Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America's Most Public Family (31 page)

With the convention goal reached, Ted and Vicki mapped out his next target: returning to the Senate. It would have special significance, as one of the doctors who had early on provided a bleak prognosis for Ted had assured him that he would never be well enough to go back. Go home, the doctor had said, and love your wife, be with your children.

“It’s sayonara, baby, it’s all over,” Vicki recalled as the doctor’s attitude, which “didn’t sit well with Teddy.” Returning to his office in the Senate would be symbolic of Ted’s refusal to accept the defeatist prediction of a gloomy doctor. The Senate had been a second home to him. Family mementos adorned his office walls—family photos, Jack’s military dog tags, a framed letter from a very young Jack to Rose, in which the president-to-be asked to be Ted’s godfather. Ted’s mahogany desk had once been Jack’s, and Ted’s name was inscribed in a drawer below his brother’s. A few days after Barack Obama was elected president, Ted made his Senate return. With Vicki by his side—as well as his dogs, Splash and Sunny—he beamed as he told reporters that he was ready to fight for health care reform. Vicki was touched by the support Ted received from his colleagues. A banner reading “Welcome Back Senator!” hung in the Russell
Caucus Room, and a group of a hundred or so office aides and committee staffers discussed the upcoming agenda while eating Legal Sea Foods—a Massachusetts favorite.

Ted’s voice trembled slightly as he spoke and his walk was a tad shaky, so he steadied himself with his father’s cane—the same cane the senator had used in 1964 while recovering from the plane crash that nearly took his life. Vicki, too, provided extra support. She later remembered the day with a smile: “You’ve never seen . . . a senator so happy to be caught by a gaggle of reporters.”

6

To the Grave

And so the days became weeks and the weeks became months and
the months became what those first doctors could have never predicted: a year. Vicki knew those precious extra days together were a gift, and, even as her husband slowly began to lose his strength, she felt blessed. They had the resources to move their boat to Florida and transition there in the winter so Ted could recuperate in warmth. He’d set his sights on a new goal: attending Barack Obama’s inauguration in January 2009. In true Ted fashion, he began planning in earnest, having a staffer map out exactly how many steps it would take to walk to the Capitol on his own.

While in Florida, he and Vicki adopted a third Portuguese water dog. Captain Courageous, nicknamed “Cappy,” joined Splash and Sunny. One day, one of the dogs made a mess inside the house, and Vicki’s stoicism eroded. She crumbled into tears. Ted pulled her head to his shoulder and soothed her. “There I was caring for him, and the roles were totally reversed,” she told a reporter. “And there he was comforting me. . . . And this was going to be OK. It was all going to be OK.”

Ted powered through to the inauguration in January and celebrated his February birthday a couple of weeks late at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Bill Cosby hosted the star-studded event, with guests such as Lauren Bacall, Bernadette Peters, James Taylor, and John Williams. Even President Obama joined in, appearing on stage at the end of the gala to lead the crowd in “Happy Birthday.” Ted even threw out the first pitch at opening day for the Boston Red Sox. He flubbed on his first attempt, grounding the ball before it reached Hall of Famer Jim Rice. Ted, of course, asked for another throw. This time, the ball reached Rice
before it kissed the ground. (Afterward, Ted beamed to his grandsons: “I was gonna stay out there all day until Jim Rice caught it without a hop. That’s what we Kennedys do—we stay at it until we get it right!”) And throughout it all, Ted kept sailing into the summer. He’d grab Splash and board
Mya
and hit the waters, the wind in his hair. “Sailing, for me, has always been a metaphor for life,” he later said. That became truer than ever during his illness: If he could still sail, he knew he was not yet beaten.

But Ted had one final project to finish. In the early 2000s he’d embarked on a five-year oral-history project that had stirred up a lot of memories, both from his political and personal lives. With those recollections fresh in mind, he decided to write his memoirs. Vicki again was his sounding board. She was amazed by the meticulous notes and journals he had kept for more than fifty years of his life. He even had a diary from his First Communion—which was with the pope—which he had dictated to his nanny. Ted’s sensitively written family history, called
True Compass
, would be his final word to the world, though he would never see a finished copy. His publisher’s delivery of manuscripts came to the doorstep August 25, 2009, the same day Ted would take his last breath, with much of his family by his side in the beautiful, twenty-one-room home that Joe and Rose had bought in 1926—eighty-three years, nine children, thirty grandchildren, and three presidential campaigns prior.

