29 February 2020

Rose Kennedy, successful and tragic. The later years

Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was born in Boston (1890-1995), oldest child of John Honey Fitz Fitzgerald, as I noted. In their first 18 years of marriage, Rose gave birth to 9 children from Joseph Jr in 1915 to Edward in 1932.

Ambassador Joseph Kennedy and Rose, with 5 of their children
in London, 1938

In the late 1930s, her husband was named US ambass­ador to Britain. During their time in Europe, the arch-isolationist Kennedy made it his mission to prevent America entering the war against Germany. In 1938-9, while Fascist persecutions in Germany intensified, Joe Kennedy was strengthening his faith in Nazism. He had a solution to The Jewish Problem; he said he had worked out with Chamber­lain a plan to ship all German Jews to Africa. In Sept 1940, Kenn­edy again sought a personal meeting with Hitler because he believed he could bring about closeness between the USA and Ger­m­any. Then Kennedy Snr had to take his nasty pro-Nazi beliefs back home.

The losses were relentless. Rose’s eldest son Joseph Jr fought for the Allies in the Navy anyhow and was killed in action in Aug 1944.  Daughter Kath­leen was a Red Cross nurse in London and wanted to marry the Protestant Marquess of Hartington but Cavendish died fighting in WW2. Later Kathleen wanted to marry another English aristocrat  but she died in a plane crash in May 1948.  Finally I discussed how in 1941 her daughter Rosemary was lobotomised at 22 at Joseph Sr’s in­sis­tence, and lived in a care home.

As Rose's younger sons grew older, they began to look toward polit­ics, and she encouraged them. She had learned from her father how to manage public functions and how to con­duct political campaigns on behalf of her sons. When son John stood in 1946 for the Massach­us­etts 11th Cong­ress­ional District seat, previously held by her father Honey Fitzgerald, Rose was excited.

And behind-the-scenes dealing didn’t phase her. After John's vict­ory in 1946, his next big battle was for the US Senate. During his 1952 campaign to unseat Henry Cabot Lodge, Rose was the hostess at many Kennedy Teas sponsored by the Democratic Party.

In her son John's 1960 presidential campaign, Rose again did her utmost, going to meetings every night. Her greatest thrill was in 1961 when John became the 35th American President. Since John's wife Jacqueline had just given birth, Rose and her daughters and daughters-in-law helped host the White House events.

The new President thanking his mother

No mother should ever have to bury her own child.
President John F. Kennedy's burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va
From left: JFK's mother Rose, his brother Attorney General Robert and his widow Jackie.
1963 Chicago Sun Times


Rose’s son John was as­s­assinated in Dallas in Nov 1963, during his first term as President. Her next son Robert, Attorney General and later a Demo­cr­atic senator from New York, was assass­inated in Los Angeles in 1968, while campaigning for Presid­ent. Imagine a moth­er’s everlasting pain in losing her son in war, daughter in a plane crash, virtually losing another daughter in an operating theatre and burying her two more politician sons.

In the aftermath of the terrible Chappaquiddick accident in July 1969, Rose rallied to son Edward's aid and helped to rejuvenate his political career by campaigning for his re-election to the US Senate. He kept his Senate seat for the next three decades.

Much of her later years was devoted to securing public sup­port for the cam­paign to enlighten the public about mental re­tard­at­ion. Her “Joseph Kennedy Foundation” (sic) donated mill­ions to hospitals, ins­tit­utions and day-care centres ac­ross the nation. She was an effective campaigner and a dedicated fund-raiser; she remained a symbol of progressive Democratic politics.

After becoming a widow in 1969, Rose loved to walk alone. She wrote her autobiography in 1974 and spent the rest of her life in relat­ive peace. But a stroke in 1984 left her in a wheelchair. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died in her Mass. home in 1995, at 104.



14 comments:

Fun60 said...

So well written. I have always been fascinated by the Kennedy's and you have managed to relate their history in a matter of a few very interesting paragraphs. She must have had an incredible faith to cope with the deaths of her children. As you said, no mother should have to bury her children.

