Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America's Most Public Family (32 page)

37.
“The mere feel of his coat . . . he was really there” . . . “elf” was home safe:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p.174.

37.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’ll gamble”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 29.

37.
Rose wrote in her diary that:
ibid.

37.
She made herself so sick:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 176.

37.
“Religion is everything to us”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch,
ch. 29.

37.
“The power of silence is”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 177.

37.
Billy Hartington was called into active . . . missions for the invading Allies:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 29.

38.
“However, that is all over now”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 178.

38.
“No doubt you are surprised”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 29.

38.
His mission was to get the bomber:
ibid.

38.
“Dad’s face was twisted . . . dissolution into sobs”:
Kennedy,
True Compass
, pp. 85–86.

38.
“There were no tears”:
Kennedy,
Times to Remember
, p. 301.

39.
“I realized what a wonderful man he was”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 182.

39.
“With her supreme faith”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 30.

39.
“crippled and mentally deficient children”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 184.

40.
“
It is beautiful here beyond words”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p.190.

40.
Joe was the only Kennedy who attended:
ibid., pp.192–93.

40–41
.
“I heard the grandfather clock . . . suited to one another”:
Rose, diary entry, June 24, 1962, Box 4, RFKP.

8. Accolades, Weddings, Births, Victories

42.
“In spite of his age”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 414; Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 197.

43.
Joe Kennedy, as was his wont:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 198.

43.
The fact that handsome JFK sometimes appeared:
ibid., p. 199.

43.
“Certainly I can appreciate . . . I lost one son” . . . left the stage in tears:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 423.

43.
“those damn tea parties”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 203.

44.
“I felt rather like a man”:
Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, p. 174.

44.
Somehow Rose also found:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, pp. 204–9.

44.
they wed in April of 1954 and Pat gave:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, pp. 447–50; Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 213.

44.
The same year, Rose took the chance:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 213.

44.
Though Rose was initially unimpressed:
ibid., pp. 220–23.

45.
“Sometimes a mother finds . . . answer to that child’s problems”:
ibid., p. 212.

45.
just an effective presentation:
Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, p. 250.

45.
“They just
stared
at us”:
Kennedy,
Historic Conversations
, First Conversation.

46.
Kennedys are “all over the state . . . different places at the same time”:
Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, p. 250.

46.
By the time Jack was elected:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 508.

9. The First Mother

47.
“To Mother—With Thanks” :
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 245.

47–48
.
“After my hair had been set . . . gave a laugh and out I went”:
Rose’s diary, January 5, 1961, Box 4, RFKP.

48.
“wanted to start his four years . . . to Almighty God.” She didn’t approach . . . informal winter bundling:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 249.

48.
“we were left out of”:
ibid.

48.
More than twenty years later:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 516.

48.
“I was overwhelmed . . . approached my 71st birthday”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 259.

48.
“He really didn’t want her . . . and he let her”:
“Billings notes, Friday April 1, 1972.” Author unknown, Box 12, RFKP.

49.
“I wonder to myself”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 254.

49.
Afterward, she joined Joe:
ibid., p. 255.

49.
The Kennedys gathered for their:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 39.

49.
“Jack gets a great kick out of seeing Ted dance”: Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 258.

49.
She objected to there:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 39.

49.
He “is not at all himself”:
ibid.

49.
Others at the Thanksgiving dinner noticed:
ibid.

50.
After several weeks, he returned:
ibid.; Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, pp. 260–61.

50.
Every evening, they quietly:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 40.

50.
“My impression . . . was very content” :
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 263.

51.
“She was awfully good . . . gone so many years ago”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 551.

51.
“This is the way . . . so every one will understand”:
Rose to Bobby, July 10, 1962, Box 58, RFKP.

51.
“I am trying to rest”:
Rose to JBK, November 1, 1962, Box 14, RFKP.

51.
“Mrs. Kennedy changed a great deal . . . left her conscience intact”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, pp. 555–56.

52.
She also discouraged their publicizing:
Rose to Bobby, April 29, 1963, Box 58, RFKP.

52.
Jackie left the day of:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 274.

52.
“Don’t worry . . . You’ll see.”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 593.

10. “We All Shall Be Happy Together”

53.
She put on a coat:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 276.

53.
“We talked about Jack”:
Smith,
Grace and Power
,
p. 446.

53.
Joe sobbed:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 40.

53.
“What do people expect . . . weep in a corner”:
Smith,
Grace and Power
,
p. 447.

54.
She flew back to Hyannis Port:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 277.

54.
“I am not going to be licked”:
ibid., p. 278.

54.
“every place I went the French . . . floods of tears again”:
ibid., p. 280.

