Joseph P. Kennedy summary

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Joseph P. Kennedy, (born Sept. 6, 1888, Boston, Mass., U.S.—died Nov. 18, 1969, Hyannis Port, Mass.), U.S. businessman and financier. He graduated from Harvard University in 1912. He was a bank president by age 25 and a millionaire at age 30. He became a shipbuilder, a motion-picture tycoon, and a large contributor to the Democratic Party. During the 1920s he acquired a large fortune by speculating in the stock market; he is also alleged to have traded in bootleg liquor during Prohibition. Later, as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1934–35), he outlawed the speculative practices, including insider trading and stock manipulation, that had made him rich. He was the first Irish American to serve as ambassador to Britain (1937–40). With his wife, Rose, he encouraged academic and athletic competitiveness in his children and expected the boys in the family—including John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward Kennedy—to pursue careers in public service. His role in John Kennedy’s narrow victory over Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election has long been the subject of controversy.

Robert F. Kennedy Summary

Robert F. Kennedy was a U.S. attorney general and adviser during the administration of his brother Pres. John F. Kennedy (1961–63) and later a U.S. senator (1965–68). He was the son of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy. He was assassinated while campaigning for the Democratic Party’s presidential

Democratic Party Summary

Democratic Party, in the United States, one of the two major political parties, the other being the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has changed significantly during its more than two centuries of existence. During the 19th century the party supported or tolerated slavery, and it opposed

John F. Kennedy Summary

John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States (1961–63), who faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and the Alliance for Progress. He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in

diplomacy Summary

Diplomacy, the established method of influencing the decisions and behaviour of foreign governments and peoples through dialogue, negotiation, and other measures short of war or violence. Modern diplomatic practices are a product of the post-Renaissance European state system. Historically,