The luck of the Irish might surface on St. Patrick's Day, but it evades the Kennedy family, America's best-known Irish dynasty
- Written by Mary Burke, Professor of English and Irish Literature concentration coordinator, University of Connecticut
John F. Kennedy, whose ancestors left Ireland during the potato famine of the mid-19th century[1], was famously the first United States president of Catholic Irish descent.
When Americans narrowly elected Kennedy in 1960, anti-Catholic bias[2] was still part of the mainstream culture.
I am a scholar[3] of Irish literature and the author of “Race, Politics, and Irish America: A Gothic History[4],” a new book that describes how the Irish were long excluded[5] in America.
So when Kennedy accepted shamrocks from the Irish ambassador to the U.S. on his first St. Patrick’s Day[6] in the White House in 1961, it signaled the social and political arrival of the Irish American elite[7]. It also was a pivotal moment, marking Irish Americans’ fulfilled dream of full assimilation into the U.S.
The dream soured when Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas[8] in November 1963. That tragedy – and the many others that followed[9] for the Kennedy family – began to be told by others in the Gothic story tradition, which hinges on nightmarish scenarios and the abuse of power[10].
This kind of storytelling has shown to be a suitable match for the different narratives of the Kennedys as both innocent victims and wicked schemers.
The phrase “the luck of the Irish[11]” is often used of Irish America, especially on St. Patrick’s Day, observed on March 17. Since it typically refers to good luck, however, it cannot be used of Irish America’s best-known dynasty.
This phrase has various proposed origins, including the success Irish gold miners had in the U.S. in the 1800s.
Irish America’s best-known dynasty might not be described as lucky, but rather as Gothic.
The Kennedys and Gothic
Since its 18th-century beginnings in literature[12], Gothic storytelling uses a sinister atmosphere of conspiracy and the supernatural. It also generally features an all-powerful Catholic patriarch.
Many other elements[13] repeat over centuries in different classic Gothic works, like “Dracula[14],” for example. This can include a secret or curse linked to a corrupt bloodline, endangered beautiful women and disrupted inheritance or murdered heirs.
For both sides of America’s political divide[15], the Kennedys fit the ready-made mold of Gothic, though in different ways.
After JFK’s assassination, liberals and Democrats who had approved of his administration’s progressive policies[16] believed that the idealistic Kennedys[17] were the blameless targets of dark conspiracies[18].
These conspiracies included persistent questions about who or what was behind JFK’s assassination, even though a former Marine, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested in 1963[19] and charged in the president’s death. Oswald himself was killed[20] before he could stand trial, feeding the conspiracy theories.
However, for conservatives and Catholic Irish Americans leaving traditional[21] Democratic Party loyalty behind, the family known as “America’s royals[22]” represented the corruption of the elite[23].
The Gothic patriarch, Joe Kennedy Sr.
In traditional Gothic fiction, the usual source of such immorality is the all-powerful Catholic elder.
In the Kennedy narrative, that role of Catholic elder is played by the president’s father, Joe Kennedy Sr. He was a wealthy investor and politician. Kennedy family biographers have recorded rumors[25] of shady dealings in his numerous business interests.
In addition, the Kennedy patriarch’s very Gothic[26] ambitions to hereditary rule were repeatedly disrupted.
Joe Sr. strategized to help launch[27] JFK’s political rise only after the first-born he had planned to make president, Joseph Jr., was shot down[28] and killed in action during World War II.
Jackie Kennedy
The Kennedy Gothic narrative also enfolds people who marry into the family.
Joe Sr.‘s daughter-in-law, Jacqueline Kennedy, was filmed clambering over the back of the presidential open-top limousine in a bloodied suit[29] immediately after her husband was shot while being driven in a motorcade. In that moment, she became Gothic’s classic endangered, beautiful woman.
Strikingly, Jackie Kennedy’s eerie official portrait[30] resembles the fleeing woman in a flowing white gown of Gothic paperback cover tradition[31].
Right after her husband’s assassination, Jackie Kennedy talked about how the Dallas mayor’s wife[32] had given her blood-red roses[33] earlier that day – which she implied was a bad omen[34] of the forthcoming assassination, given the flowers’ color.
In the same interview, Jacqueline used the phrase “Camelot[35]” to refer to the idealism of her husband’s administration.
