The Patriarch Read online

  ALSO BY DAVID NASAW

  Andrew Carnegie

  The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst

  Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements

  Children of the City: At Work and at Play

  Schooled to Order: A Social History of Public Schooling in the United States

  THE PENGUIN PRESS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 707 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3008 Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books, Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North 2193, South Africa • Penguin China, B7 Jaiming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:

  80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  First published in 2012 by The Penguin Press,

  a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  Copyright © David Nasaw, 2012

  All rights reserved

  Photograph credits appear here.

  Frontis photo © Bettmann/CORBIS

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Nasaw, David.

  The patriarch : the remarkable life and turbulent times of Joseph P. Kennedy / David Nasaw.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-1-101-59591-6

  1. Kennedy, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick), 1888-1969. 2. Ambassadors—United States—Biography. 3. Politicians—United States—Biography. 4. Businesspeople—United States—Biography. 5. Kennedy family. I. Title.

  E748.K376N37 2012

  973.9092—dc23

  [B]

  2012027315

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  CONTENTS

  Also by David Nasaw

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Cast of Characters

  Introduction

  Part I: East Boston to Cambridge to Brookline

  One: Dunganstown to East Boston

  Two: School Days

  Three: Starting Out

  Four: War

  Five: Making a Million

  Part II: Hollywood

  Six: “My Own Master in My Own Business”

  Seven: Hollywood

  Eight: Gloria and Rose

  Nine: Last Exit from Hollywood

  Part III: Washington

  Ten: On the Roosevelt Train

  Eleven: Waiting for the Call

  Twelve: To Washington

  Thirteen: Reelecting Roosevelt

  Fourteen: Maritime Commissioner

  Part IV: London

  Fifteen: A Plainspoken Ambassador

  Sixteen: A Rather Dreadful Homecoming

  Seventeen: Munich

  Eighteen: The Kennedy Plan

  Nineteen: Sidelined and Censored

  Twenty: “This Country Is at War with Germany”

  Twenty-one: The Lives of Americans Are at Stake

  Twenty-two: Defeatist

  Twenty-three: The Fall of France

  Twenty-four: The Worst of Times

  Twenty-five: There’s Hell to Pay Tonight

  Part V: Washington, but Briefly

  Twenty-six: Home Again

  Twenty-seven: The Man Who Out-Hamleted Hamlet

  Part VI: Palm Beach and Hyannis Port

  Twenty-eight: A Forced Retirement

  Twenty-nine: War

  Thirty: “A Melancholy Business”

  Thirty-one: The Candidate’s Father

  Thirty-two: Family Matters

  Thirty-three: “The Great Debate”

  Thirty-four: The Next Senator from Massachusetts

  Thirty-five: Retirement

  Thirty-six: Making Money and Giving It Away

  Thirty-seven: The Catholic Candidate

  Thirty-eight: Electing a President

  Thirty-nine: “He Belongs to the Country”

  Forty: “No!”

  Photographs

  Acknowledgments

  Notes

  Bibliography of Works Cited

  Index

  Photograph Credits

  About the Author

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Joseph Patrick Kennedy (1888–1969, m. 1914)

  Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy (1890–1995, m. 1914), wife of Joseph P. Kennedy

  Children and Children’s Spouses

  Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. (1915–1944)

  John Fitzgerald Kennedy, “Jack” (1917–1963, m. 1953)

  Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1929–1994, m. 1953), wife of John Kennedy

  Rose Marie Kennedy, “Rosemary” (1918–2005)

  Kathleen Agnes Kennedy Hartington, “Kick” (1920–1948, m. 1944)

  William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, Billy Hartington (1917–1944, m. 1944), eldest son of the 10th Duke of Devonshire, husband of “Kick” Kennedy

  Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (1921–2009, m. 1953)

  Robert Sargent Shriver, “Sargent Shriver” or “Sarge” (1915–2011, m. 1953), husband of Eunice Kennedy

  Patricia Kennedy, “Pat” (1924–2006, m. 1954)

  Peter Lawford (1923–1984, m. 1954), husband of Patricia Kennedy

  Robert Francis Kennedy, “Bobby” (1925–1968, m. 1950)

  Ethel Skakel Kennedy (1928–, m. 1950), wife of Robert Kennedy

  Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (1928–, m. 1956)

  Stephen Edward Smith, “Steve” (1927–1990, m. 1956), husband of Jean Kennedy

  Edward Moore Kennedy, “Ted” (1932–2009, m. 1958, 1992)

  Joan Bennett Kennedy (1936–, m. 1958), first wife of Edward Kennedy

  Joseph P. Kennedy’s Parents

  Patrick Joseph Kennedy, “P.J.” (1858–1929, m. 1887), father of Joseph P. Kennedy

  Mary Augusta Hickey Kennedy (1857–1923, m. 1887), mother of Joseph P. Kennedy

  Joseph P. Kennedy’s Paternal Grandparents

  Patrick Kennedy (ca. 1823–1858, m. 1849), grandfather

  Bridget Murphy Kennedy (1821–1888, m. 1849), grandmother

  Joseph P. Kennedy’s Parents-in-Law

  John Francis Fitzgerald, “Honey Fitz” (1863–1950), father-in-law of Kennedy, mayor of Boston (1906–1908 and 1910–1914)

