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Station East Coast. The. Most

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people don't know that Jfk had

0:33

a sister named Rosemary. And

0:35

that's on purpose Because and nineteen

0:38

Forty one, When Rosemary wishes twenty

0:40

three years old, her dad, Joseph

0:42

Kennedy Senior forced her to get

0:44

a lot blogger me. All.

0:46

Yes, an ice pick to the

0:49

brain. I covered Rosemary Story in

0:51

our Lobotomies episode Will you need

0:53

to know us at The Reputation

0:55

of the Kennedy Family was everything.

0:57

This is because Joseph Kennedy Senior

1:00

was grooming his sons for careers

1:02

in politics, and the Rosemary problem

1:04

was a threat to the family.

1:06

So they locked her away in

1:08

an institution for twenty years and

1:10

no one even visited her. Not.

1:13

Once and this made me think they

1:15

did this to their own flesh and

1:17

blood. What else are they capable of?

1:19

All. Yes, There scandalous and

1:21

have done some very illegal

1:24

things. but they also literally

1:26

changed America forever and honestly

1:28

redefined American culture. For. The

1:30

Good: And bad, Most people

1:32

think of the Kennedys as America's

1:35

royal family. And just like the

1:37

Royal family, they have skeletons in

1:39

their closet. And. That's the

1:41

T O on. Talk about so

1:43

friends. This is the dark history

1:46

of the Kennedys. And.

1:58

i friends i hope your having a wonderful day

2:01

today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd

2:03

like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark

2:05

History. Here we believe history doesn't have to

2:07

be boring, right? It might be

2:09

tragic. It sometimes is happy, but either way,

2:11

it's our dark history. So all you have

2:14

to do is sit back, relax, and just

2:16

let me tell you about that hot,

2:18

juicy history goss. Mmm.

2:21

It's, it's juicy today. First

2:23

of all, I need to say, there is so

2:26

much to cover with the Kennedys, this could easily

2:28

be like a frickin' 10-parter. Actually,

2:30

the whole podcast could be about the Kennedys. I

2:33

mean, they might be the most studied American

2:35

family ever, but today we're

2:37

going to focus on their greatest hits, I

2:40

guess you can call it. So when we

2:42

think of the Kennedys, I think a lot

2:44

of us immediately think of JFK getting his

2:46

head, you know, shot. Have

2:49

you seen that video? I hope not. I had

2:51

this teacher in ninth grade who made us watch

2:53

it over and over and over

2:55

again. It was my history teacher

2:57

and he would like, did it in

3:00

slow-mo. There was a zoomed in

3:02

version. And mind you, ninth

3:04

grade, I was like, are we really watching

3:06

this guy get murdered in slow motion at

3:09

school? Okay. It

3:11

was, it was really dark. The story

3:13

of the Kennedys has been like so

3:15

romanticized by the media over the years.

3:17

People are obsessed with them. Personally, I've

3:19

never understood it because I just assumed

3:22

they were like an old money family

3:24

that somehow wiggled their way into politics

3:26

and partied their life away

3:28

because, you know, they could. But no,

3:30

nay nay. They were so much more

3:32

than that. Our story starts with

3:35

the patriarch of the Kennedy Empire,

3:37

a man named Joseph Patrick Kennedy,

3:39

Sr. Wow, what a name, you know,

3:41

it was very long, but we're just going to call him

3:43

Joe. Joe was born

3:45

on September 6, 1888 in East

3:48

Boston, Mass. So what

3:50

does that make him? Oh, a

3:53

Virgo. I Think he's a Virgo.

3:55

And Honestly, he's such a Virgo.

3:57

Joe Was born into an extremely

3:59

poor area. Made up of Irish

4:01

Catholic working class immigrants at a

4:03

time like there was this big

4:05

anti Irish sentiment, people who were

4:07

boston bill for the Irish immigrants

4:09

arrived were like. So.

4:12

Many days leave than hot. So

4:14

many were just flat broke, homeless

4:16

and just stuck in a cycle

4:18

of poverty that they couldn't get

4:20

out of. Jos Father Pj was

4:23

beloved by the community. Pj.

4:25

Was the hit. Pj is kind of

4:27

silly, but Pj was in politics and

4:29

it's reported that even though he only

4:31

had a little more money than everyone

4:33

else, he always gave back to his

4:35

community kill sister. One said quote when

4:37

a doorbell would ring it would be

4:40

someone down on their luck coming to

4:42

pop up for help. Papa, can you

4:44

hear me? Yeah.

4:46

You just like a really generous

4:48

guy and this allowed him to

4:50

really succeed in politics. and it

4:52

also taught Jill a valuable lesson.

4:54

Money is the real power When

4:56

yeah, money, you can do whatever

4:58

you want and this really shaped

5:00

your personality. Jealous Described as a

5:02

very. Driven and tenth person with

5:05

a charismatic personality. He was like

5:07

this: blonde. Haired lied Irish

5:09

guy who wore these very

5:11

distinct round glasses. Yeah.

5:13

It's gonna giving Tootsie Pop our will. Remember.

5:16

How many licks? As a take?

5:19

A one or two who are

5:21

three. Animal can come out

5:23

as I can get to the need to

5:25

the summer the you know. That

5:28

was giving. In school, Joe was loved

5:30

just like his father, and he made

5:33

important social connections with the Boston elite.

5:35

Nice connections even helped get him into

5:37

Harvard. and I think if you got

5:40

into Harvard you were set for life.

5:42

I can? I get so sick today?

5:44

but. back then it was

5:47

like you know it was real but

5:49

sadly this wasn't the case for joe

5:51

there was serious prejudice against him and

5:53

harvard because he was irish catholic so

5:55

people without their way to exclude poor

5:58

joe from social circles and power Another

6:01

student looked at him like he

6:03

was just a pathetic Irish kid.

6:05

This was frustrating because he did

6:07

the work to get there. He

6:09

was determined to join the banking

6:11

industry when he graduated and become

6:13

rich. But after graduation, he struggled

6:15

to find a job because no one wanted

6:17

to hire him. It was just

6:19

like at Harvard. He was an outcast just

6:22

because he was Irish Catholic. One

6:24

by one, all his classmates got

6:26

all these coveted banking jobs in

6:28

town. So Joe turned to his dad

6:30

to hook him up with a decent job. And

6:33

daddy came through because Joe

6:35

became a state bank examiner. Even

6:38

though it wasn't like the job he

6:40

imagined, he realized that this was actually

6:42

the perfect job for him. Working for

6:44

the state bank meant he could learn

6:47

all about the inner workings and rules

6:49

of the banking industry. This way, he

6:51

could make the rules work for him.

6:54

At this point, he was done waiting for people

6:56

to invite him into the rich boy clubs. I

6:58

mean, no one plays by the rules, so why should he?

7:02

Paul needs more nutrition in his life. I mean, just look at

7:04

him. Need

7:07

I say more? He was telling me, and maybe

7:09

I suggested, that he should start being somebody to

7:11

junk food. But the problem

7:13

is, junk food is just so

7:15

easy to get, right? And

7:18

healthy food stores can be miles and miles

7:20

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7:22

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7:26

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my God, there was a healthier cookie dough.

