Synopses & Reviews
For 150 years, the story of the Kennedy family has been inextricably linked to their heritage as Irish-Catholic immigrants—from Patrick Kennedy’s 1848 arrival in Brahmin Boston from Country Wexford Ireland, to Joseph Kennedy’s Vatican ties and Jackie’s thoughts on faith and sorrow, to Kennedy-confidante Father McSorley’s religious counsel following the assassination of JFK. Through groundbreaking interviews with Senator Edward Kennedy and other Kennedy family and friends, acclaimed journalist Thomas Maier casts the Kennedy saga in an entirely new light, showing how their Irish catholic heritage influenced their public and private decisions. Released to coincide with a documentary adapted from the book, this edition features a new preface, in which Maier explores the dynamics of the three brothers, Ted Kennedy’s legacy, and the 2008 presidential elections that have been touched in so many ways by the Kennedy family.
Synopsis
"An enlightening and original portrait of an almost mythic family and the Irish-Catholic experience, and a portrait of the United Sates at its best and worst." --The Star-Ledger
Acclaimed journalist Thomas Maier draws on groundbreaking research and unprecedented access to family members and archival documents to show how the unique Kennedy saga, which has captivated America for decades, was one shaped by the common immigrant experience. The Irish-Catholic immigrant heritage was always central to the Kennedy family experience--beginning with Patrick Kennedy's 1848 arrival in Brahim Boston, continuing with Joseph Kennedy's Vatican ties and through Jackie's revelations of sorrow to Kennedy-confidante Father McSorley following the assassination of JFK. The Kennedys is a revelatory glimpse at a remarkable intersection of private beliefs and public politics--and a spellbinding American epic.
Synopsis
Meticulously researched both here and abroad, The Kennedys examines the Kennedy's as exemplars of the Irish Catholic experience. Beginning with Patrick Kennedy's arrival in the Brahmin world of Boston in 1848, Maier delves into the deeper currents of the often spectacular Kennedy story, and the ways in which their immigrant background shaped their values-and in turn twentieth-century America-for over five generations. As the first and only Roman Catholic ever elected to high national office in this country, JFK's pioneering campaign for president rested on a tradition of navigating a cultural divide that began when Joseph Kennedy shed the brogues of the old country in order to get ahead on Wall Street. Whether studied exercise in cultural self-denial or sheer pragmatism, their movements mirror that of countless of other, albeit less storied, American families. But as much as the Kennedys distanced themselves from their religion and ethnic heritage on the public stage, Maier shows how Irish Catholicism informed many of their most well-known political decisions and stances. From their support of civil rights, to Joe Kennedy's tight relationship with Pope Pius XII and FDR, the impact of their personal family history on the national scene is without question-and makes for an immensely compelling narrative. Bringing together extensive new research in both Ireland and the United States, several exclusive interviews, as well as his own perspective as an Irish-American, Maier's original approach to the Kennedy era brilliantly illustrates the defining role of the immigrant experience for the country's foremost political dynasty.
Synopsis
Irish-Catholic immigrant heritage has always been central to the Kennedy family experience—beginning with Patrick Kennedy’s 1848 arrival in Brahmin Boston, continuing with Joseph Kennedy’s Vatican ties and Jackie’s revelations of sorrow, to Kennedy-confidante Father McSorley following the assassination of JFK. Through groundbreaking interviews with Senator Edward Kennedy and other Kennedy family and friends, acclaimed journalist Thomas Maier casts the Kennedy saga in an entirely new light, showing how their sense of family, religion, and Irish Catholic roots influenced their public and private decisions. In addition, their collective history continues to be crucial to understanding their many remarkable triumphs and deepest tragedies.
Synopsis
Be more Irish than Harvard, inscribed Robert Frost in the book of poetry he gave to John F. Kennedy at the 1961 presidential inauguration. With these simple words, Frost hit upon the experience that defined America's favorite political dynasty for over five generations: their Irish Catholicism. Drawing on groundbreaking research both here and abroad, acclaimed journalist Thomas Maier shows how their cultural background molded the Kennedy family to the core-both bolstering stunning successes and coloring spectacular tragedies. Casting new light on the Kennedys' struggles with race, anti-Semitism, the sexual mores of the Catholic Church, and even on John F. Kennedy's A Nation of Immigrants, the result is a revelatory glimpse at a remarkable intersection of private beliefs and public politics-and a spellbinding, uniquely American epic.
Synopsis
A portrait of the country's favorite political dynasty as the ultimate Irish Catholic family-and a revelatory look at how the American immigrant experience shaped both their stunning success and spectacular tragedies.
About the Author
Thomas Maier is a special writer at New York Newsday. He is the author of the critically acclaimed biography Dr. Spock, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and one of the Boston Globe’s top ten nonfiction titles of 1998, and Newhouse, which won the Frank Luther Mott Award for Best Media Book. He lives on Long Island, New York.