After hearing of the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, I did what I always do when big news breaks. I rushed to the World Wide Web to learn more about Kennedy and his life.
Even though Wikipedia is by no means infallible, it is still an amazing resource, especially for us journalist types who are looking for a quick, Cliffs Notes-like description of important persons, places and things.
I read all about the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, which resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. I didn’t find anything there that I didn’t already know. But a couple clicks away, I found a Kennedy family tree. (You can click here for the link.) Here, I learned some things that I didn’t really know. For example, Bobby Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, had 11 children in 17 years. How’s that for some work? Also, according to Wikipedia, President Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, thought Bobby’s kids were so wild they refused to let their children play with them. (I have no idea if this is true. It sounds difficult to believe, but I’ll let you do the research on that one.)
Regardless of what you thought of their politics, you have to admit all of the Kennedys led incredibly interesting lives. But what I found out about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was mind-boggling. What that woman went through in the late 1950s and early 1960s was enough to break any human being. It was enough to break ten human beings.
In 1953, Jackie married then-Senator John F. Kennedy. That wedding began arguably the most eventful and stressful decade a human being has ever endured. Here’s how the next ten years of Jackie’s life unfolded:
- In 1955, she had a miscarriage
- In 1956, she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl named Arabella
- In 1957, she gave birth to Caroline
- On November 8, 1960, her husband was elected president of the United States, instantly making her the most visible and famous woman on the planet
- Seventeen days later, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was born
- On August 7, 1963, she gave birth to Patrick Kennedy, who died two days later
- Three months later, her husband was killed
During those ten years, the woman essentially lived the life of a soap opera character. It would be difficult to imagine anyone outside of a war prisoner going through more trying times. And, of course, after the assassination she still had two young children to raise by herself in a world that, nearly 50 years later, still hasn’t stopped thirsting for Kennedy family information.
The amazing thing is that Jackie somehow managed to keep her children out of the public eye as they grew up. Both Caroline and the late JFK, Jr. turned out to be well-grounded, productive members of society. If you think about the troubles famous children have had over the years, that’s a pretty amazing feat.
So as we pause to honor the man whom President Obama has called “the greatest United States Senator of our time,” it’s difficult not to think about the Kennedy family as a whole. And, in particular, a woman who always made the most out of a nearly impossible situation. What a life. What a mother. We should all be as successful in what we do as Jackie was in dealing with tragedy.
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This post was written by Ed on August 26, 2009
Re: Jackie Kennedy & Ethel’s family
I don’t think Pres. Kennedy & Jackie had banned their small children from contact w/Bobby & Ethel’s kids while Pres. Kennedy was alive. Ethel’s kids were very young, and Bobby seemed to be a very stable father. I have read reports that Ethel lost control of her kid’s after Bobby Jr.’s assasination. It was very, very, hard on that family. One of the children, had died from a drug OD in a Palm Beach hotel after being in & out of rehab. There is a book on family written by Collier & Horowitz (noted conservative writer, David Horowitz), that is an excellent family history. Ethel’s kids were known to their local police dept. very well. Jackie & Ethel were not close; but I am not sure they were all that distant, either. I don’t think, from all I have read, that there was any great feud, just two women in a large family w/not too much in common. Jackie allegedly called Ethel, “the RA, RA girl”. Jackie was a very reserved, distant person so it’s hard to assess just how much conflict there really was, between the 2. In every bk I have read on family; post-JFK, there is mention of very, close relationship between Jackie & Bobby. It’s too bad neither of those women have left us their own narratives. Perhaps Ethel will, someday.
John Jr. & Caroline must have had somewhat normal contact w/their RFK cousins because according to reports; it was Caroline and another of Bobby’s kids who found David Kennedy, dead in his Palm Beach Hotel room. At some point in that incident, she & another cousin were involved in a visit to David. If Caroline had been very alienated from this branch of clan, she would not have been close to that incident at all.
One of the saddest times in poor Jackie’s life was actually right on her wedding day. She had wanted her beloved father to walk her down the aisle against her mother’s judgement. Sadly, Blackjack Bouvier could not handle the pressure of the wedding festivites & became too inebriated to walk Jackie down the aisle. Jackie was not told of father’s condition until right before she was set to walk down the aisle. Her stepfather quickly filled in. Fortunately, Jackie had good rapport w/her step-father Hugh Auchincloss. She was very saddened, by this development, however. Her preformance at her own wedding was quite an award-winner!