FORMATIVE YEARS
YOUNG LIFE |
“His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was a multimillionaire with presidential aspirations, and his mother, Rose Fitzgerald, came from a prominent and politically active Boston family” (Roberts).
“Rose Kennedy instilled in her children a commitment to personal cultivation and public service with piano lessons in the parlor, political discussions around the dinner table, and edifying tales of adventure in the nursery” (NPS). "I can hardly remember a mealtime when the conversation was not dominated by what Franklin D. Roosevelt was doing or what was happening in the world" - Robert Kennedy (JFK Library).
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INFLUENCE OF HIS FATHER“The Kennedy children played hard, and they enjoyed competing with one another. Joseph Sr. encouraged this competition, especially among the boys. He was a father with very high expectations and wanted the boys to win at sports and everything they tried" (JFK Library).
In a letter to his son, Joseph Kennedy wrote to John: "I definitely know you have the goods and you can go a long way…. I am not expecting too much, and I will not be disappointed if you don’t turn out to be a real genius, but I think you can be a really worthwhile citizen with good judgment and understanding" (JFK Library). "What Joe Kennedy did was imbue his children with the understanding - almost the command - that because they had money, good looks, intelligence and self-confidence, they had a responsibility to contribute as best they could to public service" - David Nasaw, "The Patriarch"
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"When the going gets tough, the tough get going."- Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (JFK Library).