The Dark Side of RFK Jr., Ep. 9: Love and Death

#RFKJR faced confirmation hearings before two Senate committees this week -- the Finance Committee on Wednesday, January 29th, and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Thursday, January 30th.

Now that public testimony has concluded, Senators will soon vote on whether to confirm him as President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services.

During the televised hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s own family members voiced their concerns (and, at times, outrage) about Bobby’s alleged serious character defects that should be disqualifying for such an important cabinet-level position.

#RFK Jr.’s cousin Caroline Kennedy, and JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg both came forward with some damning stories about Bobby’s past behavior, and even his second wife Mary Richardson Kennedy’s voice was finally heard from beyond the grave. (Mother Jones unearthed bombshell secret recordings and documents this week from the couple’s divorce proceedings that tell Mary’s side of the story, just two months before her 2012 suicide.)

In the latest episode of this History Book Club series, "The Dark Side of RFK Jr." we will explore Kennedy’s first marriage — which was plagued by his drug use and serial philandering — to Emily Ruth Black, whom he married on April 3, 1982.

Together, the couple had two children: Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy III (now married to RFK Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy) before their divorce in 1994.

Shortly before the wedding, however, tragedy struck again.

Lem Billings, #JFK’s lifelong best friend who had been Bobby’s “second father,” the man who practically raised RFK Jr. after his father’s 1968 murder, died suddenly from a heart attack. However, Bobby’s mother Ethel always believed it was caused by a drug overdose, and blamed Bobby for leading Lem down the road to ruin.

Over the weeks ahead, we will be reading and discussing excerpted chapters from "Robert F. #Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream," an unauthorized #biography of RFK Jr. written by Jerry Oppenheimer.

The author also penned a scathing biography of RFK's late mother, Ethel Kennedy, who passed away in October 2024 at age 96.

Join me for "The Dark Side of RFK Jr." -- a continuing book club series -- and let me hear your thoughts on the book in the comments. I'll try to answer all viewer questions in future episodes.

Listen to all episodes in this playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE0M1qzXbdpvFmjPRuxkPr8tn0L1Ck4O1