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8:51

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8:54

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it was surprisingly really,

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to our story. In 1914, he

9:55

made a name for himself by rescuing a

9:57

local bank that was about to go under.

9:59

As a reward. they made him the president

10:01

of the bank. So at the age

10:03

of 25, Joe becomes one of the

10:06

youngest bank presidents in America. Snaps.

10:09

And when I was looking into

10:12

this, I discovered that the bank

10:14

Joe quote unquote saved was actually

10:17

his daddy's bank. Yeah. Uh,

10:20

must be nice. Joe did help

10:22

this bank, but it was all a

10:25

setup from his father so he'd get

10:27

a leg up in the banking industry.

10:29

So this move gave Joe celebrity

10:31

status in the banking world. Finally,

10:33

people stopped treating him like he

10:36

was working class trash. His

10:38

first order of business with this

10:40

new reputation was to lock down

10:42

a wifey. Joe had been in

10:44

a little situationship with a woman

10:46

named Rose Fitzgerald. She was a

10:48

daughter of Boston's mayor at the

10:51

time and they had wanted to get married

10:53

for years, but her dad wouldn't

10:55

allow it because Rose's dad didn't think

10:57

Joe was like good enough for his

10:59

daughter. But when Joe pulled out the

11:01

save the bank move, her father was

11:04

like, fine, you guys

11:06

can get married. Joe's marrying into

11:08

Rose's political family gave him

11:10

VIP access and power to

11:13

the richest families in America. And

11:15

this is the point when Joe

11:17

starts creating his empire. He did

11:19

this by using a little business

11:21

tactic called insider trading. This

11:23

is essentially what Martha Stewart did. Yeah.

11:26

But it's when you invest a ton

11:28

of money into a business because you

11:31

heard a secret tip

11:34

that wink, wink might make

11:36

you a lot of money. And this was completely legal

11:38

back then. So 1919, Joe

11:41

became a stockbroker and because

11:43

of a ton of insider training information,

11:45

he was able to make super

11:48

profitable business moves that turned him

11:50

into a millionaire scary fast. For

11:52

example, he got a tip to

11:54

get into real estate during the

11:56

great depression, like smart, right?

12:00

off of the hurt and loss of others, but

12:02

he followed the tip and it paid

12:05

off. When he started doing

12:07

insider trading, he was worth

12:09

around 4 million dollars, and by

12:11

the end of the Great Depression in 1939, he

12:13

was worth over 180 million dollars. Which

12:18

in today's money is like 4 billion. Daaaaaaammmmmm.

12:22

Yep. He

12:25

uses money to build his family homes

12:27

on the waterfront of Cape Cod, which

12:30

actually still exists today. It's called the

12:32

Kennedy Compound. Road trip? You wanna

12:34

go? Ah! And he

12:37

got this property specifically because it

12:39

sat across the water from all

12:41

those Ivy League assholes who shunned

12:43

him from society. Like

12:45

I said. So Virgo. Right? Ah

12:49

ah! He's like, fuck you guys, I'm

12:51

here. His reputation

12:53

as a fierce businessman even got him

12:55

access to the White House. During

12:58

the Great Depression, he used some of that

13:00

windfall of cash to throw his support behind

13:02

the presidential candidate at the time, FDR. His

13:06

donations and fundraisers were key to

13:08

FDR getting that presidential crown. So

13:11

when FDR was elected president, he

13:13

made sure to pay back Joe.

13:16

But not with money. Joe had enough

13:18

of that. He's like, no no. FDR gave

13:20

Joe the thing he wanted most. Political

13:23

power. So he's given

13:25

a position that essentially puts him

13:27

in charge of the stock market.

13:29

And one of the first orders

13:31

of business Joe has is to

13:33

make sure no one can ever

13:35

get a fortune like he did.

13:37

So Joe actually helps make insider

13:39

trading illegal. Ah, what

13:42

a dick. He was like, I know I did it, but

13:44

like no one else can do it. Just

13:46

me. At the same time, Joe and

13:48

FDR's son created a super profitable booze

13:51

company. Right, as the prohibition was

13:53

ending. Yeah, I guess he just

13:55

so happened to know that prohibition

13:57

was ending. He's like, oh my

13:59

God. Isn't that crazy? I just like

14:01

guessed. Here's booze. Now that Joe

14:04

had all this money and power and

14:06

his political dreams were starting to come

14:08

true, he decided to expand his portfolio.

14:10

And this time he wasn't going to

14:12

invest in a boring ass bank. He

14:15

was going to invest in Hollywood,

14:17

baby. Yeah. Joe

14:20

started convincing investors to buy up Hollywood

14:22

studios that were in trouble. He was

14:25

also giving advice to all these studios

14:27

on how to stay open and be

14:30

profitable. So Joe actually became

14:32

like a huge important advisor in

14:34

early Hollywood. When he got to

14:36

Hollywood, he set his sights on

14:38

the most famous actress at that

14:40

time, Gloria Swanson.

14:43

Just like everyone in town, Gloria was depending

14:45

on advice from Joe to help with her

14:47

production company. And before you know it, the

14:49

two of them, they were in

14:51

love. The problem? They

14:54

were both married. Geez.

14:58

So Joe uses his power and influence to

15:00

get Gloria's husband, a job in

15:02

Europe. He's like,

15:04

yeah, Europe, send him there. So

15:06

the two could run around Hollywood like

15:08

the married couple they wanted to be. Joe

15:10

immediately gets super involved in

15:12

Gloria's movie career. He convinces her

15:14

to use all her money and

15:17

go into debt to star in this expensive,

15:20

unique movie that

15:22

no one in Hollywood would touch. He

15:25

was the money genius after all. So

15:27

Gloria was like, okay, yeah, I'll do

15:29

whatever you say. But just a few

15:31

months into the movie, the production was

15:33

$11 million over budget. Joe,

15:38

what happened? You know, whoopsie.

15:41

So naturally they were forced to

15:43

shut it down. After this,

15:45

Gloria got this horrible reputation in Hollywood

15:47

and like no one would hire her

15:50

for their movies. Her career was just

15:52

completely over. Gloria's husband wrote her letter

15:54

saying that he knew about the affair.

15:57

Oops, and then he broke up

15:59

with. her. I know damn when it

16:01

rains it works. Gloria

16:04

turned to Joe for support and

16:06

he looked her dead in the

16:08

eye said nothing and apparently

16:10

just walked out. So

16:16

Joe ended up returning home to focus on

16:18

raising his nine children he had with Rose.

16:21

Now at this point the Kennedy kids

16:23

are just rich kids living life playing

16:25

sports and partying their lives away. Joe

16:28

let them have their fun you know

16:30

but he also let them know that

16:32

this wasn't a game god damn it.

16:34

He had expectations of them. They

16:37

needed to marry the right people,

16:39

prepare for public life, and most

16:41

importantly know how to present themselves

16:43

as a Kennedy. And this started

16:45

at the family dinner table I

16:47

guess. Apparently it's the Kennedy House.

