Kennedy curse explained

The Kennedy curse is a series of deaths, accidents, assassinations, and other calamities involving members of the American Kennedy family.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} The alleged curse has primarily struck the descendants of businessman Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., but it has also affected family friends, associates, and other relatives. Political assassinations and plane crashes have been the most common manifestations of the "curse". Following the Chappaquiddick incident in 1969, Ted Kennedy is quoted saying he questioned if "some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."^[9] However skeptics argue that it is not improbable for a large extended family to experience similar events over the course of several generations.^{[10] [11]}

Chronology

Events that have been treated as evidence of a curse include:

Kennedy deaths

• August 12, 1944 – Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. died when the military aircraft he was piloting exploded over East Suffolk, England.^[12]
• September 9, 1944 – William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, newlywed husband of Kathleen Kennedy, was fatally shot by a German sniper while leading his company near Heppen, Belgium.^[13]
• May 13, 1948 – Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy (formally known as Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington) died in a plane crash in France.^{[4] [5] [6]}
• August 23, 1956 – Arabella Kennedy died at birth.^[14]
• August 9, 1963 – Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died of infant respiratory distress syndrome two days after his premature birth on August 7 in Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
• November 22, 1963 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas.
• June 5, 1968 – U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on the night of his victory in the California primary; Robert died the following morning.^{[4] [5] [6]}
• April 25, 1984 – David A. Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, died of a drug overdose in a Palm Beach, Florida hotel room.^[15]
• December 31, 1997 – Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, died in a skiing accident after crashing into a tree in Aspen, Colorado.^{[16] [1] [4] [5] [6] [17]}
• July 16, 1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr. died when the plane he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
• September 16, 2011 – Kara Kennedy died of a heart attack while exercising in a Washington, D.C. health club.
• May 16, 2012 – Mary Richardson Kennedy died by suicide on the grounds of her home in Bedford, New York.^{[18] [19]}
• August 1, 2019 – Saoirse Kennedy Hill, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died of an accidental overdose at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.^[20]
• April 2, 2020 – Maeve Kennedy McKean disappeared with her eight-year-old son, Gideon, during a short canoe trip in Chesapeake Bay.^[21] Their bodies were recovered from the bay later that week.^[22] Autopsies revealed that both had accidentally drowned in the turbulent and chilly water.^[23]

Kennedy disabilities

• November 1941 – Rosemary Kennedy, age 23, struggled to read and write, and she suffered from mood swings, seizures, and violent outbursts. During birth, Rosemary was deprived of oxygen as her mother and nurse waited for the doctor to arrive.^[24] As she grew older, she became more rebellious and the family worried she would do something that could tarnish the Kennedy reputation.^[25] In an attempt to cure or treat his daughter, Joseph Kennedy secretly arranged for her to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy, which was seen as a promising treatment for various mental illnesses. Instead of saving Rosemary, the now-discredited procedure left her mentally and physically incapacitated. Rosemary remained institutionalized in seclusion, in rural Wisconsin, until her death in 2005.^{[4] [5] [6]} Her family remained distant for most of Rosemary's life, but Eunice Kennedy Shriver, her sister, grew close to her later in life. Eunice went on to found the Special Olympics and the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation which researches developmental and intellectual disabilities.^[25]
• December 19, 1961 – Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., age 73, suffered a massive stroke which left him paralyzed on his right side. He also struggled with aphasia, which severely affected his ability to speak.^[26]
• November 17, 1973 – Edward M. Kennedy Jr., age 12, had his right leg surgically amputated as a result of bone cancer. He underwent an experimental two-year drug treatment to cure the cancer.^{[27] [28]}

Other incidents

• June 19, 1964 – U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy survived a plane crash that killed one of his aides as well as the pilot. The plane was on its way to a Democratic State Endorsing Convention in Springfield.^[29] The small plane crashed in an apple orchard near Southampton, Massachusetts. The senator was pulled from the wreckage by passenger (and fellow senator) Birch Bayh. Kennedy spent five months in a hospital recovering from a broken back, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.^{[4] [5] [30]} Following the crash, Bobby Kennedy remarked to aide Ed Guthman: "Somebody up there doesn't like us."^[31]
• July 18, 1969 – Ted Kennedy accidentally drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, resulting in the drowning death of 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} In his televised statement a week later, Ted said that on the night of the incident he wondered "whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."^[32] Ted did not report the accident to the police until the next morning and pled guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.^[33]
• August 13, 1973 – Joseph P. Kennedy II was the driver of a Jeep that crashed and left his passenger, Pam Kelley, paralyzed. Fellow passenger and brother David A. Kennedy was injured.^{[4] [6]}
• May 4, 2006 – Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy crashed his automobile while intoxicated into a barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., at 2:45 a.m. He later revealed an addiction to prescription medications Ambien and Phenergan and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs, sentenced to one year probation and a fine of $350.^{[34] [35]}

See also

• Curse of Tippecanoe
• Sedgwick family, another prominent New England family that faced similar experiences
• Von Erich family, an American professional wrestling family that faced similar experiences

References

Citations

Book sources

• Klein, Edward (2004) The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ^[36]