54.
“I think all of the Kennedys . . . getting out of hand”:
Cavanaugh, JFK Library Oral History Program, p. 20.

55.
“I guess the only reason . . . more of us than there is trouble”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 283.

55.
The lobotomy was not revealed:
ibid., p. 268.

56.
“Well, you see the answer to that . . . a retarded child”:
ibid., p. 269.

56.
This summer camp grew throughout:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 572.

56.
The Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, pp. 288–89.

57.
She was, alone among the Kennedy:
ibid., pp. 293–94; Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 627.

57.
A televised news bulletin informed:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 633.

57.
The assassin, a confused, unemployed:
Thomas,
Robert Kennedy
,
ch. 21.

57.
“It’s Bobby! It’s Bobby!”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 294.

57.
With no children present to be strong:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 295.

57.
Later that morning, a photographer saw:
Thomas,
Robert Kennedy
,
ch. 21.

58.
“It seemed impossible . . . at home or on his trips”:
“Diary Notes on Robert Kennedy,” Box 13, RFKP.

58.
“I take renewed strength and”:
“Notes on Faith,” Box 14, RFKP.

58.
“all of you who offered your prayers . . . it will strengthen and fortify”:
“Remarks to the Nation”, June 15, 1968, Box 13, RFKP.

11. On Destiny

60.
“has taken three stalwart”:
“On Destiny,” Fall 1968, Box 4, RFKP.

60.
“Our family was the perfect family”:
ibid.

61.
That Sunday, the Chappaquiddick incident got more space:
Clymer,
Edward M. Kennedy: A Biography
, p. 145.

61.
“unlike himself . . . disturbed”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 306.

61–62
.
“Dad, I’m in some trouble”:
Canellos,
Last Lion
, p. 177.

62.
Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr.:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 308.

62.
“Several people enclosed a . . . ‘The poor . . . help them.’ ”:
“1969 Following Joseph P. Kennedy’s death,” Box 4, RFKP.

62.
“She sent a letter which quite overwhelmed me”:
“She sent a letter,” Box 4, RFKP.

63.
“Otherwise, they were more or less surrounded”:
“February 1970,” Box 4, RFKP.

63.
In July 1970 she flew:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, pp. 314–15.

63.
“one of the proudest and happiest”:
ibid., p. 313.

63.
“It seems the longer . . . ‘Skippy, Skippy!’ ”:
Sister Mary Charles to Rose, October 14, 1971, Box 57, RFKP.

63–64
.
“I try to give her little . . . with care and concern”:
Sister Mary Charles to Rose, June 21, 1973, Box 57, RFKP.

64.
“she was progressing quite . . . try to accept God’s will”:
Rose to Father Robert Kroll, May 1, 1972, Box 57, RFKP.

64.
“I do sense and I do believe . . . has been her gift”:
“Rosemary” Box 13, RFKP.

64.
Published in 1974,
Times to Remember
. . . Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, pp. 321–22.

65.
Exhausted by years:
ibid., p. 326.

65.
Only speaking with great difficulty:
ibid., p. 331.

65.
Her gravestone, fittingly simple:
ibid., p. 332.

Part II: Ethel

1. A Love Story, with Detours

68.
Ethel would later say it:
Kennedy,
Ethel
, HBO, 2012

69.
“soft and refined”:
Oppenheimer,
The Other Mrs. Kennedy
,
p. 142.

69.
“Ouch . . . That was a black”:
Kennedy,
Ethel
, HBO, 2012.

69.
Pat would later refuse to answer:
David
,
Ethel
, p. 40.

69.
“but he never knew . . . to talk or even think about it”:
ibid., p. 40.

69.
“She talks and talks”:
ibid., p. 69.

69.
“How can I fight God?”:
Taraborrelli,
Jackie, Ethel, Joan
,
p. 40.

2. The Rise of the Skakels

70.
She had been raised:
David,
Ethel
, p. 6.

70.
His mother, Grace Mary Jordan . . . didn’t care much for Catholics or Jews:
Oppenheimer,
The Other Mrs. Kennedy
,
p. 6.

70.
“Skakel’s temperament was volatile”:
ibid.

70.
“Though sweet, refined, petite”:
ibid.

70.
As a young man, George:
Munk, Nina, “Greenwich’s Outrageous Fortune,”
Vanity Fair
, July 2006.

71.
His wealth insulated his:
Taraborrelli,
Jackie, Ethel, Joan
,
p. 38.

71.
Ann was a tad taller than George:
ibid.

71.
As latecomers to faith tend to be”:
Oppenheimer,
The Other Mrs. Kennedy
,
p. 18.

71.
“It was a very religious . . . strong religion in her”:
ibid., p. 19.

71.
“He was rarely around”
: ibid.