16:49

Small talk was not allowed. The

16:52

only things they could discuss were

16:54

history, politics, and national issues. And

16:56

Joe wanted his kids to be

16:58

competitive and outsmart each other at

17:00

the table. I'm picturing them like

17:02

what do you have to say about geopolitics? And

17:04

they're like daddy I'm six I don't know. The

17:08

pressure. Joe didn't go from nobody

17:10

to VIP list for nothing and even

17:12

though he was getting older he knew

17:14

his legacy would live on forever if

17:17

only his kids would cooperate. Together they'd

17:19

find a way to run America and

17:21

change politics forever. Now

17:23

if there's one Kennedy you've heard about

17:25

it's most likely JFK. John

17:28

Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was

17:30

born on May 29th 1917. He was the second eldest son

17:32

and he had a tougher childhood

17:37

because I guess he was sick a lot as

17:39

a kid. With John I guess there was always

17:41

something wrong. But despite that he

17:44

was smart, popular, athletic, and went on

17:46

to go to Harvard just like his

17:48

daddy where he graduated in 1940 with

17:50

honors. After

17:53

graduating John went on to serve in

17:55

the Navy during World War II and

17:58

he was a freakin war hero. Oh

18:00

wow. In August of 1943, JFK was

18:02

the captain of a patrol boat that was intercepting

18:07

Japanese warships. At 2 a.m. one

18:09

night while everyone else was sleeping,

18:11

he noticed another boat like coming

18:14

towards them. At first he thought

18:16

it was another American patrol boat,

18:18

but pretty soon he realized it

18:21

was a massive Japanese destroyer coming

18:23

straight at them at almost 50 miles

18:26

an hour. He's like, oh shit. Before

18:28

he could do anything, the destroyer sliced

18:30

the patrol boat in half, tearing

18:33

right through it in just seconds. John

18:36

and the surviving sailors were just like holding

18:38

on for dear life to the remnants of

18:40

the boat and just like floating

18:42

in the middle of the ocean. Now

18:44

this is where everything might have ended

18:46

for John and the other surviving sailors,

18:49

but guess what? Not here baby.

18:51

Because John had been a champion swimmer

18:53

when he was at Harvard. This crazy

18:56

man. He swam with

18:58

two wounded soldiers essentially carrying them

19:00

by their life jackets and

19:02

they swam for hours in the

19:05

Pacific Ocean and finally making it

19:07

to dry land. But the problem was,

19:09

I mean they made it to land

19:11

right? Great. But the problem was this

19:13

was a deserted island with no food

19:16

or water and most of

19:18

his men were injured and just

19:20

exhausted. But not John. No no.

19:22

John spies another island in the

19:24

distance and he's like well shit

19:26

worth a try. Okay. So he

19:28

guides his men to the second island.

19:31

After four days with no food or

19:33

water, the 11 survivors are so stoked to

19:35

find that there are coconuts for them to

19:37

eat on this second island. And JFK is

19:39

starting to get worried about the injured men

19:41

that he's been taking care of. Like aren't

19:44

they gonna make it? So once again, John

19:46

swims, he's

19:48

a dolphin. He swims to another

19:50

island. This one is called Nauru

19:52

and thankfully the locals living there

19:55

are friendly. But they're typically

19:57

still in enemy territory so John really is a

19:59

good friend. has to be careful. He's

20:01

got to like keep a low profile. But

20:03

he also needs food, supplies, and a boat

20:06

if they're gonna like make it out of

20:08

there alive. So John over

20:10

here pulls a genius move and

20:13

carves a coded message onto a

20:15

coconut. Yeah this sounds fake huh?

20:18

It's real. So he ends up giving

20:20

the coconut to one of the locals

20:22

who then passes it along to the

20:24

New Zealand forces that were stationed in

20:26

the area. The message on the coconut

20:28

said, Nauru Island 11 alive,

20:30

need small boat. Kennedy.

20:33

Straight to the point. We love that. So

20:35

then they just wait right? Just hope for

20:38

the best. Well the next day the locals

20:40

came back with food and water

20:42

for them and I guess the

20:44

coconut telegram had worked because after

20:46

six long days they were finally

20:48

rescued. Wild. Mostly thanks

20:50

to John right? And his swimming skills.

20:53

He's like Flipper out there. Did

20:55

you watch that show Flipper? I loved it. So

20:58

little John Kennedy comes home a total

21:00

war hero when it's all over. But

21:02

the crazy thing is JFK was never

21:05

supposed to be the Kennedy who became

21:07

a big deal. They were all special

21:09

in their own way of course. But

21:11

it was JFK's older brother Joe Jr.

21:13

who was supposed to really secure the

21:16

family legacy by becoming the

21:18

president of the United States. But

21:22

there was a little problem. Joan

21:25

said I'm looking a little tired

21:28

lately. Dehydrated

21:31

she said. Even pointed out

21:34

a dark spot she may have noticed.

21:37

I think she was trying to hurt my feelings and

21:39

it did work. Okay you're so rude. So

21:42

you know I went I went home I

21:44

looked in my magnifying mirror for a little

21:46

too long. Turns out

21:49

crows maybe have good eyesight. I don't know.

21:51

Either way I mean she's not

21:53

wrong. I am dehydrated and

21:55

none of my moisturizers seem to

21:57

be working. So you know what I did?

22:00

You know what I did, Jen? I hopped

22:02

on over to Apostrophe. Oh

22:04

yes! Apostrophe, if you don't

22:06

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22:09

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22:11

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22:15

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22:18

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22:22

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22:24

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22:27

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22:29

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22:35

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22:37

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22:40

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22:42

then a dermatologist will create a

22:44

customized treatment plan just for you. So

22:47

don't worry, Joan. I'll be hydrated and

22:50

glowing in no time. Just

22:52

like Paul. He's

22:54

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23:09

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23:12

this code is only available to

23:14

our listeners. That little problem I

23:16

mentioned? Joe Jr. died.

23:19

Yeah, I'm sorry to just dump it on you like that, but

23:21

listen, I didn't know how to do it. You

23:24

see, he dies in a kind of

23:26

mysterious plane crash in 1944. He's

23:29

also in the army, but the circumstances around

23:31

his death are a little... weird.

23:36

The government never disclosed how he died

23:38

exactly and why the plane even went

23:40

down. So, you know, I guess

23:42

we'll never know. But what we

23:45

do know is that he died.

23:47

And this gaping hole in the family

23:49

tree meant that someone had to step up

23:51

and fast. JFK is

23:53

27 at the time, and he's

23:55

essentially next in line for the throne. Suddenly

23:58

he's the one feeling that pressure. eldest

24:00

boy pressure, you know, it's given

24:03

succession, you know? Growing

24:05

up his mom Rose told all of

24:07

her kids that quote, to whom much

24:09

is given, much is expected,

24:12

unquote, iconic, right? And this is

24:14

basically like the Kennedy family motto,

24:17

some bumper stickers, hats,

24:19

t-shirts, just kidding, but

24:22

like I love it. So after Joe

24:24

Jr. died, both Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy

24:26

expected big things from JFK.