Notes and References

1. News: Kennedy Family Tragedies . July 18, 1999 . . August 26, 2009.
2. News: Carr . Pat . Kennedy Family Tragedies . . August 26, 2009 . Hulteng . Lee . Hartford, Connecticut . April 23, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140423053507/http://www.courant.com/news/politics/20090826_tragedies_kennedy,0,5261652.graphic . dead .
3. News: McGrory . Brian . Family Overshadowed by a Litany of Tragedy . July 18, 1999 . . August 26, 2009.
4. Book: Klein, Edward . The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years . . 2004 . 978-0-312-31293-0 . Edward Klein . registration.
5. News: Jones . Sam . History of the Kennedy Curse . August 26, 2009 . . August 26, 2009 . Tran . Mark .
6. News: The Kennedy Curse . . August 26, 2009 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090828032443/http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-kennedy-curse-pictures,0,1958578.photogallery. August 28, 2009.
7. News: Is Pat's Crash Part of Kennedy Curse? . May 5, 2006 . . August 26, 2009.
8. Lacayo . Richard . Ted Kennedy, 1932–2009: The Brother Who Mattered Most . https://web.archive.org/web/20090830034453/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1918758,00.html?cnn=yes . dead . August 30, 2009 . August 26, 2009 . . August 26, 2009.
9. News: Selk. Avi. Ted Kennedy spoke of a family curse after deadly Chappaquiddick crash. Maybe he was right. March 4, 2021. National Post.
10. Web site: Kennedy Curse . . August 29, 2009 .
11. Web site: Talk of a Kennedy Curse Is Nonsense, Latest Death of Kara Revives Idle Chatter . IrishCentral . O'Dowd . Niall . Niall O'Dowd . September 18, 2011 . May 19, 2012.
12. Book: Renehan, Edward J. Jr. . The Kennedys at War, 1937–1945 . Edward J. Renehan Jr. . 2002 . . New York . 304 . 978-0-385-50165-1.
13. News: Obituary: Major Lord Hartington . . 6 . 19 September 1944.
14. Web site: Who was Arabella Kennedy? . Shane . O'Brien . September 1, 2023 . irishcentral.com . March 9, 2024.
15. News: Robert Kennedy's Son David Found Dead In Hotel . Reginald . Stuart . April 26, 1984 . . March 9, 2024.
16. News: Legacy of Untimely Death Continues . Dan . Balz . January 2, 1998 . . A4 . March 4, 2021.
17. News: Tragedy Has Repeatedly Stalked Kennedy Clan . King . John . John King (journalist) . July 17, 1999 . . February 15, 2008.
18. Web site: Kennedy Curse: A Political Family's Troubled Life . Negrin . Matt . May 16, 2012 . ABC News . May 17, 2012.
19. News: RFK Jr.'s Troubled Estranged Wife Found Dead in NY . https://web.archive.org/web/20120520230007/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jsfT2VoGbAR2P9uBoMOiCBb6817g?docId=788fa9391b1f42e993f59fe3312a837b . dead . May 20, 2012 . May 16, 2012 . Google News . May 16, 2012 . Associated Press.
20. Web site: Spillane . Geoff . November 1, 2019 . Saoirse Kennedy Hill died of accidental overdose, document shows . Fall River Herald News . en-US.
21. News: Osborne . Mark . Daughter, grandson of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, RFK's daughter, presumed dead in canoe accident . April 4, 2020 . . April 4, 2020.
22. News: The body of Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, was located by Charles County Dive and Rescue . . April 6, 2020 . . April 7, 2020 . April 7, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200407043025/https://www.weau.com/content/news/Body-of-Kathleen-Kennedy-Townsends-daughter-recovered-569427481.html . dead.
23. Cause of Death Revealed for Kennedy Granddaughter Who Had Vanished in Canoe Accident with Son. People. Adam. Carlson. Wendy Grossman. Kantor. Sean. Neumann. Meredith Corporation. United States. April 8, 2020. April 9, 2020. April 9, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200409004605/https://people.com/politics/kennedy-granddaughter-maeve-mckean-accidentally-drowned-with-son/. live.
24. Web site: Serena. Katie. November 2, 2017. The Forgotten Kennedy Sibling Who Was Lobotomized So That JFK Could Succeed. March 4, 2021. All That's Interesting.
25. Web site: Rosemary Kennedy, The Eldest Kennedy Daughter (U.S. National Park Service). March 4, 2021. National Park Service.
26. People: May 22, 1964
27. BG Series
28. Clymer, A Biography, pp. 205–208.
29. News: October 20, 1964. Senator Kennedy Tells of His Rescue in Plane Crash (Published 1964). The New York Times. March 4, 2021. 0362-4331.
30. Web site: The Luck of the Kennedys . May 8, 2008 . Check-Six.com . May 1, 2012.
31. [Larry Tye]
32. Kennedy, Edward. "Address to the People of Massachusetts on Chappaquiddick." 25 July 1969. https://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm
33. Web site: Pruitt. Sarah. Ted Kennedy's Chappaquiddick Incident: What Really Happened. September 4, 2018 . March 4, 2021. History.
34. News: Rep. Kennedy entering rehab after crash - May 5, 2006. CNN.
35. Web site: Life After Fender Bender - Roll Call. August 21, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090821055341/http://www.rollcall.com/issues/52_5/hoh/14255-1.html. August 21, 2009.
36. Web site: The Kennedy Curse | Edward Klein | Macmillan . US Macmillan.