the mastermind of the plot to frame Pantages. Many estimate that Kennedy made over $ 5 million (equivalent to $ 88.7 million in 2023) from his investments in Hollywood. During his three-year affair with film star Gloria Swanson , he arranged the financing for her films The Love of Sunya (1927) and the ill-fated Queen Kelly (1928). The duo also used Hollywood's famous "body sculptor", masseuse Sylvia of Hollywood . Their relationship ended when Swanson discovered that an expensive gift from Kennedy had actually been charged to her account. As soon as it became legal to do so, Kennedy ventured into liquor importing. One of his shipping ventures he
8100-522: Was the subject of intense media coverage during and after Kennedy's presidency. Ted served in the Senate with his brother Robert (1965–1968), and was serving in the Senate when his nephew, Joseph P. II , and his son, Patrick J. , served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Massachusetts's 8th congressional district (1987–1999) and Rhode Island's 1st congressional district (1995–2011), respectively. In November 2012, Joseph P. Kennedy III , son of former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and grandson of
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