The Kennedys

by Maier, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780465043170
• ISBN10: 0465043178
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

Meticulously researched both here and abroad, THE KENNEDYS examines the Kennedy's as exemplars of the Irish Catholic experience. Beginning with Patrick Kennedy's arrival in the Brahmin world of Boston in 1848, Maier delves into the deeper currents of the often spectacular Kennedy story, and the ways in which their immigrant background shaped their values-and in turn twentieth-century America-for over five generations. As the first and only Roman Catholic ever elected to high national office in this country, JFK's pioneering campaign for president rested on a tradition of navigating a cultural divide that began when Joseph Kennedy shed the brogues of the old country in order to get ahead on Wall Street. Whether studied exercise in cultural self-denial or sheer pragmatism, their movements mirror that of countless of other, albeit less storied, American families. But as much as the Kennedys distanced themselves from their religion and ethnic heritage on the public stage, Maier shows how Irish Catholicism informed many of their most well-known political decisions and stances. From their support of civil rights, to Joe Kennedy's tight relationship with Pope Pius XII and FDR, the impact of their personal family history on the national scene is without question-and makes for an immensely compelling narrative. Bringing together extensive new research in both Ireland and the United States, several exclusive interviews, as well as his own perspective as an Irish-American, Maier's original approach to the Kennedy era brilliantly illustrates the defining role of the immigrant experience for the country's foremost political dynasty.

Author Biography

Thomas Maier is a staff reporter at New York Newsday. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed Dr. Spock: An American Life, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He lives in East Northport, New York.

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
Part I: From Ireland to Irish-American
The Boys of Wexford	3	(7)
Heirs of Brian Boru	10	(8)
The Starvation	18	(6)
American Wake	24	(11)
Brahmins and Bigotry	35	(16)
The Long Climb to Acceptance	51	(16)
The Family Enterprise	67	(11)
Hard Lessons	78	(17)
Part II: The Family Faith
Happy Warriors	95	(18)
An Irishman in the Court of St. James	113	(10)
The Vatican Go-Between	123	(16)
Tortured Souls	139	(21)
Hero Worship	160	(13)
Blood Brothers	173	(18)
A Lighter Shade of Green	191	(23)
Eire	214	(21)
Part III: Rise to the Presidency
The Irish Brahmin	235	(14)
A Child of Fate	249	(17)
Articles of Faith	266	(11)
A Nation of Immigrants	277	(15)
Matters of Church and State	292	(6)
A Friend in Rome	298	(15)
Primary Lessons	313	(13)
West Virginia	326	(13)
The Fall, 1960	339	(22)
Part IV: The Rites of Power
A Catholic in the White House	361	(13)
Holy Wars	374	(12)
Conversion and Subversion	386	(8)
The Two Johns	394	(15)
Doing the Right Thing	409	(19)
In the Springtime	428	(16)
The Ritual of Mourning	444	(23)
Part V: The Emerald Thread
A Living Wound	467	(18)
The Awful Grace of God	485	(14)
The Politics of Outsiders	499	(20)
The Ghosts of Camelot	519	(16)
Last Hurrahs	535	(15)
A Matter of Faith	550	(11)
Looking Backward and Forward	561	(11)
Principles of Peace	572	(17)
Legacies	589	(14)
A Note on Sources	603	(34)
Selected Bibliography	637	(18)
About the Author	655	(2)
Index	657