Cancer ravages the body; it’s a difficult death to witness, which Vicki alluded to when speaking in 2013 to a gathering at the University of California-San Francisco. But she refused to dwell on the ugly side. The fifteen months she had with Ted after his diagnosis were nothing short of a blessing, she said. “That was the greatest gift of my life. It was the greatest privilege of my life,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, no one wishes for a diagnosis of a glioblastoma. But once I knew that was the hand we were dealt, I would have chosen to live life exactly, in every single way, the way we lived it.”

Ted was laid to rest August 30, 2009, in a solemn Roman Catholic mass led by President Obama. The two days prior, an estimated fifty thousand people had crowded the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and
Museum in Dorchester, where Ted’s body lay in repose. The morning of the mass, Obama visited Vicki privately, walking across the street from his hotel to offer condolences. More than fifteen hundred people attended the formal service, including three former presidents—Presidents George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton—at the towering and ornate Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston. Reporters with the
Washington Post
painted the somber scene: “Bells began to toll at 10:45 a.m.as the motorcade arrived and, a few minutes later, Kennedy’s casket was taken from the hearse. Vicki Kennedy and other family members stood vigil, water rolling off their umbrellas, as the casket was carried up the steep steps into the church.”

There was a day in 1963 when Jackie Kennedy faced the world without Jack. And there was a day in 1968 when Ethel had ten children, an eleventh on the way, and had to walk forward without Bobby by her side. The next year, Rose returned to an empty house in Hyannis Port after burying her husband near their first home in Brookline. Even Joan had to go about the task of inventing a new life in Boston after her marriage to Teddy ended. Now Vicki found herself where each of the others had stood: staring into the future, her husband gone, memories to fortify her, and their shared ideals to carry forward.

These five women—The Kennedy Wives—lived twentieth-century US history. Their experiences of wealth and power, love, loss, and tragedy occurred at such a heightened level that it’s tempting to see them as mythic, almost archetypal creatures. But Rose, Ethel, Jackie, Joan, and Vicki were and are stubbornly fleshy in their humanity, and they give all of us, men and women, powerful examples of what everyday strength, resilience, and grace can look like. It’s because of their refusal to ossify into sterile sainthood that they will always fascinate—and always inspire.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Jane Dystel for her advocacy and
guidance throughout every stage of this project. Many thanks also to the staff of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, in particular Stacey Chandler, Laurie Austin, and Michael Desmond, who were never less than helpful, hospitable, kind, and encouraging. Our sincere gratitude to Patrick Kennedy for being so generous with his time and his memories. Thanks to everyone at Lyons Press, especially Meredith Dias. And a special thanks to Jon Sternfeld, whose editorial acuity improved our manuscript beyond the telling.

Amber Hunt would like to thank Elijah Van Benschoten, whose support and encouragement can’t be overstated. Without him, I’d be a mess. Thanks also to my family, especially Missy, who’s there for me every single day that I need her. I learned while researching this book that my grandmother Betty Jo Hunt was quite the Kennedy fan. I know she would’ve been the first to pre-order. To Randy Essex and Mark Wert, I send my gratitude and sympathy, as they’re the latest in a series of newspaper editors to tolerate my torment. And, lastly, I have to thank my coauthor, David Batcher, who signed up only to help research but instantly became a full-fledged partner. I always knew he’d write a book someday. I never envisioned that my name would appear next to his. I’m honored.

David Batcher would like to thank his family, who could have been forgiven for giving up on him years ago. Many thanks to the 612 Crew, especially Andrew Furber and Jesse Murray, for their flexibility and support during the writing of this book. Thanks also to the many kind colleagues and customers at Dunn Brothers Coffee, whose enthusiasm was a buoy throughout. Thanks also to Toni Nelson and Sarah Jeffrey, who kept listening even though Kennedys were all he could talk about. Finally, thanks to Amber Hunt for her friendship, her example, and her trust.

Endnotes

Part I: Rose

1. From the Cradle

2.
284 Bostonians would die:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 29.

2. Between Joe and Honey Fitz

4.
“was loud, brash, unrestrained”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 2.

4.
“Mother had a limited capacity for”:
ibid.

4.
“I’ve been in the limelight since”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 12.

