by Thomas Maier
Chapter Twelve:Tortured Souls
As its primary source, the heart of this chapter derives from the numerous, lengthy and often painful letters between Kathleen Kennedy, her parents, and her fiancé, Billy Hartington, which were reviewed by the author in several files of the JPK papers at the Kennedy library. Several details from these letters have not appeared before (such as the opening anecdote about her “persecuted Irish ancestors” and instances of her own anti-Semitic views), though this ill-fated romance has been discussed extensively in many Kennedy histories, particularly Lynne McTaggart, Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times; Hank Searls, The Lost Prince:Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy;Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys; and Laurence Leamer The Kennedy Women. Several of the letters suggest the religious and cultural conflicts of the Kennedys concerning the prospect of Kathleen marrying into the Cavendish family with evidence of its own avid anti-Catholicism.
Kick’s increasingly pro-British views, far different from the Irish perspective of Honey Fitz and her ancestors, is mentioned in her letter dated on Christmas, 1943, contained in the JPK papers. Hints of anti-Semitism in her letters, including the February 1943 comment (“the Hebes stick together even in death”) were also found in the JPK papers. Her awareness of her own Irish Catholic background is reflected in a handful of letters, including the January 2, 1943, letter to her family that the English seemed intrigued by Catholicism. Her letters to her brother, Jack, are filled with humorous asides, such as her February 22, 1944, letter in which she says “am sure you’ll get the wunderlust or other kinds of lust before the passing of many moons.”
More than a dozen letters in the JPK papers detail the difficulties involved with Kathleen Kennedy’s relationship with Billy Hartington. One of the most common threads is the degree of anti-Catholicism in young Kathleen’s life in London. In her August 1943 letter, Kick recounts how her Protestant friends and Billy’s family tell her the nearest Catholic church is miles away and she couldn’t possibly go. In the same letter, she mentions the arguments about Catholicism involving Lady Nancy Astor. In a February 1944, letter home, Kick tells how Billy’s father, the Duke of Devonshire, gave her a surprise gift for her birthday— the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. It also talks about her own desperation to find some “loophole” that would allow her to marry without losing her Catholicism. Rose’s letter, dated February 24, 1944, expresses concerns about Kick maintaining her religious faith and mentions that Joe Kennedy had consulted Count Galeazzi for possible help. Billy’s heartfelt letter to Rose in April 1944, months before he’s killed, is also included in the JPK papers. Even after the couple marries, Kick admits that Billy’s father “has given in as the one thing he has always dreaded is that one of his sons should marry an R.C.” and “he always sees within me a sort of evil influence,” according to a May 1944, letter from Kick in the JPK papers. (Some of these letters do not bear exact dates, and the time period and estimated dates on these letters and used in this book were determined by the JFK presidential librarian researchers, based on the best available information.) The assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish in Dublin was detailed in Robert Kee, The Green Flag, while Fitzgerald’s characterization of the murder place as “a Catholic monument” was found in Peter Collier and David Horowitz, The Kennedys:An American Drama. Fitzgerald’s membership in the Ancient Order of Hibernians is mentioned in John Henry Cutler, Honey Fitz. Further background about Hartington’s family appeared in Lynne McTaggart, Kathleen Kennedy; Herbert S. Parmet, Jack:The Struggles of John F. Kennedy; and Amanda Smith, Hostage to Fortune.
The letters in the JPK papers also underscore the significant influence of the Briitsh Catholic intellectual circle on the Kennedys and their own associates in London. Background context about the Kennedy’s circle of British friends and acquaintances who were Catholic, including Evelyn Waugh, Martin D’Arcy, SJ and others, comes from Selina Hastings, Evelyn Waugh: A Biography; Martin Stannard, Evelyn Waugh; Joseph Pearce, Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in An Age of Unbelief;“Rev. Martin D’Arcy,A Jesuit Philosopher Dies in London at 88,” New York Times, February 19, 1951; Joseph Epstein, “Maurice Baring & the Good High-Brow,” New Criterion, October 1992. Kick’s account of her conversation with Rev. D’Arcy is included in her February 22, 1944, letter to her parents. Jack’s past with Coleman at the Spee Club was reflected in Kick’s letter to him contained in JPK papers, and supplemented with background from Ralph Martin, Seeds of Destruction;Nigel Hamilton, JFK: Reckless Youth.
