Barry Lepler likes to ask what books people are reading. My answer today is The Patriarch David Nasaws biography of Joseph P. Kennedy, founding father of the Kennedy dynasty. Here are three things which I found especially interesting to learn about in this book: 1. The Family Fortune: Joe Kennedy made the bulk of his money in Hollywood, not on Wall Street. In the early 1920s the Kennedy family was well off but at no more than an upper-middle class level. By the end of the decade Joe Kennedy was a multi-millionaire with estates in Florida, New York, and Cape Cod. The main reason was his investments in the movie business which began with a small chain of theatres in New England and expanded to simultaneous control of three Hollywood studios (FBO, Pathe and First National) and to being the personal manager of Gloria Swanson, one of the top actresses of the silent era. Joe was forced out by his financial backers after a Swanson vehicle called Queen Kelly turned into a debacle, but not before cashing in big time after only about 5 years of involvement in the movie business. It is also a fact that Kennedy was never a bootlegger. (This is also confirmed in Last Call Daniel Okrents book about prohibition.) This myth seems to have stemmed from two things: 1) Kennedy supplied the booze for his Harvard 10th anniversary reunion in 1922, something any upper-middle class sport with connections could have done; and 2) Kennedy bought thousands of cases of whiskey and gin in England, Scotland and Ireland, loaded them on ships, and arranged for them to arrive at east coast ports virtually minutes after prohibition ended in 1933. Unlike the movie business, Kennedy stayed involved in the liquor distribution business for many years, and made a fortune in that as well. 2. War: Joe Kennedy was a brilliant businessman but a terrible diplomat. Joe was initially well-received as Ambassador to England but things turned sour after the war broke out. Kennedy was a hard-core isolationist. He constantly advocated appeasing Hitler. Roosevelt and his advisers began to distrust Kennedy and soon maneuvered him out of the policy-making loop. Kennedys isolationism did not stem from any sympathy to Hitler, about whom he had no illusions. It stemmed mostly from a deep-seated and entirely sincere hatred of war. Joe Kennedy didnt believe wars solved anything. He was never proud that his oldest son was killed in the war. He was actually quite bitter about it. Joe was not a pacifist; rather, he advocated for a fortress America policy with a strong army and navy to deter foreign aggression. He was against American intervention in foreign wars and against stationing American forces in foreign lands. His views did not change when the Soviet Union replaced Germany as the major threat. 3. The family: Joe Kennedy was great at two things: 1) making money; and 2) being a father. Joes devotion to his children is well known, but the depth and unconditional nature of his love for them was a revelation. Joe managed to give each of his nine children large amounts of individual attention. He maintained his moral authority over them and his emotional hold on them even though he was physically absent during much of their childhoods. I was surprised to learn that Joe held progressive attitudes towards the upbringing of his 5 daughters as well as his sons. In an era when upper-class women were steered toward traditional roles, Joe encouraged the Kennedy girls to obtain educations, delay marriage and find useful careers. Three of them, Eunice, Patricia, and Jean, waited until their 30s to get married and played prominent roles in Kennedy philanthropies during their lives. Nor was Joe a dictatorial or judgmental parent. He was an observant, at times devout, Catholic living in an era of extreme orthodoxy, who nevertheless offered congratulations to his daughter Kathleen (Kick) when she married a protestant English nobleman in a civil ceremony in London during the war, and he was deeply distressed when Kicks husband was killed in battle just a few months later. His daughters happiness was more important to Joe than even the Catholic Church. Contrary to some stories, he was also devoted to his mentally handicapped oldest daughter Rosemary. He lived alone with her for a time in England, after the rest of the family had returned to the United States upon the outbreak of the war. Rosemary was pretty, personable, and high functioning, but she could not keep up with the rest of the kids intellectually or physically. The lobotomy which rendered Rosemary forever helpless to take care of herself was considered advanced medical treatment in 1941, and Joe consented to it in the hope that it would help her. Joe Kennedys last decades were tragic. This man, who had invested so many hopes and dreams in his children, was forced to endure the violent deaths of the three oldest of his four sons, Joe Jr. (killed in the war) John and Bobby (died at the assassins hand), his second oldest daughter Kick (killed in a plane crash) and the sad fate of Rosemary, institutionalized as a result of his own decision. He spent the last 8 years of his life partially paralyzed and unable to speak (except for one word, no) as the result of a severe stroke. He was not mentally impaired however. I wonder - what did he think about as he sat there in that wheelchair? Had the journey been worth it? Was God punishing him for his sins? One would have to have a heart of stone not to pity him.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:42:45 +0000
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