5.
“As motherhood is the greatest . . . perhaps for future generations”:
“Being a Mother,” Box 4, RFKP.

5.
Instead, she took classes at the Sacred Heart Convent:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 20.

6.
The Kennedys and the Fitzgeralds:
ibid., p. 19.

6.
“He was a very good baseball player . . . a very good polite Catholic”:
ibid.

6.
“It took teamwork and conspiracy . . . father was aware of”:
ibid.

6.
“for what Rose presumed was a brief vacation”:
ibid., p. 20.

6.
“toward the end of that summer, it was decided”:
Kennedy,
Times to Remember
, p. 31.

7.
all the while keeping Joe’s photo on her:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 23.

7.
“Rose’s gender clearly fettered her education . . . Catholic finishing schools”:
ibid., p. 31.

8.
Joe graduated from Harvard in June 1912 and . . . East Boston bank his father had founded:
ibid., p. 41.

8.
“At Harvard and after graduation, Joe”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 3.

8.
Fitz had no choice but to drop out of the race:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 41.

8.
“I had read all these books about your heart . . . no two ways about it”:
ibid.

9.
At the end of October, they returned:
ibid., p. 44.

3. Nine Little Helpless Infants

10.
“They did come rather rapidly . . . a good many of them”:
CBS News broadcast, October 31, 1967, Box 12, RFKP.

10.
“When I look back now . . . morally and physically perfect”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 44.

10.
“It was a nice old wooden-frame house . . . trees lining the sidewalks”:
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,
Rose Kennedy’s Family Album
, p. 38.

10.
they employed a housekeeper who cooked:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 45.

11.
“I conceived the idea of having”:
CBS News broadcast, October 31, 1967, Box 12, RFKP.

11.
“I used to weigh them every week”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 49.

11.
“When I got to England I showed . . . couldn’t possibly keep track of all of them”:
CBS News broadcast, October 31, 1967, Box 12, RFKP.

12.
“Joseph P. Kennedy was not a shipbuilder . . .”
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 4.

12.
Kennedy quietly formed a privately held company:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 4.

12.
“I ran the house. I ran the children”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 56.

12.
“You never heard a cross word . . . trusted one another and that’s it”:
ibid., p. 54.

13.
His wife, Mary, similarly became Rose’s closest friend:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 4, 5.

13.
“In addition to maids, cooks, and nurses”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 58.

13.
“I thought that was a terrible waste of money”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 6.

13.
“Gee,
you’re
a great mother to go away”:
ibid.

13.
“He was a very active, very lively”:
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,
Rose Kennedy’s Family Album
, p. 68.

14.
“In looking over my old diary”:
Rose to JFK, November 10, 1962, Box 57, RFKP.

14.
Rose had originally wanted to send her boys to Catholic schools:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 57.

14.
Though her teacher, Margaret McQuaid, was delighted:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 163.

14.
“As time went on, I realized she was slow . . .”:
Diary notes, undated, Box 13, RFKP.

14.
“I was puzzled by what this might mean”:
Diary notes, undated, Box 13, RFKP.

15.
“were told that she was a little slow”:
ibid.

15.
“Would it be possible for Jack . . . do all we can to help her”:
Rose to Mr. Steele, January 10, 1934, Box 12, RFKP.

15.
the females were being forcibly sterilized:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 164.

16.
“to see what methods the nurse is using”:
Diary notes, July 27, 1971, Box 5, RFKP.

4. Leaving Boston

17.
“was the disciplinarian . . .
banishments to the closet”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 71.

17.
“He would sweep them into his arms . . . they would have conversations”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 6.

17.
“Rose touched her children . . . excesses of affection”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 153.

18.
The sole exception was Rosemary:
ibid., p. 191.

18.
“great warmth . . . didn’t want her around much”:
Notes on an interview with Lem Billings, April 1, 1972, author unknown, Box 12, RFKP.

18.
“She was a great believer . . . you ought to try them”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 75.

18.
Unfortunately, Joe’s escalating involvement:
ibid., p. 67.

19.
“He was interested not in making artful”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 6.

19.
“Up to age six, [the children] ate an hour earlier”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 69.

20.
“posted articles or documents”:
ibid.

20.
“if they didn’t pay attention one Sunday”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 154.

20.
“It was really quite a lot of fun . . . diplomatic and government discussions”:
Hennesey, JFK Oral History #1, pp. 2–3.

