THE KENNEDY CURSE

AMERICA’S ‘ROYAL FAMILY’ HAVE HAD TRAGEDY BEFALL THEM FOR SIX GENERATIONS

- April Glover

The Kennedys may be a wealthy political dynasty, but the powerful American family has suffered generations of tragedy and scandal that has cast a shadow over their success.

The descendants of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr have been blighted by so many assassinations, fatal accidents, sex scandals, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, that it’s been speculated the family have fallen victim to a ‘curse’.

Thriller writer James Patterson’s new book The Kennedy Curse chronicles the six generations of tragedy faced by America’s ‘royal’ family, starting with Joseph P. Kennedy Jr’s untimely death in an explosive aircraft in 1944 up to the recent tragic drowning of Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughter Maeve Kennedy McKean and her son Gideon.

“From Joe Sr’s death in November 1969 to nearly three decades later in July 1999, when Jack’s son John F. Kennedy Jr meets his own terrible fate, tragedies continue to haunt the House of Kennedy,” James writes. “The Kennedy curse is an idea that endures.”

James’ book starts with the patriarch of the family: Joseph P. Kennedy. Joseph was a businessman, investor and the former British Ambassador to the United States. He is said to be the puppet master for three of his sons' distinguished political careers in the following decades, including his second eldest son – John F. Kennedy.