24:29

Actually, they were expecting him to be

24:31

like his older brother. Suddenly, all the

24:33

dreams they had for their oldest son

24:35

just transferred right on down to little

24:38

JFK. In 1952, JFK,

24:40

now 35, ran for Senate and

24:42

what's crazy is that he was

24:44

considered an underdog at the time.

24:46

He was also considered a man

24:48

of the people. He represented progress

24:50

and hope and it was kind

24:52

of a threat to the existing

24:54

politicians, so everyone was was really

24:56

shocked when he won and this

24:58

really put the political spotlight on

25:00

JFK for the first time. But

25:03

was this enough for Dutty? Of

25:06

course not, no. Like I said,

25:08

everything that was planned for Joe

25:10

Jr. suddenly fell onto JFK's shoulders.

25:13

So the family decided that in 1960,

25:15

he was going to run for president,

25:17

god damn it. Another problem?

25:19

Yes, another problem. Even though JFK

25:22

had been in Congress for

25:24

14 years at this point, he

25:26

wasn't really seen as much of a

25:28

threat going into the presidential election. Apparently,

25:31

he was most known for being a

25:33

quote witty playboy more than anything else.

25:36

So he wasn't really like taken seriously. JFK

25:38

had gotten married in 1953 to

25:41

Jacqueline Kennedy-O-Nassus. Or

25:44

as most of us know her, Jackie

25:46

O. They were a very hot, it

25:49

couple. Jackie was seen as this

25:51

cool fashion icon girl who like

25:53

studied in France. She's like,

25:55

oh, we we. And then JFK was,

25:57

you know, JFK. They

26:00

were a good looking couple, but

26:03

just like his daddy, he too

26:05

loved the ladies. A little too

26:08

much. Actually a

26:10

lot. Okay. Some people claim that this

26:12

was always a major issue in their

26:14

marriage and Jackie hated it. Other

26:16

people say that Jackie knew what she

26:19

was getting into when she married JFK

26:21

and she just like tolerated it, but

26:23

who knows for sure. Anyway,

26:25

when JFK announces that he's running

26:27

for president, there's plenty of

26:29

people who were skeptical. Besides

26:31

being a witty playboy, he

26:34

was also Irish Catholic.

26:36

No US president had ever been Irish

26:39

Catholic before. It's hard to

26:41

imagine nowadays, but back then this was a

26:43

huge issue. JFK was essentially facing

26:45

the same issues that his dad

26:47

had dealt with, but on a

26:49

much bigger scale. But

26:52

if there's one thing that's going to

26:54

help you win an election, it's

26:56

money baby. MUNNER. And

27:00

like the Kennedys, they had plenty

27:02

of it. They didn't need to depend

27:04

on donors like everyone else. Papa

27:06

Joe was ready to shell out the big

27:08

bucks to make sure his boy won. That's

27:11

my boy. JFK was

27:13

pretty like shameless about his wealth. He

27:16

flaunted it, you know, and publicly

27:18

would joke about his dad essentially

27:21

buying the election. Oh

27:23

yeah. JFK is on record saying

27:25

quote, I have just received

27:27

the following wire from my generous daddy.

27:29

Dear Jack, don't buy a single vote

27:31

more than necessary. I'll be

27:34

damned if I am going to pay for a

27:36

landslide. End quote. Alright.

27:39

Good for daddy, huh? JFK's campaign

27:41

was called quote, the most highly

27:43

financed, the most plush, the most

27:45

extravagant in the history of politics

27:48

in the United States. I

27:50

guess even still, it was a close ass race.

27:53

At this time, JFK was up

27:55

against Richard Nixon and the

27:57

one contest Nixon wasn't beating Kennedy yet.

28:00

Yeah, was the beauty

28:02

contest girl. I mean,

28:04

Kennedy was like bronze, he had nice

28:06

hair, he was like, ah. And get

28:08

this, this was the first televised presidential

28:10

debate, so looks mattered.

28:12

And everyone was tuning in to

28:15

watch this debate. Many historians say

28:17

that a major reason JFK won

28:19

the presidency was because he was

28:21

simply better looking. I

28:24

mean, I get it, I'd vote for the hot one. You

28:26

know, I'm like, damn, he's fine. Joan,

28:28

is that why you support JFK? Ah,

28:31

split. Ah, ah, I'm a

28:33

skinny girl. So in

28:35

1961, JFK fulfilled his daddy's

28:38

biggest dream and became the

28:40

35th president of the United

28:42

States. Do, do, do,

28:45

do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

28:48

Woo, you know, yeah, there was a

28:50

hottie for the first term in the White House. Ah,

28:52

and a Catholic. Ah, girl,

28:54

the Irish Catholic community was

28:57

stoked. This was a big win

28:59

for them. And for Papa

29:01

Joe, it was said that, quote, the

29:03

election of John F. Kennedy as president

29:05

of the United States was the ultimate

29:08

victory for Joseph Sr., who

29:10

as a Catholic had been belittled

29:12

and excluded by a person's elite

29:14

society. And, quote, it's not like

29:16

his dad really ended up marrying him. Basically,

29:19

if you ever had beef with anyone, just

29:21

pressure your son or daughter into

29:24

becoming the president and, like, they'll

29:26

show them. So

29:28

now just a little fun fact. Remember that

29:30

coconut that John carved the help message into?

29:33

You know, his little friend Wilson? Well, he

29:35

turned it into a paperweight and

29:37

it was on his desk when he was president. Beautiful,

29:40

just a full circle moment for

29:42

that coconut. But, you know, it

29:44

wasn't all sunshine and lollipops because

29:47

remember how I mentioned that JFK was known

29:49

for being a bit of a playboy? Well,

29:52

that didn't stop when he became president. No,

29:55

you thought, but it didn't. Luckily

29:57

for JFK, back in the 60s, There

30:00

was like an unwritten rule that the

30:02

press didn't report on the president's private

30:05

life. I know how

30:07

nice, huh? Especially when it came

30:09

to extramarital affairs. So I

30:11

guess like the newspapers, they just looked the other way.

30:14

It was just a really different time, you know?

30:16

But even if the papers weren't talking,

30:19

JFK, he was. So

30:21

after only meeting the Prime Minister

30:24

of England once, JFK

30:26

told him, quote, I get these

30:28

terrible headaches if I don't have

30:30

a woman every three days, unquote. I

30:32

mean, same. I get massive diarrhea if

30:34

I don't have a man every three days. But

30:37

he's the president. Be better. Huh? He

30:40

just said a woman. So,

30:42

you know, like not his wife, not Jackie.