Parnassus said...

Hello Hels,

Didn't you publish this blog on Rose Kennedy last summer? Or is this a revision? I know that it can be easy to accidentally re-publish when you only want to correct a typo or something!

Hels said...

Parnassus

thank you. I didn't even notice the repetition :(

So I divided the two blog posts into The Early Years and the Later Years.

Hels said...

Fun60

I couldn't even cope when one of my sons pulled a cup of boiling hot tea from the table above his head, scarring one shoulder and upper arm. He was hospitalised for 2 days and I felt absolutely terrible. I don't know how Rose Kennedy survived 9 full term pregnancies and I don't know how she survived so many tragic deaths.

Parnassus said...

Hello Hels, While extreme age is often celebrated, we must think of the sadness that accompanies it. My grandmother lived to 101, in pretty good health (a breast cancer survivor from her 50's). She had a loving family, but both of her children died before her, and she outlived all her contemporary friends and relatives.

I feel awful reading about the accident with the tea. For that reason small children are not allowed in my or most Taiwan kitchens, which are small and cramped, not like those in America and I presume Australia. Did you know that the actress Cassandra Peterson had a severe accident of this type, and although she played sexy vampire movie-host Elvira, she had to hide the scars with make-up? We certainly have to credit her attitude.
--Jim

Deb said...

I know Rose loved her husband and she also got great comfort from the Catholic Church. But Joe Senior was a really bad man.

Hels said...

Parnassus

Rose was born in 1890, so she was still a relatively middle aged woman when her oldest three sons and daughter Kathleen died. Of course every family on the planet suffered before, during and straight after WW2. But some parents shut up shop and withdrew, and some like Rose Kennedy strongly fulfilled her political and charitable responsibilities into the future.

Hels said...

Deb

Not only was divorce impossible for devout Catholics; I am certain Rose Kennedy would never have thought of her husband being disloyal to his wife, brutal to his needy daughter, pro-Hitler, pro bootlegging, ruthless etc etc. Joe Snr could not have saved his sons' lives, but he could have at least supported his very sad wife.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Hels - interesting to learn a little more about Rose and to be reminded of those early years pre WW2 ... she was one strong woman, supporting her family - despite their failings. Thank you - Hilary

Anonymous said...

I remember her death but I didn't know she was so old. It must be awful for a mother to see here children die before her.

However, a rich philanthropist fund raising for what should be the responsibility of society and governments sits uneasily for me.

Hels said...

Hilary

it probably wasn't easy to be a strong woman in those days, *nod*. But she was strong only in the traditional sense. I could not see her in protest marches, for example, lobbying for women's vote.

See her 1974 autobiography where she stated that she felt completely fulfilled as a full-time homemaker. "I looked on child rearing as a work of love and a duty".

Hels said...

Andrew

A rich philanthropist fund raising for what should be the responsibility of society and governments does not sit well for me, as well! The whole idea of a citizen having to pay for hospitals and schools is appalling (except in the USA, apparently).

Her cam­paign to enlighten the public about mental re­tard­at­ion was totally heartfelt, given the appalling life situation of her daughter Rosemary.

Sue Bursztynski said...

That poor woman! What a life she lived, I had certainly heard about Joe Kennedy - dreadful man!

Have you read Michelle Cooper’s YA Montmaray. Chronicles? It’s a trilogy about a fictitious royal family from a tiny(fictional) Channel Island, who have to flee when the Nazis arrive. In England, they meet a large number of famous historical figures, including the Kennedy family. Recommended.

Hels said...

Sue

I had not heard of Michelle Cooper's books until you mentioned her last year. Fictitious yes, but well placed in time and appropriately connected. Joe Kennedy Snr was pro-German, anti-British and isolationist on behalf of the USA in 1938-9. But when we think about the real royal family (King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson), nothing seemed strange back then.

Yes Rose married Joe willingly, but she paid a great price.