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Revision as of 02:05, 21 November 2003 by Jengod (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. (September 6, 1888 - November 18, 1969) was a prominent United States political figure, the father of President John F. Kennedy and the mastermind of the Kennedy political dynasty.
Joseph was the son of Patrick J. Kennedy, and like his father resided in Boston, Massachusetts. Like his father he became a leading local Democrat and after studying at Harvard University he married Rose Fitzgerald, the daughter of John F. Fitzgerald, the Democrat mayor of Boston.
Like his father, Joseph was a businessman, but was even more successful, becoming a millionaire. Joe made most of his fortune through stock speculation; he was a master of the stock pool, a then legal stunt in which a few traders conspired to inflate a stock's price, selling just before the bubble burst. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Joseph the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Kennedy was a great believer in appeasement and resigned from office in 1940 as he disagreed with Roosevelt's determination to involve the USA in the Second World War.
Joseph had high hopes for political office for his sons, and was grooming his eldest Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. for the presidency. However, Joseph, Jr. was killed whilst on active service in the United States Air Force during the war. Joseph then turned his attention to grooming his next eldest son, John F. Kennedy for the presidency, which he won in the 1960 elections.
JFK's assassination in 1963 obviously had a great effect on the family and Joseph was reluctant to support his other son Robert F. Kennedy's bid to become the Democratic nominee for the presidency in the 1968 elections for fear that he might lose yet another child. This fear came to pass when Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 while on the campaign trail.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. died the following year, on November 18, 1969.