30:45

Just a woman, any woman,

30:47

any woman with a hole or a mouth,

30:49

which is a hole. Hole? Moving

30:52

on. Some of these women

30:54

eventually came forward to share their experience

30:57

when they felt like it was safe enough

30:59

to do so. One of these

31:01

women was named Mimi Alford. Now

31:04

Mimi was literally four days

31:06

into her internship at the White House

31:09

and only just 19 years old when

31:11

JFK invited her to go swimming

31:14

in the White House pool. So

31:16

I mean, it's her

31:18

fourth day. So Mimi felt like

31:21

she couldn't turn down an invitation

31:23

from the president of the United States

31:26

to go swimming. So she

31:28

said, OK, again,

31:30

what else are you going to say except? Yes. So

31:33

later that night, she ends up

31:35

meeting with the president again in like

31:37

his room situation. And he

31:39

asked if she wanted to go on a private tour

31:41

of the White House. So he gives

31:44

her a little tour and he takes her

31:46

to like his wife's bedroom and was like,

31:48

here's my wife's bedroom. And he's like, OK,

31:50

great. Then he brings her back to his

31:53

room where the two would go on to

31:55

have sexual relations. And

31:58

that's the first place Mimi had sex. for

32:00

the first time in her whole life,

32:02

you know, with a 45 year old man who

32:05

happens to be the president and her boss. I

32:07

know, and I was like, wait a second. The

32:10

White House had a pool? What? Is

32:12

it heated? I guess it was because JFK had

32:14

like a bad back, so he liked the pool heated,

32:16

so it felt good on his back. But

32:19

then they sense covered it. So it no

32:21

longer has a pool. So JFK continued to

32:23

keep Mimi close to him, especially

32:25

times when Jackie wasn't around. That's the only

32:27

time he called her. So over

32:29

time, this made a lot of the other

32:32

interns at the White House question

32:34

Mimi, dislike her, kind of talk

32:36

behind her back, because

32:38

they saw that she was getting special treatment.

32:41

And also she wasn't even doing her job anymore

32:43

at one point. She was like there just

32:46

to be Kendi's girlfriend kind of

32:48

whatever, you know? And if this

32:50

is sounding romantic to you, okay. Well,

32:54

behind closed doors, JFK

32:56

was asking for some pretty

32:59

messed up things, you know? Mimi came out

33:02

with a book many years later called

33:04

Once Upon a Secret. I read

33:06

it over the weekend, really well written. So

33:09

good. And in the book, she

33:11

includes some truly like just sad moments.

33:13

So one time they're swimming in the

33:15

pool and JFK turns to Mimi and

33:18

tells her to quote, take care of

33:21

his friend. So she swims over

33:23

to the guy and she ends up performing some

33:25

like, you know, mouth service

33:27

to this man while JFK

33:30

floated and watched. Yeah.

33:33

And I guess Mimi wasn't the only one.

33:35

He was having tons and tons of affairs.

33:38

But the only affair that people were

33:40

really talking about was with like the

33:42

hottest person in America. Hey,

33:46

Joan, what do you think this rash is right here?

33:48

It keeps spreading. Do you think I'm gonna have

33:51

to get my arm chopped off? Will

33:53

I be able to host a show? Who's gonna help me host

33:55

the show? There's no me, is it

33:57

contagious? You know? What's

33:59

that, Paul? I

34:01

should go see a doctor. Fine

34:04

you guys, I'll stop being so dramatic. Paul,

34:06

give me that phone so I can make

34:08

an appointment to see a professional and not

34:10

a crow with ZocDoc.

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and I don't even know why I

34:31

went to you Joan. I'm sorry. On

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34:46

It's like a little too easy. I

34:48

mean the typical wait time to see a

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34:52

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34:55

I mean that's it. You can even

34:57

score same day appointments. So like

34:59

in my case, I, you know, maybe I won't have to

35:02

chop my arm off or maybe I

35:04

will. We'll see. Stay

35:06

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35:08

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35:13

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35:21

history. Thanks

35:24

for reminding me, Cole. So

35:30

I don't spiral. The

35:32

president and none other than Marilyn

35:34

Monroe were seen hanging out together

35:36

at parties in Malibu, Palm Springs,

35:39

and New York. And of

35:41

course there were rumors. As

35:43

these rumors sometimes made it into

35:45

the tabloids, but people weren't really

35:47

sure like what was happening. That

35:50

is until the birthday song.

35:53

Happy birthday,

35:57

Mr. President.

36:00

Very famous. Some

36:03

people saw that shit, they were like, mmmhmm.

36:05

There was this big gala at Madison Square Garden on

36:08

May 19th, 1962. And

36:11

Marilyn Monroe comes out on the stage in

36:13

this skin tight dress that she literally had

36:15

to be sewn into. It was

36:17

gorgeous on her. That bod, wow. And

36:20

she sings the sexiest version of Happy

36:22

Birthday you've ever heard in your life.

36:25

According to Marilyn's close friends, she wasn't

36:28

wearing any kind of bra or underwear

36:30

either. It was like the closest thing

36:32

to being naked you could get away with at

36:34

an event like this. It's also

36:36

the dress that Kim Kardashian wore at the Met

36:38

Gala. Remember? Everyone

36:41

was like outraged. Oh, God, Shay, oh my

36:43

God. But it's a pretty dress. Right?

36:47

Don't come for me. After the song,

36:49

when they're giving JFK his birthday cake,

36:51

he apparently said, quote, I can now

36:53

retire from politics after having had Happy

36:55

Birthday sung to me in such a

36:57

sweet, wholesome way. Hahahaha.

37:01

Who's joking, of course, because her

37:04

delivery and dress and everything had

37:06

been very sexual.

37:09

I'm sure she saw it, but thankfully

37:11

Jackie wasn't there that night. But

37:13

of course, she heard about it.

37:16

I mean, everyone heard about it.

37:18

The exchange between Marilyn and JFK

37:20

was so tongue in cheek and

37:22

familiar that people were like, oh,

37:25

yeah, baby. It

37:28

was a pretty wild thing for Marilyn to do. But

37:30

at this point, her life was

37:32

in a bit of shambles. The

37:35

studio she worked for was trying to fire

37:37

her and she wasn't getting any movie offers.

37:40

She was a bit of a loose cannon. So

37:42

this was all bad news for JFK because

37:45

he couldn't risk a scandal. And

37:47

Marilyn was apparently running her mouth

37:49

around town just talking about how the

37:51

president was planning on divorcing Jackie

37:54

and was going to marry her. Now

37:57

Marilyn was big trouble for

37:59

JFK. JFK. I mean think about

38:01

it. None of the other girls he was

38:03

sleeping with had the platform or power to

38:05

like ruin his life the way that Marilyn

38:08

could. And many believe she was having

38:10

an affair with not only JFK, but

38:13

also his younger brother, Bobby

38:15

Kennedy. So

38:20

not long after this whole birthday thing

38:22

happened, JFK just like stopped taking

38:25

Marilyn's calls. I guess she was like

38:27

calling at the White House, too. I

38:30

mean he was just like straight-up afraid of what

38:32

she might reveal next.

38:36

Less than three months after the happy

38:38

birthday song on August 4th, 1962, Marilyn

38:43

Monroe died. The LA

38:45

County coroner's office ruled her death as

38:47

a probable

38:49

suicide. Huh?