20.
“My mother was more articulate”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 74.

21.
“The fact has come to my attention . . . demonstrating the different forms”:
Rose to George St. John, September 6, 1932, Box 12, RFKP.

21.
“I understood from Jack’s letter”:
Rose to George St. John, undated, Box 12, RFKP. (Sadly, Rose’s papers contain no mention of the results of the subsequent “investigation.”)

21.
He called Rose “our Pied Piper into . . . headlines the next”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 71.

21.
He bought the mansion, a white Spanish-style:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 191.

22.
“the most ably administered New Deal”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 12.

22.
“I started going to Europe”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, pp.82–83.

23.
She went to Europe at least seventeen times:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, pp.187–88.

23.
In Moscow, they visited Lenin’s tomb . . . fired her curiosity:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 90.

23.
Roosevelt appointed Joe as the United States Ambassador:
ibid., p. 94.

5. Ambassadress

24.
There, Rose thought she fit in:
Hennessey, JFK Oral History #1, pp. 1–2.

24.
“Her doctor called me and said”:
Hennessey, JFK Oral History #2, pp. 2–3.

24.
That evening, when Joe visited
Rose:
Hennessey, JFK Oral History #2, pp. 2–3.

24.
She agreed, and would remain:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 98.

24.
“I wondered why she did that . . . twelve of us to move”:
Hennessey, JFK Oral History #2, p. 3.

25.
“Almost invariably they have been”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 15.

25.
Joe Jr. and Jack, both at Harvard:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p.97; Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 241.

26.
“I have a beautiful blue silk room . . . never saw one in my life”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 15; Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 241.

26.
When Joe Jr. arrived in June:
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,
Rose Kennedy’s Family Album
, p. 201.

26.
“Rose, this is a helluva”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 243.

26.
“one of the most fabulous”:
ibid.

26.
She threw society debuts for Rosemary:
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,
Rose Kennedy’s Family Album
, p. 201.

27.
She and Joe went to Ascot:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 247.

27.
She was informed that a tiara:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 15.

27.
“Disciplined, stoical, eternally gracious . . . deeply ingrained habits”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 248.

28.
“You have worked very hard”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 137.

28.
he traveled to Romania, Russia, Turkey:
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,
Rose Kennedy’s Family Album
, p. 203.

28.
“Try as he might”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 19.

28–29
.
Later that month, Joe Jr. sailed:
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation,
Rose Kennedy’s Family Album
, p. 203.

29.
She was doing so well at the Montessori school:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 21.

29.
“We expected to get married . . . He was a pilot ”:
Hennessey, JFK Oral History #2, pp. 3–4.

6. Rosemary

30.
“Democracy is finished in England . . . may be here, too”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 158.

30.
“in such a desultory”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 27.

30.
The press savaged him:
ibid., ch. 27, 28.

31.
“I am relieved too . . . no longer a necessity”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 159.

31.
Jack was ordered to report:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 28.

31.
She was placed in St. Gertrude’s School:
ibid.

31.
“In the year or so following”:
ibid.

32.
Both Joe and Rose were becoming convinced:
ibid.

32.
Moniz received a Nobel Prize:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, pp. 164–65.

32.
Sometime in November, apparently without the approval:
ibid., p. 165.

32.
Rose and the children wouldn’t visit her there either:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 28.

33.
“It was then we decided”:
Diary Notes on Rosemary, Box 13, RFKP.

33.
“The operation eliminated”:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 28.

33.
“I will never forgive Joe . . . bitter towards him about”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 166.

7. The Marchioness and the War Heroes

34.
“I can see improvement . . . typographical”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 170.

35.
“It was easy. They cut my PT boat”:
Dallek,
Unfinished Life
, pp. 95–99.

35.
“We are more proud and thankful”:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 173.

35.
After a brief visit in Hyannis Port:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 353.

36.
Stationed in Cornwall, he received:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 173.

36.
“jitter-bugging, gin rummy”:
Leamer,
Kennedy Women
, p. 344.

36.
He was widely considered . . . upon his father’s death:
ibid., p. 262.

36.
But Kick argued that she couldn’t . . . unacceptable husband for her daughter:
Perry,
Rose Kennedy
, p. 175.

37.
He was told he’d need surgery:
Nasaw,
Patriarch
, ch. 29.