JFK+50: Volume 7, No. 2381
JOE JUNIOR WAS AMBASSADOR KENNEDY'S FIRST CHOICEHull, Massachusetts (JFK+50) 102 years ago today, July 25, 1915, the first child of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy was born in Nantasket, Massachusetts. The Kennedys were spending the summer in a rented cottage on Atlantic Avenue.
The baby boy, delivered by Dr. Frederick Good, was named Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr.* Will Swift writes in "The Kennedys, Amidst the Gathering Storm,"
"It was Joe Jr. who his father had anointed to become president. He would spend a year in London as his father's political aide at the embassy and would go on fact-finding trips throughout Europe."
All the hopes for his first son were dashed on August 12, 1944 when Joe Jr. was killed when his Liberator exploded over the English Channel. After an extended period of mourning, the Ambassador transferred his hopes for the presidency to his second son, John F. Kennedy.
Ironically, Joe Jr. had written in a letter to his father...
"As far as the family is concerned, it seems that Jack is perfectly capable to do everything, if by chance anything happened to me."
In 1945, As We Remember Joe**, a book of remembrances for Kennedy family, friends and associates, was published. The book included a forward by brother Jack along with his essay titled "My Brother Joe."
*Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (1915-1944) graduated from Harvard in 1938. He studied at the London School of Economics and was a delegate to the 1940 Democratic Convention. Joe joined the US Navy earning his wings as a naval aviator in May 1942. He completed 25 combat missions before volunteering for the one that took his life.
**As We Remember Joe (1945) is described at www.buddenbrooks.com/ as "scarce and one of the most difficult to obtain JFK related books." It is estimated that there were a total of 360 copies printed. The price is $1850.
SOURCES
"Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.," John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
"The Kennedys: Amidst The Gathering Storm, A Thousand Days in London 1938-1940," by Will Swift, Smithsonian Books, 2008.
As We Remember Joe
University Press
Cambridge, MA (1945)
www.buddenbrooks.com
