“Here is that rare thing: an untold chapter in the Kennedy saga. . .Compelling and illuminating.”—Jon Meacham Based on genealogical breakthroughs and previously unreleased records, this is the first book to explore the inspiring story of the poor Irish refugee couple who escaped famine; created a life together in a city hostile to Irish, immigrants, and Catholics; and launched the Kennedy dynasty in America. Their Irish ancestry was a hallmark of the Kennedys’ initial political profile, as JFK leveraged his working-class roots to connect with blue-collar voters. Today, we remember this iconic American family as the vanguard of wealth, power, and style rather than as the descendants of poor immigrants. Here at last, we meet the first American Kennedys, Patrick and Bridget, who arrived as many thousands of others did following the Great Famine—penniless and hungry. Less than a decade after their marriage in Boston, Patrick’s sudden death left Bridget to raise their children single-handedly. Her rise from housemaid to shop owner in the face of rampant poverty and discrimination kept her family intact, allowing her only son P.J. to become a successful saloon owner and businessman. P.J. went on to become the first American Kennedy elected to public office—the first of many. Written by the grandson of an Irish immigrant couple and based on first-ever access to P.J. Kennedy’s private papers, The First Kennedys is a story of sacrifice and survival, resistance and reinvention: an American story.

In this text, the Kennedys' remarkable story is retold - the clan's rise from the poverty of America's great immigrant stock to the highest heights of power and influence.

An expansive reference that overviews John F. Kennedy's presidency, covering the people, places, and events that comprised the political landscape of the Kennedy era. The Kennedy family has played a leading role in the annals of American politics for over 100 years, no greater than when John F. Kennedy (JFK) became the 35th president of the United States. The celebrity surrounding the circumstances of his presidency, particularly his sudden assassination, made JFK the object of many enduring myths: that he might have been one of the country's greatest leaders had he lived, that he would have kept the United States out of Vietnam, and that he was a martyr to right-wing assassins. Encyclopedia of the Kennedys: The People and Events That Shaped America is a three-volume reference set that provides an in-depth look at JFK's presidency, including his foreign and domestic policies, political allies and enemies, and major events and speeches. This A–Z encyclopedia also contains entries on the events of the 1960s that changed our nation forever, such as JFK's assassination and the Warren Commission report, the space program, and the My Lai Massacre, as well as the individuals who defined the time, such as writers Norman Mailer and James Baldwin, folk musicians Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and activists Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King, Jr. Appendices provide a substantial archive of primary documents and identify officeholders during JFK's presidency, while an annotated bibliography supplies sources for additional research.

A meticulously researched chronicle of five generations of the Kennedy dynasty explains how their Irish-Catholic roots informed their lives and political beliefs and reveals how the immigrant experience shaped both their remarkable success and many tragedies. 100,000 first printing.

John F. Kennedy remains a compelling figure almost sixty years after his tragic assassination. Kennedy’s voice—with all of its characteristic eloquence—as well as the engaging complexity of the man himself, are brought to life in John F. Kennedy’s 1957 Algeria Speech. This book deals with one of Kennedy’s most important as a U.S. Senator—but least recognized—foreign policy speeches calling for Algerian independence after more than a century of French colonial rule. The reader will experience the debate surrounding Kennedy’s speech of July 2, 1957, particularly the resistance it encountered from the Eisenhower administration, French officials, and French citizens, senior members of America’s foreign policy community such as Dean Acheson and Adlai Stevenson, and editorial criticism in some of the most distinguished journals in the United States and France. The author offers new insights into Kennedy’s reasons for giving this speech, as well as his extensive preparation spanning fifteen months. Cleva uses in depth scholarship to analyze several years of classified U.S. Government documents dealing with the Algerian crisis in order to provide this comprehensive study of Kennedy’s Senate speech, how it shaped Kennedy’s own administration, as well its significance to American foreign policy.

A dramatic, fascinating–and revisionist–narrative detailing how America’s first family was changed utterly during World War II. First-rate history grounded in scholarship and brought to life by a critically acclaimed author. From breathless hagiographies to scandal-mongering exposés, no family has generated more bestselling books than the Kennedys. None of them, however, has focused on the watershed period of World War II, when the course of the family and its individual members changed utterly. Now, in an engaging narrative grounded in impeccable scholarship, Edward J. Renehan, Jr., provides a dramatic portrait of years marked by family tensions, heartbreaks, and heroics. It was during this time that tragedy began to haunt the family–Joe Jr.’s death, the untimely widowhood of Kathleen (a.k.a. “Kick”), Rosemary’s lobotomy. But it was also the time in which John F. Kennedy rose above the strictures of the clan and became his own man. In the late 1930s, the Kennedys settled in London, where Joseph Kennedy, Sr., was serving as ambassador. A virulent anti-Semite and isolationist, Kennedy relentlessly and ruthlessly fought to keep America out of the war in Europe. His behavior as patriarch in many ways mirrored his public style. Though he was devoted to the family, he was also manipulative and autocratic. In re-creating the intense and tension-filled interactions among the family, Renehan offers riveting, often revisionist views of Joseph Sr.; heir apparent Joe Jr.; Kick, the beautiful socialite; and Jack, the complex charmer. He demonstrates that Joe Jr., although much like his father in opinion and character, was driven to volunteer for a deadly mission in large part because of his fury at Jack’s seemingly easy successes. Renehan also delves into why Kick, a good Catholic girl, chose to abandon her religion for the chance to enter the fairytale world of the British aristocracy, only to suffer a horrendous tragedy. It is Renehan’s reassessment of Jack, however, that is particularly striking. In subtly breaking away from his domineering father over the issue of World War II, Renehan argues, Jack began to forge the character that would eventually take him to the Oval Office. Going behind the familiar (and accurate) image of JFK as a reckless playboy, Renehan shows us a young man of great intelligence, moral courage, and truly astonishing physical bravery.