“The House of Kennedy” - James Patterson and Cynthia Fagen

 ⛵️Looking past his petulant and certainly unflattering comments of late (you know, where this prolific author complained about unfair obstacles faced by white men in publishing), I picked this book up after we returned from a trip that included visiting the JFK presidential library, tooling around downtown Hyannis, and taking a tour of Martha’s Vineyard, where the Kennedy name came up aplenty.

⛵️Patterson opens with a touching scene of an old and infirm Joe Sr. learning of JFK’s death. He then toggles back to JFK’s great-grandfather emigrating to the US. Patrick J. Kennedy’s successes in finance and local/state government turned the Kennedy family’s fortunes around dramatically. Joe Sr. carried the mantle forward to greater financial successes and a foray into Hollywood. Patterson’s coverage of Joe Sr.’s tint as ambassador to St. James Palace as an unmitigated disaster was a high profile Kennedy failure, and echoes what I read in the Queen Elizabeth II bio last year. For those who don’t know, he tried to broker a meeting with H*tler without consulting the State Department or FDR.

⛵️ The exploits and achievements of the male Kennedys (particularly those of a scandalous nature) are rather well known. I preferred the insight into some of the Kennedy women. For example, we learn from journal entries that burdened by the constant unfaithfulness of Joe Sr., Rose Kennedy attempted to flee the Kennedy home during her fourth pregnancy. These details paint a more complete picture of the realities behind the Kennedy’s carefully cultivated public veneer.

We learn about Rosemary, arguably the most tragic of Kennedy siblings. Her traumatic birth was caused by dangerous medical advice wherein her crowning head was pushed back into the birth canal, depriving her of adequate oxygen for nearly two hours! And of course, as an adult, when her mental health took a turn, and certain members of the family feared she might harm the Kennedy veneer, we know of the lobotomy that she was forced to undergo. I believe the treatment of Rosemary is certainly emblematic of the family’s ethos and priorities.

⛵️ I enjoyed Patterson’s narrative style of hopping back and forth a couple of days or several years between events. He will cover an aspect of Kennedy lore after it has happened, then he’ll go back to fill in the lead up to the fateful events. For example, he covers Joe Jr.’s death during a risky combat mission, and then returns to to Joe in the pre-war years, as the darling of the family. He walks us through Rosemary’s disastrous lobotomy, and then narrates her traumatic birth decades earlier.

⛵️ JFK’s premonitions were intriguing. His visions about a casket, and later, his remarks at Fort Worth about how easy it would be for someone in a crowd to assassinate him and then slip away. His comments are well documented, and add to the overall nature of the conspiracy theories that abound.

⛵️ The Kennedy family’s single-minded focus on political dominance is nowhere more clear than in the contradictory nature of Joe Sr. negotiating with and buying Mafia support for JFK while RFK was actively prosecuting organized crime.

⛵️ Though there was no shortage of salacious scandal among the elder Kennedys (JFK-Marilyn-RFK, or Teddy and Chappaquidick, for example!), the coverage of the fourth generation of Kennedy men was a snoozefest. They are remarkable only for their hard partying, lavish lifestyles, and numerous scandals involving women. You don’t feel the pull of charisma and public service at all with this lot. You do wonder that so many were ravaged by addiction and depression.

⛵️ I want to know more about the Kennedy women. Patterson’s coverage has raised far more questions in my mind, and I think their stories would complement the data we have on this singular family. I’ve added the following to my TBR:

> “Mrs. Kennedy and Me” - Clint Hill (Jackie’s former secret service agent)

> “Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter” - Kate Clifford Larson

> “A Woman Named Jackie” - C. David Heymann