Chapter Thirteen: Hero Worship
Honey Fitz’s observation that “the Catholic element in New England is standing up admirably” in WWII was written in 1945 to Bobby, Jean and Pat Kennedy, contained in the JPK papers. John F. Kennedy’s writing about the Irish bases appeared in the February 2, 1941, New York Journal American owned by Hearst, as cited in Herbert S. Parmet, Jack:The Struggles of John F. Kennedy.“Politics make strange bedfellows” comment by JFK is in a 1939 letter to his parents, contained in JPK papers. JFK’s tease to his mother about “your latest chapter on the ‘9 little Kennedys and how they grew, by Rose of Old Boston” is from a 1942 letter found in JPK papers. JFK’s letters to Rose Kennedy in 1942 include his request for Rev. Bertrand L.Conway’s The Question Box, contained in JPK papers. Rose’s comment that Jack “also thinks it would be good for Joe’s political career if he died for the grand old flag, although I don’t believe he feels that is absolutely necessary” was found in the same collection. Though he prefered his comments light and breezy, young JFK makes several trenchant comments about death, fatalism and the afterlife reflected in letters sent during the war and contained in the pre-presidential papers at the JFK Library and also in the JPK collection. Other details about Jack’s view of his background were found in Arthur Mitchell, JFK and His Irish Heritage; Amanda Smith, Hostage to Fortune. At least one Massachusetts parochial school class prayed on their knees for Jack’s safe return, Ralph Martin, A Hero for Our Times.“Jesus Loves Me” is from James MacGregor Burns, John Kennedy:A Political Profile.The most well-known account of the incident is John Hersey,“Survival,” New Yorker, June 17, 1944, though subsequent accounts have placed more blame for the fatal accident on Kennedy’s poor nautical judgment. Jack’s first letter after the PT-109 incident (“I can say that I am well and thanking my St. Christopher, my St. Elmo and my St. Clair. One of them was working overtime”) is dated August 29, 1943, and is contained in the JPK papers. Johnny Iles comments are from Joan and Clay Blair Jr., The Search for JFK.The passing interest of JFK in the work of Dorothy Day is mentioned in William D. Miller, A Harsh and Dreadful Love:Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement. An example of Joe Sr.’s anti-Semitism passed along to his children is found in his letter to Joe Jr. in which he claims JFK has “become disgusted with the desk jobs and all the Jews,” dated June 20, 1942, in the JPK papers. The scene of Jack returning home and being embraced by his grandfather at an honorary luncheon appears in John Henry Cutler, Honey Fitz,with Joe Jr.’s reaction recorded in Hank Searls, The Lost Prince; Joan and Clay Blair Jr., The Search for JFK.
Chapter Fourteen: Blood Brothers
Rev. Maurice S. Sheehy’s friendship with the Kennedys is evident in several letters contained in JPK papers. The story of Joe’s early morning antics toward Jewish servicemen and its undertones of anti-Semitism (“Don’t they have souls?”) is recalled in Hank Searls, The Lost Prince, probably the most thorough account of Joseph Kennedy Jr.’s life. Joe Sr.’s letter repeating the whispers about a Republican and his advise to his oldest son that “You better be sure to marry yourself a nice Irish Catholic girl” is from a July 18, 1942, letter in the JPK papers. Several letters between Joe Sr. and his eldest son implicitly reflect their intention for a future political career for Joe Jr., including his son’s assessment of the 1940 Democratic Convention, and how the Irish would view things back home in Boston. For Joe Jr.’s birthday in 1942, Rose sends several packages including the Catholic Digest, found in R
ose’s letter dated July 23, 1942, in JPK papers. Rose writes to Jack and Joe Jr about the education of Teddy and Bobby in a “Dear Boys” letter dated September 10, 1942, in JPK papers. Rose’s characterization of herself as “just an ordinary, staunch believing Irish Roman Catholic” is in Rose Kennedy, Times to Remember.
In August 1944, Joe’s letter to Jack is keenly aware of the exploits of PT-109, and despite their rivalry, he says he won’t “risk my fine neck in any crazy venture.” In a letter dated July 26, 1944, Joe concedes he’s going to do “something different for the next three weeks. It is secret, and I am not allowed to say what it is, but it isn’t dangerous, so don’t worry,” contained in JPK papers. Details about the events leading up to young Kennedy’s death and its aftermath are mentioned in numer ous Kennedy histories, notably Hank Searls The Lost Prince as well as Joan and Clay Blair Jr., The Search for JFK; Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys. Details about Rosemary Kennedy’s lobotomy were in Goodwin’s book and Laurence Leamer, The Kennedy Women. Several letters, cards and comments in the JPK papers, however, document some of the family’s attempt to deal religiously with the tragedy of Joe Jr.’s death, including those by Dick Flood, Mrs. John Pillsbury, Mike Grace, Max O’Rell Truitt, Harry Bagan, Margaret Prior, Gertrude and Joe Bateman and Jack’s old teacher at Canterbury. Quotes from the small booklet prepared by John F. Kennedy, As We Remember Joe, includes those from Honey Fitz and Rev. Sheehy as well as his own comment that his brother “had a deep and abiding faith—he was never far from God—and so, I cannot help but feel that . . . ‘death to him was less a setting forth than a returning.’” In a February 27, 1945, letter to her brother “dearest Jackie,” contained in JPK papers, Kick suggests he quote from poet Maurice Baring in the memorial booklet.