However, many biographies[36] and media stories in the years that followed painted the picture of a morally complex[37] Kennedy family.
Former First Lady Jackie Kennedy receives red roses shortly before JFK’s assassination in Dallas, Texas.
Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston[38]
The Kennedy curse
Some Kennedy men’s sexually promiscuous or otherwise “liberal” behavior with women[39], for example, got as much press as their liberal politics.
In 1969, a year after Robert Kennedy was assassinated during his presidential run[40], his brother Ted drove off a bridge in Massachusetts. Ted Kennedy was yet another son of Joe Sr. with ambitions to one day become president[41].
His 29-year-old passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned after Kennedy left her[42] in the water. He did not report the accident for 10 hours. Ted pleaded guilty[43] in 1969 to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident and later received a two-month suspended jail sentence[44].
A 1965 mosaic in Galway Cathedral memorializes John F. Kennedy’s visit there in June 1963.
Peter Moore/Author provided, Author provided (no reuse)
Ted later spoke about “some awful curse[45]” playing a role in Kopechne’s death. Ted’s naming of the very Gothic idea of a family curse caught on and became popular lore.
Many observers have subsequently described the family’s tragedies as the result of a curse[46], especially the 1999 death in an airplane crash of John Jr., JFK’s son and possible political heir[47].
When the numerous premature deaths of Kennedy[48] family members are tallied, they do appear to be statistically unlikely. But whether the family’s tragedies are the result of mere bad luck or a Gothic family curse remains a matter of open interpretation.
References
- ^ during the potato famine of the mid-19th century (www.jfklibrary.org)
- ^ anti-Catholic bias (www.jfklibrary.org)
- ^ am a scholar (scholar.google.com)
- ^ Race, Politics, and Irish America: A Gothic History (global.oup.com)
- ^ long excluded (www.routledge.com)
- ^ first St. Patrick’s Day (www.jfklibrary.org)
- ^ political arrival of the Irish American elite (rowman.com)
- ^ assassinated in Dallas (www.britannica.com)
- ^ many others that followed (www.cnn.com)
- ^ the abuse of power (red.library.usd.edu)
- ^ the luck of the Irish (www.irishcentral.com)
- ^ 18th-century beginnings in literature (www.bl.uk)
- ^ other elements (www.invaluable.com)
- ^ like “Dracula (wwnorton.com)
- ^ political divide (www.pewresearch.org)
- ^ progressive policies (www.nps.gov)
- ^ idealistic Kennedys (www.harpercollins.com)
- ^ dark conspiracies (www.historyextra.com)
- ^ arrested in 1963 (texashistory.unt.edu)
- ^ was killed (www.history.com)
- ^ traditional (wwnorton.com)
- ^ America’s royals (www.basicbooks.com)
- ^ the corruption of the elite (openroadmedia.com)
- ^ White House Collection/White House Historical Association (www.whitehousehistory.org)
- ^ have recorded rumors (www.penguinrandomhouse.com)
- ^ patriarch’s very Gothic (www.penguinrandomhouse.com)
- ^ strategized to help launch (www.audible.com)
- ^ shot down (www.history.navy.mil)
- ^ bloodied suit (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ official portrait (www.whitehousehistory.org)
- ^ cover tradition (flashbak.com)
- ^ Dallas mayor’s wife (www.rrauction.com)
- ^ blood-red roses (www.youtube.com)
- ^ bad omen (www.life.com)
- ^ Camelot (www.life.com)
- ^ many biographies (news.harvard.edu)
- ^ morally complex (millercenter.org)
- ^ Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston (www.jfklibrary.org)
- ^ sexually promiscuous or otherwise “liberal” behavior with women (archive.org)
- ^ assassinated during his presidential run (www.history.com)
- ^ ambitions to one day become president (www.jstor.org)
- ^ drowned after Kennedy left her (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ pleaded guilty (vineyardgazette.com)
- ^ two-month suspended jail sentence (www.history.com)
- ^ some awful curse (www.washingtonpost.com)
- ^ tragedies as the result of a curse (us.macmillan.com)
- ^ political heir (www.townandcountrymag.com)
- ^ the numerous premature deaths of Kennedy (www.washingtonpost.com)
Authors: Mary Burke, Professor of English and Irish Literature concentration coordinator, University of Connecticut
