The Kennedy family occupies a unique place in American life, often described as the closest thing the United States has to a royal family. Yet the glamour associated with the dynasty has always had a darker side. Assassination, scandal, addiction, and hidden family tragedies have led many to speak of a "Kennedy curse" as a simple way of describing the misfortune that seemed to follow the family.
John F. Kennedy is widely regarded as one of the greatest US presidents. His story is known around the world, from his privileged origins to his tragic death. Most accounts of his life focus on his presidency and his marriage to Jackie Kennedy, but the years before the White House were arguably even more eventful.
Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, into a large, wealthy, and influential family. Before he ever considered running for office, he became a war hero, a celebrated author, and a legendary playboy. He went on to become the youngest man ever elected president, and his movie star looks helped fuel his popularity.
Despite his confident public image, Kennedy was not a healthy man. His medical problems were kept secret while his political career flourished. He suffered from Addison's disease and hypothyroidism, and chronic back pain left him in almost continuous discomfort.
Kennedy sought treatment in many different ways, including animal hormones, steroids, and amphetamines. He ended up overusing them, was admitted to the hospital at least half a dozen times, and nearly died on some occasions. Addison's disease also made it harder for his body to fight infections, and after catching an infection in 1961 he almost did not survive. The source of that infection was a sexually transmitted bacteria, which is why the incident was hidden from the public.
Rumors that Kennedy was a womanizer were widespread, and infidelity was reportedly a family trait. The matriarch, Rose Kennedy, not only knew about her husband's affairs but accepted them, and she taught her daughters-in-law to do the same. Betrayals, in the family's romantic structure, were simply to be ignored.
Kennedy's most notorious alleged mistress was Marilyn Monroe, but there were others. He reportedly had an affair with actress Marlene Dietrich and with a White House intern. Many assume Jackie Kennedy was naive about his extramarital affairs, but that was far from the truth. She once introduced a White House staffer to a French reporter in French as the girl who was sleeping with her husband.
Jackie did not simply endure her husband's infidelity. She was said to have enjoyed steamy love affairs of her own while married to JFK, and Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, and even Paul Newman were close to her. She was hardly subservient.
One night in 1957, JFK came home late after a date with one of his mistresses. Both he and Jackie had been drinking, and the two broke into a major argument. In the heat of the moment, Jackie stormed out of the house and into the street wearing nothing but her pajamas. John brought her back inside and called an ambulance, and she was admitted to a psychiatric clinic in Massachusetts, where he kept her for a week.
During her stay, Jackie was given three electroshock treatments for depression. Afterward she began to suffer from depression and even suicidal thoughts, made worse by the miscarriages of two children. According to her biography, she called the treatments the nightmare of her life.
The grim stories extended beyond John Kennedy to his siblings. Rosemary, the Kennedys' older sister, was often referred to as the missing Kennedy. She had a learning disability and a low IQ, but as she grew older she became increasingly physically attractive.
Her parents, Joseph and Rose Kennedy, worried that this would be dangerous for a woman of her intellectual ability, so they kept her locked in the house most of the time. In frustration, she would throw tantrums and lash out at times. Her parents recognized Rosemary's behavior as problematic, and Joseph took her to a psychiatric clinic in upstate New York to have a prefrontal lobotomy.