38:52

Yeah, but people

38:54

think that JFK's brother Bobby,

38:57

who was Attorney General at the time, may

38:59

have even played a role in Marilyn's death.

39:02

Witnesses claim to have heard a disturbing

39:04

tape from Marilyn's home from the night

39:06

of her death and on it you

39:08

can hear the voices of two men.

39:11

Many believe that one of the male

39:13

voices is actually Bobby Kennedy screaming

39:15

at Marilyn. Marilyn's own

39:17

ex-husband, famous baseball player Joe

39:19

DiMaggio, always blamed the

39:22

Kennedys for her death. Oh, yeah.

39:24

He said, quote, the whole lot of

39:26

Kennedys were lady killers and they always

39:28

got away with it. They'll be getting

39:31

away with it a hundred years from

39:33

now. End quote. Then like

39:35

tragedy strikes again. On November

39:37

22nd, 1963,

39:39

in Gallus, Texas, JFK

39:42

was assassinated. He was just minding

39:45

his own business, waving people, riding

39:47

in a convertible with his wife Jackie, doing

39:50

a little, you know, tour of the state. He's

39:52

like, yay, thank you. Everyone's cheering for him and

39:55

then out of nowhere,

39:57

a man named Lee Harvey Arden,

40:00

Oswald shoots him. And

40:03

we literally don't know why he

40:05

did it, because two days later

40:07

Oswald is shot and killed. What

40:09

the cover up is happening? According

40:11

to Time Magazine, quote, the explanation

40:14

of Oswald's motive for killing President

40:16

Kennedy was buried

40:19

with him,

40:21

end quote.

40:25

So the morale in the Kennedy

40:27

family and the country in general

40:29

was in the gutter after JFK

40:31

was killed, but families like the

40:33

Kennedys have a plan for stuff

40:36

like this. They essentially have this

40:38

royal bloodline thing happening, right? It's

40:40

kind of like when Queen Elizabeth

40:42

II died, the throne

40:44

went to her son Charles, and

40:46

then eventually it's gonna go to

40:49

William. But like that's how the

40:51

Kennedys operated. So the family then

40:53

turned to their third oldest son

40:55

Bobby. After he made

40:57

a name for himself as the Attorney General,

40:59

it was decided that Bobby would run for

41:02

president. In 1968 things

41:04

were looking good on the campaign trail, but

41:07

then disaster struck. Oh

41:09

my god, I know. Bobby was assassinated on June

41:11

6, 1968. Like I said earlier, I mean we

41:15

could do an entire episode on just

41:18

Bobby alone. I mean this guy

41:20

made a lot of

41:22

enemies, and just like his older brother,

41:24

there were a lot of questions

41:27

and theories surrounding his death. But

41:29

like look, here we are.

41:31

Three Kennedy sons, Joe Jr.,

41:33

JFK, and Bobby, all

41:35

died young. Their sister Kathleen ended

41:38

up dying in a plane crash

41:40

in France at just 28 years old. And

41:45

then their sweet Rosemary, the forgotten

41:47

Kennedy child, who was forced to

41:49

get a lobotomy at age 23. Yeah,

41:52

well that left her unable to

41:54

speak and walk. And

41:56

she ended up spending the rest of her life

41:59

hidden away in an instant. But

42:01

at this point, people are looking around

42:03

like, what in the hell is going

42:05

on, right? They're honestly wondering if there's

42:07

truly some kind of Kennedy curse at

42:09

play here. Because my God, this like

42:11

is a lot for one family. And

42:14

that wasn't it. Joe Sr.

42:16

You know, daddy, after suffering from a stroke,

42:19

he ended up dying in 1969. I

42:22

know. Poor Rose, huh? The mom?

42:25

That's so sad. That's so sad.

42:29

But the show must go on. And

42:32

thankfully, the Kennedys, they had like one son

42:34

left. Okay, they're like, this is our, where

42:36

Rose is like, this is our last shot

42:38

at greatness. So the spotlight

42:41

turns to the baby of the family, Ted.

42:44

Now you think this is gonna go well? Well,

42:46

buckle in, okay? So

42:48

I hear life is normally easier being

42:51

the baby of the family. Like

42:53

the older siblings have paved the way

42:55

and the parents are just like, tired

42:58

by the time they have the last one.

43:00

So they let things slide a little bit

43:02

more. Now this was not true with the

43:05

Kennedy family. I mean, from day

43:07

one, Ted was living in the shadow of

43:09

his older brothers, but he really

43:11

wasn't that upset about it, you know? Joe

43:14

Jr., John and Bobby essentially gave Ted

43:16

the cheat code on how to succeed

43:18

in a family that demanded the kids

43:20

be perfect. That

43:22

image was everything to the Kennedys. I mean,

43:24

it was, and then all their kids started

43:26

dying, so that's gotta be shitty. So

43:29

after graduating from Harvard, like all the

43:31

boys in the family, Ted became

43:33

a lawyer and started to make his way in

43:36

the world. In 1962, he

43:38

was elected to the Senate where he

43:40

became a major power player over the

43:42

years. And all in all, I mean, things

43:44

were going pretty well. That is. Penn

43:46

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43:48

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43:50

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44:02

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44:06

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44:08

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44:10

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44:12

delivered or stop at a Penn Station near

44:15

your Penn Station East Coast Subs. Until the

44:17

candy curse strikes again. In 1964, Ted was

44:19

in a private airplane, I

44:23

know, we were, that was

44:25

traveling from D.C. to Massachusetts.

44:28

Bad weather became an issue and during

44:30

the final approach, the

44:32

plane crashed in an apple orchard.

44:35

It was bad. So the plane crashes

44:38

and the pilot and one of Ted's

44:40

aides died on impact. Ted's

44:42

wife, Joan, had survived and so

44:45

did another senator and his wife

44:47

who were passengers on the plane. After like

44:49

they all climbed out, the plane went up

44:51

in flames. It was very dramatic. Now

44:54

Ted was still in the plane and

44:57

they probably assumed that he was dead. As

45:00

the senator and the wives are escaping to

45:02

safety, Ted lets out a

45:04

whimper and the senator hears his

45:06

whimper, goes back and

45:09

pulls Ted from the wreckage, saving

45:11

his life. Yeah, so

45:15

very, yes, another

45:17

plane crash. Is it not weird? It's weird.

45:20

But after he recovered, Ted rolled up his sleeves

45:22

and came back to the Senate ready to do

45:24

work. He

45:27

had friends in both the Democratic and

45:30

Republican parties and people just generally really

45:32

loved the guy. I mean, the guy

45:34

was energetic, friendly, outgoing, and could make

45:36

people laugh. So after his brothers were

45:38

killed, it looked like Ted was

45:41

next in line to make a run for

45:43

president. But understandably, Ted

45:45

was terrified. I mean, sure, he wanted

45:47

the job, but Time Magazine reported

45:49

that Ted also had a quote, a

45:52

doomed feeling about the prospect, end

45:55

quote. I mean, Ted himself even addressed

45:57

the elephant in the room about running for

45:59

president. He reportedly said, quote, I know

46:01

that I'm going to get my ass shot

46:03

off one day and I don't want to

46:06

end quote. Fair? Fair?