  Mary Josephine Hannon Fitzgerald, “Josie” (1865–1964), mother-in-law of Kennedy, wife of John Francis Fitzgerald

  Dean Acheson, assistant secretary of state (1941–1945), under secretary of state (1945), secretary of state (1949–1953)

  Robert S. Allen, journalist, co-columnist with Drew Pearson, “Washington Merry-Go-Ro
und”

  Joseph Alsop, Washington columnist

  Nancy Astor, Lady Astor, member of Parliament (1919–1945), Cliveden set

  Waldorf Astor, Lord Astor, politician, newspaper owner

  Bernard Baruch, businessman, financier, Democratic Party adviser

  Lord Beaverbrook, Max Aitken, newspaper owner, minister of aircraft production (1940–1941), minister of supply (1941–1942), Kennedy friend

  Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr., “Tony,” ambassador to Poland (1937–1943), ambassador to governments in exile (1941–1943), U.S. Army in Europe (1944–1955)

  Kirk LeMoyne Billings, “Lem,” JFK friend

  John Boettiger, husband of Anna Roosevelt, editor of Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  Benjamin C. Bradlee, journalist and editor of Washington Post, Newsweek

  Louis Brandeis, Supreme Court justice (1916–1939), Roosevelt adviser

  Bart Brickley, Boston lawyer, Kennedy friend

  William Christian Bullitt, Jr., ambassador to France (1936–1940)

  John Burns, law professor, Massachusetts judge, SEC general counsel, Kennedy attorney and friend

  Rab Butler, under-secretary of state for foreign affairs (1938–1941)

  James Byrnes, senator from South Carolina (1931–1941), Supreme Court justice (1941–1942), Economic Stabilization Office (1942–1943), secretary of state (1945–1947)

  Sir Alexander Cadogan, permanent under-secretary for foreign affairs (1938–1946)

  Sir James Calder, head of Distillers Company, Kennedy friend

  Boake Carter, radio commentator, Kennedy friend

  Father John Cavanaugh, president of Notre Dame (1946–1952), Kennedy friend

  Neville Chamberlain, prime minister (1937–1940)

  Winston Churchill, first lord of the Admiralty (1939–1940), prime minister (1940–1945)

  Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian minister of foreign affairs (1936–1943), Mussolini’s son-in-law

  Clark Clifford, Washington lawyer, head of JFK transition team

  Ralph Coghlan, editor of St. Louis Post-Dispatch, JFK campaign adviser

  Benjamin V. Cohen, attorney, New Deal adviser

  Duff Cooper, first lord of the Admiralty (1937–1938), minister of information (1940–1941)

  Thomas Gardiner Corcoran, attorney, Felix Frankfurter protégé, New Deal and Lyndon Johnson adviser

  Robert Coughlin, collaborator, ghostwriter for Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy’s Times to Remember

  James Michael Curley, mayor of Boston for several terms, representative from Massachusetts (1911–1914, 1943–1947), governor of Massachusetts (1935–1937)

  Guy Currier, Massachusetts legislator, lawyer, lobbyist

  Archbishop Richard Cushing, archbishop of Boston (1944–1970), cardinal (1958–1970)

  Mark Dalton, JFK campaign manager (1946, 1952)

  Russell Davenport, managing editor of Fortune magazine

  Marion Davies, actress, mistress of William Randolph Hearst

  Eddie (E. B.) Derr, Kennedy business associate

  Paul A. Dever, candidate for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts (1946), governor of Massachusetts (1949–1953)

  Thomas E. Dewey, governor of New York (1943–1954), Republican candidate for president (1944, 1948)

  Joseph Dinneen, journalist with Boston Globe

  Herbert von Dirksen, German ambassador to Great Britain

  William J. Donovan, “Colonel Donovan” or “Wild Bill,” lawyer, intelligence officer, Roosevelt adviser

  William O. Douglas, law professor, SEC commissioner, Supreme Court justice (1939–1975), Kennedy friend

  Morton Downey, singer, Kennedy friend

  Allen Welsh Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1953–1961)

  Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe (World War II), supreme Allied commander (1951–1952), president (1953–1961)

  Henri, Marquis de la Falaise de la Coudraye, Gloria Swanson’s husband

  James Farley, postmaster general (1933–1940), Roosevelt adviser

  James Fayne, Kennedy classmate, business associate

  Robert Fisher, Harvard roommate and Kennedy friend

  John J. Ford, “Johnnie,” business associate, Fore River, Maine and New Hampshire Theatre Company, New York City office

  James Forrestal, secretary of the navy (1944–1947), secretary of defense (1947–1949)

  Felix Frankfurter, Harvard Law School professor, Supreme Court justice (1939–1962), Roosevelt adviser

  Count Enrico Galeazzi, Rome liaison to Knights of Columbus, Vatican adviser, Kennedy friend

