The Rise and Fall of Joseph P. Kennedy

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!