The Kennedy Brothers

Over 50 years after the Kennedy Brothers rose to political power in the United States, the name Kennedy remains the nation's most famous political name. From Curse to Camelot, the word evokes poignant memories of young men holding great promise, their ill-fated destinies, and their grasp on both political power and the national conscience. At the same time, each brother was his own man, and they all offered America something different.
In many ways, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his young family were the perfect embodiment of the '60s. The decade began with a sense of idealism, personified by the attractive Kennedy, his beautiful and fashionable wife Jackie, and his young children. Months into his presidency, Kennedy exhorted the country to reach for the stars, calling upon the nation to send a man to the Moon and back by the end of the decade. In 1961, Kennedy made it seem like anything was possible, and Americans were eager to believe him. The Kennedy years were fondly and famously labeled "Camelot," by Jackie herself, suggesting an almost mythical quality about the young President and his family.
As it turned out, the '60s closely reflected the glossy, idealistic portrayal of John F. Kennedy, as well as the uglier truths. The country would achieve Kennedy's goal of a manned moon mission, and the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally guaranteed minorities their civil rights and restored equality, ensuring that the country "would live out the true meaning of its creed." But the idealism and optimism of the decade was quickly shattered, starting with Kennedy's assassination in 1963. The '60s were permanently marred by the Vietnam War, and by the time Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated in 1968, the country was irreversibly jaded. The events of the decade produced protests and countercultures unlike anything the country had seen before, as young people came of age more quickly than ever.
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) was the quintessential middle brother among the Kennedys, eclipsed in life while working in his brother John's administration, eclipsed in death both by his older brother's assassination and his younger brother's long, influential career in the Senate as a liberal lion. And yet, the politics of the 1960s and the ultimate legacy of the Kennedys, including the "Kennedy Curse," would have been incomplete without Bobby's place in the narrative.
Ted may not have been the center of attention in the Kennedy family then or now, but he had the same charisma and skills of his older brothers, as well as the same controversial vices. And as fate would have it, Ted's political legacy may have eclipsed them all. His brothers were victims of two of the country's most tragic assassinations, two other siblings died in plane crashes, and he would have to eulogize nephews. But Ted had the extra gift of length of years, surviving his encounter with the "Kennedy Curse," a 1964 plane crash that severely injured and nearly killed him.
Together, the three men blazed different political paths, each forging their own legacy and combining to create the Kennedy family's legacy, one that still captures the imagination of the American public nearly 50 years after John's presidency. The Kennedy Brothers looks at their lives in detail, weaving them together in one chronological narrative that humanizes and highlights the similarities and differences of the brothers, their lives, and their legacies. Along with pictures of the important people, places, and events in their lives, you will learn about the Kennedy Brothers like you never have before, in no time at all.