Kennedy Chronicles

Joan Kennedy's death October 8 at age 89 marked the end of an era that became known as Camelot, the 1960s golden age of the family's influence. Gone are the glory days of Camelot and its last survivor. Joan Kennedy - gone but not forgotten. This special episode of my history book club "The #Kennedys: After Camelot" takes a look back at the remarkable -- and often troubled -- life of Joan Bennett Kennedy. For all of her many blessings, it seemed that the curses far outnumbered them. One tragedy after another befell Joan in quick succession. The assassinations of #JFK and #RFK; #Chappaquiddick, and their 12 year-old son Ted Jr.'s cancer diagnosis all happened within a single decade. Unable to cope with the stress of it all, Joan sought solace in a bottle. She was in and out of rehab for #alcoholism while at the same time expected to keep up appearances publicly during her husband Sen. #TedKennedy's political career, support him during his 1980 presidential campaign, as well as silently tolerate Ted's absenteeism from home, his womanizing, and his own drinking problem. We will also discuss Ted and Joan's 1981 divorce, her lingering love for Teddy even years after their parting, how Joan navigated the tricky territory of Ted's request of a secret Vatican annulment of their union, and his remarriage to Vicki. Even after the divorce, Joan remained a valued member of the #Kennedy clan. She closely bonded with RFK and Ethel's troubled son David and tried to help him with his addictions, even staging a family intervention meeting. Joan was heartbroken when David succumbed to an overdose in 1984. In 2005, Joan was found injured and alone on a Boston street in the rain, apparently after a drunken fall. In this episode we will unravel the bitter family feud that followed when Joan's children obtained a court ordered guardianship over Joan's affairs, and the ugly battle they waged to gain control over her $9 million dollar estate. Join me for this remembrance of #JoanKennedy in this reading and discussion of J. Randy Tarraborrelli’s book “The Kennedys: After #Camelot.” Listen to every episode of “The Kennedys: After Camelot” history book club series here. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXBcSYiYQxlfmKsmC90spusOEuGehKdp7&si=Sy1Tm1THhSTsrxD_

The #Kennedys adorned the cover of New York Magazine this week for the first time in many years -- but for all the wrong reasons. This lengthy cover story exposes the rift within the #Kennedy clan caused by one of their own: #RFK and Ethel's son #RFKJr, who is now Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald #Trump. In the latest episode of my podcast series "The Dark Side of RFK Jr." we will read the NY Magazine article, and discuss how RFK Jr.'s #MAHA agenda, combined with President Trump's #DOGE cuts to healthcare, threaten to destroy everything #JFK, Bobby and Ted Kennedy built -- taking the Kennedy legacy down in flames. Listen to ALL EPISODES of "The Dark Side of RFK Jr." in this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXBcSYiYQxle7yo95On-lGF6VOftoYvLi&si=Ess8A_PspOx6zgj5

In this episode of "The Kennedy Chronicles" we explore the special relationship between the #Kennedy family and the nation of #Israel. Young #JFK visited #Palestine in 1939, later again as Senator after the creation of Israel, and as president, cemented U.S. support for Israel by creating our official special relationship in 1961. Kennedy was also the first American president to sell arms to Israel. Read more about John F. Kennedy's foreign policy towards Israel in this thread: https://twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer/status/1747893880345722925 President Kennedy's younger brother, Robert F. Kennedy, first visited British Mandate of Palestinein 1948, one month before Israel's Declaration of Independence. Twenty-two years old at the time, he was reporting on the tense situation in the region for The Boston Post. During his stay, he grew to admire the Jewish inhabitants of the area and their fight for freedom in the Israel/Arab war. #RFK became a staunch defender of Israel and as Senator voted to send the country 50 Phantom Jets for defense. This angered a 24 year-old Palestinian immigrant named Sirhan Sirhan, who cited Kennedy's #Zionism as the reason why he murdered Sen. Kennedy in 1968. Read more about RFK's relationship with Israel, and how it contributed to his assassination here: https://twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer/status/1747829384172454243 The third Kennedy brother, Sen. Edward Kennedy, #RFKJr, and all of the Kennedy grandchildren, continue the tradition of their ancestors as committed #Zionists to the present day. Read more about the successive generations of Kennedys and Israel in this thread: https://twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer/status/1903241440999727235 Join me and host S.L. Kanathan for a fascinating discussion of the Kennedys and Israel on this week's episode of "The Kennedy Chronicles." Premiers Tuesday, May 27 at 8 PM Eastern.