46:09

Yeah. Either way, the

46:11

summer of 1969 rolls around and

46:13

Ted's presidential image is gaining some

46:15

serious heat. It's looking like a

46:17

sure thing that he's going to be the

46:20

front runner for the upcoming presidential election. That

46:23

is, until one fateful

46:25

night Ted's world came crashing

46:27

down. Well, he did some

46:29

stupid shit. Okay. Listen, because the

46:32

day is July 18th, 1969. Ted

46:35

and a bunch of friends are in

46:37

Martha's Vineyard. I hear it's

46:39

real fancy, but it's like an island where

46:41

rich white people race expensive boats and be

46:44

rich and stuff and wear like the sweaters

46:46

tied around their necks. Yeah.

46:49

And that's exactly why Ted was there. Ted

46:51

was racing in the Kennedy family's

46:53

prized sailboat. Because of course

46:55

they had one. So later that

46:57

day, they all went to a different

47:00

island called Chappaquiddick for a cookout. I

47:02

know I wonder what kind of food they eat. Cause you know, it's

47:05

not a hot dog. Anyways, but

47:07

Ted had co-hosted the event for people

47:09

who worked in his brother's campaign the

47:11

year before. Almost like it

47:13

was closure for everyone after the assassination. But

47:16

here's the thing, the party was

47:18

thrown specifically for a group of six women

47:20

who were all single. So these

47:22

six women were known as the Boiler

47:25

Room Girls because they had

47:27

worked in a windowless room in Bobby's

47:29

election office. So I

47:31

get him some sunlight. God damn. You got the money

47:33

bro. Well, the day party

47:35

turned into a night party. They were

47:37

all drinking a lot. Okay.

47:40

It's around 11 15 PM. Ted

47:43

decides to get behind the wheel of

47:45

a black Oldsmobile and writing shotgun was

47:47

one of those Boiler Room Girls. Her

47:49

name was Mary Jo Kapechnie. Now

47:52

Mary Jo was described as a

47:54

smart 28 year old political

47:56

staffer who worked on both

47:58

JFKs and Bobs. campaigns.

48:00

So yeah, she

48:03

likes working for the Kennedys. To this day

48:05

there's all sorts of speculation as to why

48:07

Ted and Mary Jo were in the car

48:09

together. You know, like, were they headed to

48:12

Bone Town? No one

48:14

really knows why they were together, okay? I'm

48:16

sure we can use our imagination, but they

48:18

were together. But according to Ted, he was

48:20

saying that Mary Jo had gotten sick and

48:23

he was taking her to the ferry so

48:25

she could go back to her hotel and

48:27

sleep it off. The ferry was the only

48:29

way to get from the island back to

48:31

the mainland. So Ted is driving,

48:34

you know, as one does. So he's

48:36

driving and he's been drinking. He's driving

48:38

and then at some point he drove

48:40

the car off a bridge and it

48:42

landed upside down in a pond. Don't

48:46

drink and drive kids and

48:48

adults. Stop being idiots.

48:51

Anyways, so they're upside down in the pond

48:54

and even with a head injury Ted somehow

48:56

managed to get out of the car.

48:58

But Mary Jo did not.

49:01

According to testimony, Ted said he dived

49:03

down to the car like seven or

49:05

eight times during a 20-minute period trying

49:08

to save Mary Jo. But

49:10

I guess he was just never able

49:12

to get her. So Ted ends up

49:15

walking back to a cottage at like

49:17

12 15 a.m. where two of his closest

49:19

friends are. Ted gets to these guys and

49:21

tells them what happened and the

49:23

three of them return and again like try to

49:26

get down there and retrieve Mary Jo.

49:29

The whole time telling Ted that like he

49:31

needs to call the cops and report what

49:33

happened. So then it gets it

49:36

gets very flipperish again. Instead of like

49:39

taking the ferry back to the mainland,

49:41

Ted ends up jumping in the water

49:43

and swims back to

49:45

Edgar Town. What's

49:48

up with these people? What?

49:50

You know? Like make it make sense.

49:53

And I guess when he arrives back into

49:55

town Ted doesn't report what

49:57

happened. Ted

50:00

goes back to the hotel to change

50:02

his clothes and then I

50:04

guess he just pastes in his room

50:06

until 7am. I don't know,

50:08

I feel like he could have

50:11

called the cops, right? Oh, okay.

50:13

Then at 7.30am outside the hotel,

50:15

Ted runs into the guy who

50:17

won the sailboat race the day

50:19

before. He's like, yeah, sick sailboat.

50:22

I guess they just chatted about boats.

50:25

Yeah. And Ted

50:27

even said that like, yeah, am I

50:29

joining for breakfast? I'm down. Yeah.

50:33

So, everyone who saw Ted that day said

50:36

he looked totally normal like nothing was wrong.

50:38

You know, like he didn't just drive an

50:40

Oldsmobile into a pond and kill a woman. So

50:43

it isn't until 10am when

50:46

Ted contacts the local police to tell

50:48

them about the car wreck. Mary

50:50

Jo Kapechny's body remained stuck in

50:53

that car under that murky

50:55

water for about 10 hours

50:57

before she was retrieved. Ted,

50:59

that's fucked up. Boo.

51:02

So, when the Chappaquiddick incident broke

51:04

in the national news, well, of

51:06

course, people went nuts. I

51:08

mean, there were so many questions like, why

51:11

were they together in the car? Why

51:13

did the car go off the road? Is there

51:15

something Ted is hiding? Well, obviously, he was

51:18

hiding the fact that he just like killed

51:20

someone, you know? There was a

51:22

whole lot of people who think that Ted didn't

51:24

call the cops right away because, you know, he

51:26

was drunk. He didn't want that blood

51:28

alcohol test. If he were driving

51:30

drunk, it would be evidence of illegal

51:32

activity and Ted could get booked for

51:34

involuntary manslaughter. All the stuff Ted

51:37

would know because he's a lawyer.

51:40

And then, okay, so the news comes out, whatever. And

51:42

then all of a sudden, Ted

51:44

is spotted publicly wearing a neck brace

51:48

on multiple occasions. Like,

51:50

nothing else looked injured. He was just wearing

51:52

a neck brace, you know, for the cameras.

51:54

It just feels a little photo-oppy. Like, hey,

51:56

Mary Jo just died, but my

51:59

neck. I'm hurt too, see?

52:01

My neck, I'm hurt. In

52:03

a national televised speech the week after

52:05

Mary Jo's death, Ted claimed

52:07

he didn't drive drunk, and

52:10

there was no immoral conduct happening.

52:13

He then blamed his weird actions

52:15

after the accident on his concussion.