  Ann Gargan, Rose’s niece, chief caregiver after Kennedy stroke

  John Nance Garner IV, representative from Texas (1903–1933), Speaker of the House (1931–1933), vice president (1933–1941)

  Robert L. Ghormley, vice admiral, Roosevelt military adviser

  Arthur Goldsmith, Harvard classmate, Kennedy friend

  Dr. Frederick Good, family doctor and obstetrician for Kennedy children

  Edmund Goulding, “Eddie,” movie and stage director, screenwriter

  Lord Halifax, E. F. L. Wood, foreign secretary (1938–1940), British ambassador to the United States (1940–1946)

  William Harrison Hays, Sr., “Will,” president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America

  William Randolph Hearst, publishing magnate, head of Cosmopolitan Pictures

  Nevile Henderson, British ambassador to Germany (1937–1939)

  Luella Hennessey, Kennedy family nurse

  Father Theodore Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame (1952–1987)

  Sir Samuel Hoare, Conservative Party politician, home secretary (1937–1939)

  Herbert Hoover, president (1929–1933), chair of Hoover Commission (1947–1949, 1953–1955)

  J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1935–1972)

  Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt adviser, New Deal agency administrator

  Arthur Houghton, manager of Fred Stone, Hollywood executive, Kennedy friend

  Louis McHenry Howe, Roosevelt adviser

  Cordell Hull, senator from Tennessee (1931–1933), secretary of state (1933–1944)

  Harold L. Ickes, secretary of the interior (1933–1952)

  Lyndon Baines Johnson, representative from Texas (1937–1949), senator from Texas (1949–1961), Senate minority leader (1953–1955), Senate majority leader (1955–1961), vice president (1961–1963), president (1963–1969)

  Joseph Kane, Kennedy cousin, family political representative in Boston

  Estes Kefauver, senator from Tennessee (1949–1963), Democratic nominee for vice president (1956)

  John Kennedy (no relation), “London Jack,” journalist, publicist for Kennedy

  Frank Kent, Baltimore columnist, New Deal opponent

  Tyler Kent, U.S. embassy (London) code clerk, convicted of stealing documents

  Philip Kerr, Lord Lothian, British ambassador to the United States (1939–1940)

  Robert Kintner, co-columnist until 1942 with Joseph Alsop

  Louis Kirstein, David Sarnoff friend, Boston department store owner, investor in FBO

  Harvey Klemmer, Maritime Commission, attached to U.S. embassy in London (1938–1940)

  Frank Knox, publisher of Chicago Daily News, Republican nominee for vice president (1936), secretary of the navy (1940–1944)

  Arthur Krock, Washington bureau chief of New York Times, Kennedy family adviser

  Ferdinand Kuhn, Jr., journalist with New York Times

  James Landis, law professor, SEC commissioner, Kennedy lawyer, friend, adviser

  Alfred M. Landon, “Alf,” Republican candidate for president
(1936)

  Harold Laski, London School of Economics, tutor to Joe Kennedy, Jr.

  Jesse Lasky, Hollywood producer and executive

  General Raymond E. Lee, military attaché at U.S. embassy in London

  Missy LeHand, secretary to President Roosevelt

  John L. Lewis, labor leader, CIO organizer

  Charles Lindbergh, aviator, opposed United States entry in World War II

  Ronald Lindsay, British ambassador to the United States (1929–1939)

  Walter Lippmann, Washington-based syndicated columnist

  Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., senator from Massachusetts

  Breckinridge Long, ambassador to Italy (1933–1936), special assistant secretary of state (1939–1940), assistant secretary of state (1940–1944)

  Clare Boothe Luce, actress, playwright, wife of Henry Luce, representative from Connecticut (1943–1947), ambassador to Italy (1953–1956)

  Henry Luce, “Harry” (1898–1967), publisher of Time, Life, and Fortune magazines

  Louis Lyons, journalist with Boston Globe

  General Douglas MacArthur, UN commander in Korea (1950–1951)

  Malcolm MacDonald, colonial secretary (1938–1940)

  Torbert Macdonald, JFK classmate, politician, friend

  George Marshall, secretary of state (1947–1949), author of Marshall Plan

  Joseph McCarthy, senator from Wisconsin (1947–1957), Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1953–1955)

  John McClellan, senator from Arkansas (1943–1977), Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (1955–1973)

  John W. McCormack, representative from Massachusetts (1928–1971), House majority leader

  Colonel Robert McCormick, anti–New Deal publisher of Chicago Tribune

  Timothy McInerny, Boston newspaper editor, family friend

  Jeremiah Milbank, banker, associate of Elisha Walker

  Jay Pierrepont Moffat, State Department’s Western European division (1937–1940)

  Raymond Moley, New Deal “brain trust,” Roosevelt adviser, newspaper editor

  Edward Moore, “Eddie,” Kennedy friend, business associate, surrogate parent to Kennedy children

  Mary Moore, wife of Eddie Moore, family friend

  Henry Morgenthau, Jr., secretary of the treasury (1934–1945)