After Billy’s death, Rose’s letter of condolence to Kick suggesting she turn to God is in JPK papers, as is Kick’s own letter to Jack, dated October 31, 1945, talking of her difficulty getting over Billy’s death.“Kick’s apostacy” according to Evelyn Waugh, and the angry reaction of American Catholics to her marriage is cited in Amanda Smith, Hostage to Fortune; Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys. In December 1944, after Billy’s death, Kathleen Kennedy details the depressing state of Belgium after the conflict in a December 19, 1944, letter. Joe tries to comfort his daughter in a December 20, 1944, letter, conceding that 1944 “has been a difficult year for all of us,” he writes.“We still have lots for which to thank God.” Both letters are in JPK papers. Arthur Krock’s observation of Joe Kennedy’s reaction after his son’s death were in Arthur Krock, Memoirs: Sixty Years On the Firing Line, while his own written observations were in letters written by Joe Sr. contained in JPK papers. The senior Kennedy’s emotional difficulty reading As We Remember Joe was mentioned in Bob Considine, It’s All News To Me. Rose’s attempts to keep up her family’s spirits with cheery notes, such as the October 6, 1944, letter (“We are having some little prayer cards made out for Joe”) was found in JPK papers. Rev. Sheehy’s “dark Christmas” letter to Joe Kennedy was dated December 22, 1944, with Joe’s reply dated January 6, 1945, both in the JPK papers.
Chapter Fifteen: A Lighter Shade of Green
The many changes for Boston’s Irish Catholics in the post–World War II era were discussed in Charles Morris, American Catholic; Jack Beatty, The Rascal King; and Thomas H. O’Connor, The Boston Irish:A Political History.The political rise of JFK as a young congressman was traced in several books, including Herbert S. Parmet, Jack; James MacGregor Burns, John Kennedy: A Political Profile;Nigel Hamilton, JFK: Reckless Youth; and Joe McCarthy,The Remarkable Kennedys. JFK reciting the rosary on the radio with Cardinal Cushing in 1951 is from a December 12, 1955, letter to Joe Kennedy contained in his private papers. The gushing letter from reporter Leland Bickford is in the JFK personal papers at the JFK Library. Joe Kane, the architect of the 1946 run, was a JFK cousin, according to John Henry Cutler’s Honey Fitz, which adds that Kane’s mother was a sister of PJ Kennedy’s father. The same book repeats Honey Fitz’s prediction that Jack will be the President of the U.S. someday.
JFK’s rather sympathetic account of DeValera’s views, including the Irish leader’s condolence call to the German upon the death of Adolf Hitler, has gone largely unexamined by Kennedy historians. The dispatch about DeValera and Ireland appeared in John F. Kennedy,“De Valera Aims to Unite Ireland,” New York Journal American, July 29, 1945. JFK’s speech before the Crosscup-Pishon American Legion Post on November 11, 1945, was found in the pre-presidential papers at the Kennedy library, which indicates it was JFK’s first major address as a politician. A United Press account of DeValera’s personal call at the German legation to pay condolences upon Adolf Hitler’s death was carried on the front page of the NewYork Times,May 3, 1945, an action which was criticized in an editorial the following day. Winston Churchill’s criticism of DeValera’s neutrality in the war was mentioned in Clifton Daniel,“Totalitarian Rule Unwanted, Churchill Tells Free Europe,” NewYork Times,May 14, 1945.DeValera’s response to Churchill appeared in Hugh Smith,“De Valera Defends His Neutrality; Makes ‘Allowances’ for Churchill,” New York Times,May 17, 1945. George Bernard Shaw’s support for DeValera’s action appeared in New York Times,May 19, 1945. DeValera’s defense of his action before the Dail Eireann (the Irish Parliament) was recorded in Hugh Smith, “DeValera Defends Honor for Hitler,” New York Times, July 20, 1945, which also says the action was viewed by many as a “first-class blunder.”The letter to Joe Kennedy, dated January 17, 1946, from the U.S. delegation in Dublin warning of DeValera’s attempts to draw American Catholics into the partition debate after the war was found in the JFK Library. In addition, John Kennedy with Deirdre Henderson, ed., Prelude to Leadership:The European Diary of John F. Kennedy, also provided further context.“DeValera is quite content to sit happy and see us strangle,” Churchill complaint to Roosevelt about DeValera is in Winston Churchill, Their Finest Hour:The Second World War.