The political partnership between John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson was a mystery from the day it began -- on July 14, 1960, when #JFK asked #LBJ to be his running mate at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Both Sen. #Kennedy and Sen. Johnson's closest advisors, friends, and even family members were vehemently opposed to Johnson joining JFK on the ticket (most famously Jack's campaign manager and brother Bobby Kennedy, who tried several times to talk Jack and Lyndon out of it). But Jack's mind was pretty well made up. It had to be Johnson. As he told TIME Magazine's Hugh Sidey a few days before the convention: “There is no question in my mind,” said Kennedy. “Lyndon would be the best man I could get to run with me. He’s a Texan, a Southerner, he knows Congress, Washington, and he has the ability to be President. But I’m convinced he wouldn’t take it. He’d be more powerful staying as majority leader. What do you think?” Sidey had already gone over the question every which way with L.B.J. the night before, until Johnson got irritated and stormed that he would not do the Kennedy family’s bidding. He declared that the vice presidency was a worthless job compared with being Senate leader, related the sad tenure of “Cactus Jack” Garner, who had called the office nothing more than a “pitcher of warm spit,” and said Speaker Sam Rayburn had told him to stay far away from it. (Cactus Jack had actually used much more colorful language, saying that the vice presidency "wasn't worth a bucket of warm piss.") "If he could not be President," Sidey later recalled, "he would stay in the Senate, Johnson had told me with such rage and finality — his nose an inch from mine — that I chalked him off." Kennedy listened, grinned, nodded. Both were awed and amused by the tumultuous Johnson. “Have you decided on a vice-presidential nominee?” Sidey asked. “Yes,” answered Kennedy. “Can you tell me?” Sidey inquired. "I will if you promise not to publish it,” J.F.K. replied. “Senator, don’t do that to me,” Sidey implored. “We’ve got two days before the magazine is printed, and I’m sure the name will leak. I don’t want to be bound. So don’t tell me.” Kennedy gave a wry smile, said, “O.K., I won’t.” In the future president's mind, the only path to victory against Nixon in November was LBJ. (And he was right. Without LBJ bringing in Southern votes, JFK would have likely lost that razor-thin 1960 race.) During his presidency and long after his assassination, rumors swirled about the Johnsons and the Kennedys not getting along. #RFK and Lyndon by all accounts hated each other. However, the relationship between JFK and LBJ was far more friendly and based on mutual respect. What's the real truth about LBJ and JFK? Was Johnson ever trusted by President Kennedy? Did the Vice President have anything to do with the President's 1963 assassination, as some conspiracists allege, thus effecting an Executive Branch coup d'etat? Historian Lori Spencer breaks it down in this episode of The Kennedy Chronicles!

In this "Kennedy Chronicles" episode, more of my conversation with journalist S.L. Kanathan in India about #Kennedy family history. Here, we discuss the rise and fall of Joseph P. Kennedy, founding father of this American dynasty. Young Joe Kennedy dreamed of being the first Catholic president one day, and after serving in President Franklin D. #Roosevelt's administration (as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, then on the Maritime Commission, and finally, as Ambassador to the Court of St. James in Great Britain), it seemed Joe was well on his way to making that dream come true by 1940. Kennedy had the drive, determination, and savvy to make every endeavor he set his sights on manifest -- from banking to the stock market to the movie industry to government -- but his goal in elected politics didn't pan out. In fact, it was an embarrassing failure that left him disgraced; shut out of political power centers for the rest of his life. On this episode, I'll tell you why Joseph Kennedy never became president, and how his relationship with #FDR crumbled over rising war tensions on the eve of #WWII. This week marks the 80th anniversary of FDR's death -- an opportune moment to take a deep dive into the complex, often strained political partnership between Kennedy and Roosevelt that eventually turned into a heated enmity before their explosive final bitter argument. Franklin famously told First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt afterwards: "I never want to see that sonofabitch again!" (And indeed, he did not. The two men never mended fences before FDR's death on April 12, 1945.) Joe Kennedy was finished politically after that, but like a tree that falls in the forest, Ambassador Kennedy's fall from grace allowed the sun to shine on the saplings: his sons Joe Jr., Jack, Bobby, and Teddy -- allowing them to grow. It's a fascinating story you won't want to miss on today's Kennedy Chronicles!

