Joseph Patrick Kennedy

1888 - 1969  (81 years)    Has 19 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Joseph Patrick Kennedy
  Birth	6 Sep 1888	East Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts, USA   [1]
  Christening	9 Sep 1888	East Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts, USA
  Gender	Male
  Prominent People	USA
  rich
  Burial	Nov 1969	Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
  Death	18 Nov 1969	Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
  Siblings	3 Siblings
  + 1. Joseph Patrick Kennedy,   b. 6 Sep 1888, East Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts, USA d. 18 Nov 1969, Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 81 years) ▻ Rose Elizabeth FitzGerald,  m. 7 Oct 1914 ;   Gloria Swanson;   Janet des Rosiers   2. Francis Benedict Kennedy,   b. 1891   d. 1892  (Age 1 year)   3. Loretta Kennedy,   b. 1892, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA   4. Margaret Kennedy,   b. 1898 ▻ Charles Burke
  Person ID	I52309	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2002

  
  

  Father	Patrick Joseph Kennedy,   b. 14 Jan 1858, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA d. 18 May 1929 (Age 71 years)
  Mother	Mary Augusta Hickey,   b. 6 Dec 1857, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA d. 20 May 1923, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA (Age 65 years)
  Marriage	1887
  Family ID	F21304	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Rose Elizabeth FitzGerald,   b. 22 Jul 1890, North End, Boston, Massachusetts, USA d. 22 Jan 1995, Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA (Age 104 years)
  Marriage	7 Oct 1914	Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA
  Children	1. Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr.,   b. Jul 1915, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA d. 2 Aug 1944, Suffolk, England (Age 29 years) + 2. 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy,   b. 29 May 1917, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA d. 22 Nov 1963, Dallas County, Texas, USA (Age 46 years)   3. Living   4. Kathleen Kennedy,   b. 20 Feb 1920, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA d. 13 May 1948, France (Age 28 years) + 5. Living + 6. Living + 7. Robert Francis Kennedy,   b. 20 Nov 1925, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA d. 6 Jun 1968, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California, USA (Age 42 years) + 8. Living + 9. Edward Moore Kennedy,   b. 22 Feb 1932, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA d. 25 Aug 2009, Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA (Age 77 years)
  Family ID	F21296	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Mar 2001

  
  

  Family 2	Gloria Swanson,   b. 27 Mar 1899, Chicago, Illinois, USA d. 4 Apr 1983, New York, New York, USA (Age 84 years)
  Marriage	3 years
  Family ID	F21725	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2002

  
  

  Family 3	Janet des Rosiers
  Marriage	It's said the affair lasted 9 years
  Family ID	F21726	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Mar 2001

  
  

• Event Map	Click to hide
  		Prominent People - rich - - USA Marriage - 7 Oct 1914 - Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA Death - 18 Nov 1969 - Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

  Photos (Log in)

  
  

• Notes

  From the time he was a school boy he was interested in making money. He had an interesting hobby of tinkering with clocks. Joe was a poor student, but good at athletics and had an attractive personality. He was able to overcome many ethnic barriers during his school years at Boston Latin, a protestant and primarily Yankee school. Joe Kennedy was not close to his father; in fact, when his father died, he did not even attend the funeral. He was, on the other hand, very close to his mother; she was very loving, and doted on her only son. He attended Harvard University and graduated on June 20, 1912. Like his father, he went into banking and was elected - one of the youngest Bank Presidents in US history - of Columbia Trust at the age of 25. Through his father-in-law’s help, he became assistant general manager of Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in 1917. This enabled Joe to avoid the draft, since he was holding a job that helped the war effort. In 1919, Joe became a broker. He was very successful, but he often employed unethical methods in his business dealings. During Prohibition, Joe worked with organized crime figures, and made a fortune in the bootlegging business. In the mid 1920’s, Joe turned his business attentions to Hollywood. He bought a firm called Maine and New Hampshire Theatres company and got involved in producing films. Several years later, he produced a film for Gloria Swanson, and began a three-year affair with her. Joe’s affair with Gloria Swanson wasn’t his first. By all accounts, Rose had a very puritanical attitude about sex - it was for procreation purposes only - so, Joe engaged in a number of infidelities over the years. He had many one-night stands, and a few longer term affairs as well. Besides Swanson, he had a nine-year affair with his secretary, Janet Des Rosiers. In 1930, Joe left Hollywood and returned to Wall Street for a time. Shortly afterward, he entered the world of politics. He met Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1930, and soon began helping him in Roosevelt’s campaign for the presidency. Joe expected to be appointed to Roosevelt’s cabinet after the election in 1932, but because of Joe’s questionable business practices in the past, Roosevelt feared he could be a liability and did not immediately appoint him to any position. Finally, in 1934, Joe was appointed chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 1937, Roosevelt appointed him chairman of the Maritime Commission. Not long afterward, Joe became bored with the position, and made it known to Roosevelt that he wanted something better. In 1938, he was appointed as ambassador to England. When the war broke out in Europe, Joe became very vocal in his opposition to the war. His relationship with Roosevelt became strained, and he resigned the position in 1940. During the 1940’s, several tragedies fell on Joe’s family. In 1941, Joe had his eldest daughter, Rosemary, lobotomized. Rosemary, who was slightly retarded, had been suffering from mental instability, which led to violent mood swings. He had hoped that a lobotomy would calm her mood swings, but instead it left her profoundly brain-damaged and unable to care for herself and was put into a nursing home. Then on, August 12, 1944, his son Joe was killed while flying a mission in World War II. And, on May 14, 1948, he lost his favorite daughter, Kathleen, in a plane crash. In 1945, Joe bought the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, which eventually became Joe’s most lucrative investment. He then began focusing his attentions on his political ambitions for his sons. With Joe’s help, John Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946, to the Senate in 1952, and to the Presidency in 1960. At Joe’s insistence, Bobby was appointed Attorney General after the presidential election. On December 19, 1961, Joe suffered a massive stroke. He was left partially paralyzed and essentially speechless. His condition gradually worsened throughout his final years, and on November 18, 1969, Joe Kennedy died. He was fiercely proud of his family. He was quoted as having said his family was the finest thing in his life. (Medical):Joe Kennedy was a very hard worker, which often deteriorated his health. At times he was hospitalized for his run down condition.

  
  

• Sources

  [S350] Joseph P. Kennedy, A Life and Times, by David E. Koskoff., pg 56 (Reliability: 3).