The political scene surrounding JFK’s 1946 congressional campaign is recounted in several books, though very little is mentioned about the relationship between Kennedy money and the church’s direct and indirect support of Jack’s political efforts. The description of the many immigrant groups in the 11th Congressional District, and some key Kennedy helpers, like Patsy Mulkern, come from the oral histories of Francis X. Morrissey,Thomas P. O’Neill and Mulkern at the JFK Library, as well as private memos sent to Joe Kennedy from Morrissey contained in the JPK papers. The connection between church donations and politics begin almost immediately after the war as Jack Kennedy prepares to run for Congress. A list of 1945 donations from the Kennedy’s charity was found in JFK pre-presidential papers. But the correlation between the donations and their impact on building up support for Jack politically is spelled out in a handful of 1954 private memos from Morrissey to Joe Kennedy contained in the JPK papers, which includes the comment of the monsignor who says JFK is “in excellent shape as far as the Italian vote is concerned.” Morrissey says in one memo dated May 26, 1954, that “I can build this up to a tremendous thing among the Italians in making sure that Jack gets a maximum amount of publicity on it.” In another note that same month, Morrissey writes to JPK about the “negro” groups that are being “buttered” by Kennedy largesse. Morrissey relies on Knights of Columbus contacts to set up Jack in speeches in the 11th Congressional District, according to his oral history. Joe Kennedy becomes a Knight of Malta named by the Pope, according to a January 3, 1942, story in the Boston Herald, also cited in David E. Koskoff, Joseph P. Kennedy: A Life and Times. Further background information came from John Henry Cutler, Cardinal Cushing of Boston. In a December 28, 1954, letter, Joe Kennedy told Morrissey that he’d like to give money from the Kennedy Foundation to some non-Catholic groups “because 96 or 97 percent of what money we give goes to Catholic causes, but I really don’t want to do anything for them unless they really help as they should.” From Rome that previous summer, Joe Kennedy wrote to Morrissey
about Galeazzi’s behind-the-scenes help and that he’s gained the highest honor bestowed by the Vatican. In 1955, Joe Kennedy’s good words to the Pope about Cardinal Cushing makes a friend for life, and even more so a powerful ally for Jack’s political ambitions; see Cardinal Cushing letters, dated July 6,1955 and July 18, 1955, in the JPK papers.
Chapter Sixteen: Eire
Details of life at Lismore Castle were derived from Kathleen Kennedy’s letters and postcards contained in the JPK papers, along with Lynne McTaggart, Kathleen Kennedy; and Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys. JFK’s awareness of the anti-British feeling among Boston’s Irish Catholic voters and that “I’m running for Congress and not Parliament,” is in a 1946 letter contained in the JPK papers. Several letters from Kick in the JPK papers talk about her pleasure at Jack’s congressional success, her lack of regard for Spellman and her complex friendship with Lady Astor and her negative views of Catholicism. After Billy’s death, Kick visited Ireland in August 1945, staying at Lismore Castle in Wexford, and writes on postcard home about the “peaceful atmosphere which Mother would love,” according to her correspondence in JPK papers. “I wish I knew where our ancestors came from.” Kick’s awareness of Lord Frederick Cavendish’s assassination is reflected in her August 8, 1945, letter from Lismore Castle.
JFK’s trip to Ireland in 1947 was recounted in James MacGregor Burns, John Kennedy:A Political Profile, including Kennedy’s later written recollection of the trip to Burns available at the JFK Presidential Library. Various accounts of his drive with Pamela Churchill to the Kennedy ancestral home were studied, including those by Dave Powers, Goodwin and Pamela Churchill Harriman herself. Mary Ryan’s recollection of 1947 visit by JFK is from Tim Pat Coogan,“Sure and It’s County Kennedy Now,” New York Times Magazine, June 23, 1963. In 1947 trip to Ireland, JFK’s visit to Mulligan’s on Poolbeg Street, recognizing it from James Joyce’s The Dubliners, was reported in Joseph Roddy,“They Cried the Rain Down That Night,” Look, November 17, 1964. James Kennedy greets John Kennedy as “a nice slip of a lad, but he looked very young to be a Congressman” comes from Maurice N. Hennessy, I’ll Come Back in the Springtime: John F. Kennedy and the Irish. Jack goes to New Ross with a letter of introduction from his Aunt Loretta, who’d visted Ireland with PJ Kennedy in the 1920s, is in Peter Collier and David Horowitz, The Kennedys:An American Drama.