In this "Kennedy Chronicles" episode, more of my conversation with journalist S.L. Kanathan in India about #Kennedy family history. Here, we discuss Jackie Kennedy's legacy as First Mother, and explored the question so often asked over the years: "how did she manage to raise two very normal, seemingly well-adjusted kids amidst chaos and tragedy?" We also contrast Jackie's parenting approach to that of her sister-in-law Ethel Kennedy, and Ethel's distant, often estranged relationships with her children (especially #RFKJr) that resulted in public disgrace for some and death for others. I also shared my own recollections of #JFKJr., who was a friend of mine for eight years prior to his death in a 1999 plane crash. It's a fascinating story you won't want to miss on today's Kennedy Chronicles! Jackie's private pain is explained in even greater depth on this week's episode of my book club series, "The Kennedys: After Camelot," which you can listen to here. https://youtu.be/iZuADoTA_a4?si=DdNtJQhUihekAYGG Join me for weekly episodes of this history book club series "The Kennedys: After Camelot" by subscribing on YouTube, Rumble, Spotify, Substack, or wherever you get your podcasts.

At President #Trump's cabinet meeting Thursday, Director of National Intelligence #Tulsi Gabbard reported that new, never-before-seen documents related to the 1968 assassinations of Sen. Robert #Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be released within the next few days. President Trump signed an Executive Order on January 23, 2025 directing all federal agencies to declassify and make public any and all files on the murders of #JFK, #RFK, and #MLK. The long-awaited secret documents regarding President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination have since been released, fully unredacted, and more files are still being uploaded to the National Archives as of this writing. In compliance with that Executive Order, DNI #Gabbard said that her team had discovered several boxes of case files related to the Dr. King and Robert Kennedy assassinations that had been stored away for nearly 60 years. These documents have never been digitized or released to the public before. Gabbard said that the process of declassification, digitization, and clearance for release is already underway. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see what's in those papers, and if there are any new revelations -- particularly in regards to the RFK assassination. After spending most of 2024 producing the 13-part investigative true crime series "Who Killed Bobby Kennedy" I will certainly produce a new episode soon about the new RFK files once I've had an opportunity to read through and digest them all. Until then, this episode of the "Kennedy Chronicles" explores the often prickly relationship between JFK, RFK, and MLK; that tragic, turbulent year of 1968 and the circumstances that led to the murders of Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, two months to the day apart. (* This episode is excerpted from a lengthy live X Spaces interview I recently did about the Kennedys with S.L. Kanathan, a journalist based in India. The interview was conducted on April 4, 2025 -- the 57th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination.) Watch my 13-part true crime series "Who Killed Bobby Kennedy" in this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXBcSYiYQxldlHGAjTPLcdyXmDNa2Ny0W&si=P_o7GWXw82I6WJp7 Follow me on X: http://x.com/@RealLoriSpencer On Facebook: http://Facebook.com/RealLoriSpencer Subscribe on Rumble for UNCENSORED videos YouTube won't let me show you! http://Rumble.com/LoriSpencer My blog: http://LoriSpencer.WordPress.com My Substack: http://RealLoriSpencer.Substack.com Join as a monthly member at: http://Patreon.com/LoriSpencer http://BuyMeACoffee.com/LoriSpencer Buy me a book from my Wishlist for a future book club reading! http://GiftApp.com/RealLoriSpencer