The Kennedy curse is a series of deaths, accidents, assassinations, and other calamities involving members of the American Kennedy family.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The alleged curse has primarily struck the descendants of businessman Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., but it has also affected family friends, associates, and other relatives. Political assassinations and plane crashes have been the most common manifestations of the "curse". Following the Chappaquiddick incident in 1969, Ted Kennedy is quoted saying he questioned if "some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."[9] However skeptics argue that it is not improbable for a large extended family to experience similar events over the course of several generations.[10][11]
Chronology
Events that have been treated as evidence of a curse include:
April 2, 2020 – Maeve Kennedy McKean, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, disappeared with her eight-year-old son, Gideon, during a short canoe trip in Chesapeake Bay.[22] Their bodies were recovered from the bay later that week.[23] Autopsies revealed that both had accidentally drowned in the turbulent and chilly water.[24]
Kennedy disabilities
November 1941 – Rosemary Kennedy, age 23, struggled to read and write, and she suffered from mood swings, seizures, and violent outbursts. During birth, Rosemary was deprived of oxygen as her mother and nurse waited for the doctor to arrive.[25] As she grew older, she became more rebellious and the family worried she would do something that could tarnish the Kennedy reputation.[26] In an attempt to cure or treat his daughter, Joseph Kennedy secretly arranged for her to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy, which was seen as a promising treatment for various mental illnesses. Instead of saving Rosemary, the now-discredited procedure left her mentally and physically incapacitated. Rosemary remained institutionalized in seclusion, in rural Wisconsin, until her death in 2005.[4][5][6][19][14] Her family remained distant for most of Rosemary's life, but Eunice Kennedy Shriver, her sister, grew close to her later in life. Eunice went on to found the Special Olympics and the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation which researches developmental and intellectual disabilities.[26]
December 19, 1961 – Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., age 73, suffered a massive stroke which left him paralyzed on his right side. He also struggled with aphasia, which severely affected his ability to speak.[27]
November 17, 1973 – Edward M. Kennedy Jr., age 12, had his right leg surgically amputated as a result of bone cancer. He underwent an experimental two-year drug treatment to cure the cancer.[28][29]
Other incidents
June 19, 1964 – U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy survived a plane crash that killed one of his aides as well as the pilot. The plane was on its way to a Democratic State Convention in Springfield.[30] The plane crashed in an apple orchard near Southampton, Massachusetts. The senator was pulled from the wreckage by passenger (and fellow senator) Birch Bayh. Kennedy spent five months in a hospital recovering from a broken back, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.[4][5][14][31] Following the crash, Robert F. Kennedy remarked to aide Ed Guthman: "Somebody up there doesn't like us."[32]
July 18, 1969 – Ted Kennedy accidentally drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, resulting in the drowning death of 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.[4][5][6][7][14] In his televised statement a week later, Ted said that on the night of the incident he wondered "whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."[33] Ted did not report the accident to the police until the next morning and pled guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.[34]
May 4, 2006 – U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy crashed his automobile while intoxicated into a barricade on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., at 2:45 a.m. He later revealed an addiction to prescription medications Ambien and Phenergan and pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs, sentenced to one year probation and a fine of $350.[35][36]
Klein, Edward (2004) The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN978-0-312-31293-0[1]