52:18

Shock and confusion. Now as

52:20

to why the car went off the road and into

52:22

the pond, Ted blamed everything

52:25

but himself. He was like the road was unlit,

52:27

the bridge, it was narrow, and he had to

52:29

get a guard and no guard rail. No,

52:32

no, no, no. Just saying words,

52:35

you know. Not telling the

52:37

truth. Well actually, the truth

52:39

is that we will never really know what

52:41

happened in Chepquiddick, but I'm

52:44

sure we don't guess, right? He

52:46

should have been locked up for that, that's fucked up. But

52:49

what we know for sure is that

52:51

this essentially ended any chance of Ted

52:53

becoming president. Which is

52:55

ironic because all this happened while Apollo

52:57

11 was landing on the moon. You

53:00

know, an event that his brother

53:02

JFK promised would happen when he

53:05

was president. Ted eventually pled

53:07

guilty to leaving the scene of an

53:09

accident and spent zero

53:11

time in jail. Even though

53:13

his shot at the presidency was gone, he

53:16

did continue on in the Senate for

53:18

another 40 years. So

53:22

he can be a murderer and still be in the Senate

53:24

for 40 years? Wow. And to

53:26

be fair, I mean during this time he

53:28

did some great work, he helped pass some

53:30

like major laws and stuff, but... Eh.

53:34

Over the years, more Kennedy family

53:37

members would experience untimely death. For

53:39

example, Bobby, the one who was

53:42

also assassinated, his son Michael had

53:44

died at the age of 39 after a skiing accident. And

53:48

JFK's son, John Jr., died in

53:50

a plane crash in

53:52

1999 along with his wife Carolyn. Damn,

53:56

I know, I mean it's clear that Kennedy

53:58

family should just stay with. from

54:00

airplanes. And hey, I mean,

54:02

these men are risk takers, I guess, but

54:04

even so, it really feels like there may

54:07

be some truth to this whole like curse

54:09

thing, right? Look, curse or not, there are

54:11

two types of people in this world. People

54:14

who worship the ground the Kennedy's walk on,

54:17

and people who say they're snobs who think they

54:19

can get away with anything. Or maybe even you're

54:21

in the middle and you're like, who? I

54:24

don't know, maybe you were just born like, you

54:26

know, recently, welcome to earth. Wherever

54:29

side do you land on? You can't deny

54:31

that this family is the closest thing America

54:34

may ever have to a royal family.

54:36

And their cultural influence is

54:39

massive. The Kennedy family

54:41

has produced a

54:43

president, lawyers, senators,

54:45

authors, actors, actresses,

54:47

journalists, activists, ambassadors, socialites,

54:50

for lantropists, I

54:53

got it. And like, honestly, the list

54:55

goes on. But with all the scandals,

54:58

alleged coverups, and tragedy in their history,

55:01

it's kind of easy to like gloss

55:03

over some of the incredible stuff they

55:05

did. For example, Eunice Kennedy invented the

55:08

Special Olympics. JFK created

55:10

the Peace Corps, and he launched

55:12

the space program as we know

55:14

it. The family has more charities,

55:16

foundations, and nonprofits than you can

55:18

count. And you can't deny their

55:20

commitment to public service. Now

55:22

from 1946 to 2024, there

55:26

has only been four years where

55:28

there wasn't a Kennedy in the

55:30

United States Congress. Can you

55:32

believe that? I know. You can say

55:35

they were only able to do that because

55:37

of their money and privilege. I mean, yeah,

55:39

sure, that is true. But they also could

55:41

have done like nothing with their money and

55:43

privilege and just be rich, you

55:46

know, a lot easier. And to be

55:48

clear, they shouldn't be let off

55:50

the hook for anything, especially

55:52

like, I don't know, reckless

55:54

driving that results in murder. And

55:57

we all know. If you put someone on a

55:59

pedestal, and you look at them

56:01

like they're gods, you're

56:03

just setting yourself up for disappointment. And

56:06

while we're on the subject of celebs, you

56:08

need to come back next week because they

56:10

were at the center of a bloody event

56:13

from American history that no one talks

56:15

about. Oh god, what is

56:17

it? Back in the early 1800s,

56:20

actors in the theater were

56:23

America's A-listers and

56:25

their fans would like do anything for that,

56:27

even if that meant turning New York into

56:30

a war zone and murdering innocent

56:32

people. Super fans they

56:34

call them. Next week we're going to

56:36

learn about the Aster Place riot.

56:39

Have you heard about it? I didn't think so, so come back next

56:41

week because girls wild. Well

56:45

how was that? Did you learn something new?

56:47

I hope so. Well thank you for

56:49

hanging out with me today. You can join me over

56:52

on my YouTube where you can actually watch these

56:54

episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs.

56:56

And while you're there also catch my

56:58

murder, mystery, and makeup. I would love

57:01

to hear your reactions to today's story

57:03

so make sure to use the hashtag

57:05

darkhistory over on social media so I can

57:07

see what you're saying. And I'm looking

57:09

now. Let's read a couple of comments

57:11

you guys left me. In our

57:14

Hedy Lamarr episode I asked

57:16

what should my LA name

57:18

be? And Jennifer Fenton 2074

57:21

has responded quote Linda Sapphire

57:23

should be your LA name.

57:25

I was not

57:28

expecting that. Linda Sapphire.

57:31

I sound very mature

57:33

and rich don't I? Sapphire, Linda?

57:35

Okay. We're like a rich stripper.

57:37

I'm not mad. Thank you for

57:40

your suggestion. Christine

57:43

Feliciano 3269 left

57:46

a comment on our B-baby

57:48

and Furby episode saying quote

57:50

hey dude hey do

57:53

you remember salute your shorts? Absolutely.

57:56

That theme song lives rent-free

57:58

in my mind. This

58:01

is like when Nickelodeon was at its peak and

58:03

I will fight anyone who disagrees with me. Thank

58:07

you for your comment.

58:09

Anderson SC8FE left us

58:11

an episode suggestion saying, Bailey,

58:14

could you do a dark history on Joan of

58:16

Arc, please? I've always been

58:18

curious about her story and think we'd do

58:20

a great job telling her story. Yeah,

58:24

one of my favorite Jones. I'm surprised we haven't

58:26

done an episode on her. Thank you

58:28

for your suggestion and I definitely want to do an

58:30

episode on her. I love you

58:32

for watching and I appreciate you

58:34

for engaging and commenting. So keep

58:36

it coming because maybe you'll be

58:38

featured. And hey, if you don't

58:40

know, dark history is an audio

58:42

boom original. This podcast

58:44

is executive produced by Bailey

58:47

Sarian, Junya McNeely from 3Arts,

58:49

Kevin Grush, and Matt

58:51

Enlow from Maiden Network. Writers

58:53

Joey Scaguzzo, Katie Burris, and

58:56

Allison Folobos. Production

58:59

lead, Brian Jaggers. Research

59:02

provided by Xander Elmore. A

59:04

special thank you to our

59:06

expert, Neil Thompson, and additional

59:08

links to Patrick Martin. And

59:11

I'm your host, Bailey Sarian.

59:13

I hope you have a good day

59:15

today. You make good choices and I'll be

59:17

talking to you next week. Goodbye.

59:20

Bye.