The Lost Kennedy Brother - Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr.

Good obscure history, great for JFK buffs!! "Great Job"

The Lost Kennedy Brother

The Kennedys may well be the most photographed, written about, and

controversial family in American history, more so than the Hearsts and Rockefellers

combined. Not only have they been prominent in recent American history, but in our

nation's pop culture as well. When one thinks of the Kennedy brothers, certain images

come to mind. Jack. The young and energetic President who was savagely killed. Bobby.

The natural heir to the Kennedy throne who met a similar fate as his older brother. Ted.

Never quite reaching the White House, he has nontheless made a name for himself as a

major politician in the Senate.

What many people are seemingly unaware of is that there existed another Kennedy

brother, the eldest of the four. His name was Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr., named after his

father and two years older than JFK.

English: John F. Kennedy, photograph in the Oval O...

LTJG John F. Kennedy aboard the PT-109

Family group portrait in sunroom with flowered dra...

He was the son that his father had planned on

molding to one day be President, not Jack. If not for Joe Jr.'s terrible fate, it would have

most likely been him, and not JFK as our commander-in-chief.

The Kennedy household was a patriarchy ruled by Joe Senior. He ruled with an

iron fist and recieved deep respect, fear, and love from his family in return. Besides taking

a part in their educational development, Joe Sr. also encouraged his children to compete in

most everything against one another to win their father's favor. Out of this, a tense rivalry

evolved between Joe Jr., and Jack, with the eldest son usually defeating the younger.

Meanwhile, Joe Sr. did not hide the fact that Joe Jr. was his favorite son, molding him to

become President to compensate for his failure to reach the White House. The spitting

image of...