Brian Murphy - From Whence I Came: The Kennedy Legacy in Ireland and America

FROM WHENCE I CAME

In memory of Noel Whelan, 19682019

What he leaves to us is what he said, what he did,
and what he stood for.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy speaking at
the public memorial service for

Robert F. Kennedy at St Patricks Cathedral,
New York, 8 June 1968.

FROM WHENCE I CAME

THE KENNEDY LEGACY, IRELAND AND AMERICA

B RIAN M URPHY AND
D ONNACHA B EACHIN

First published in 2021 by

Merrion Press

10 Georges Street

Newbridge

Co. Kildare

Ireland

www.merrionpress.ie

Brian Murphy and Donnacha Beachin, 2021

978-1-78855-141-0 (Paper)

978-1-78855-142-7 (Kindle)

978-1-78855-143-4 (Epub)

978-1-78855-144-1 (PDF)

A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro 11/14.5 pt

Front cover image Mary Evans / Everett Collection

Back cover image (copyright symbol) White House Photographs,
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

Merrion Press is a member of Publishing Ireland.

CONTENTS

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
ON CONTRIBUTORS

Brian Murphy is a director of the Kennedy Summer School and a director of the John F. Kennedy Trust. He is a lecturer and member of the Academic Council at Technological University Dublin. He holds a PhD in Modern Irish History from the School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. Brians monograph Forgotten Patriot: Douglas Hyde and the Foundation of the Irish Presidency was published in 2016 by the Collins Press. He previously co-edited Brian Lenihan: In Calm and Crisis , the best-selling book on the public career of the former Minister for Finance. Brian is a former speechwriter and special adviser to two Taoisigh.

Donnacha Beachin is Professor of Politics at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University where he lectures on the post-Soviet region, unrecognised states, foreign policy and Irish studies. His books include Destiny of the Soldiers: Fianna Fil, Irish Republicanism and the IRA 19261973 , Political Communication in Ireland (co-edited with Mark OBrien) and From Partition to Brexit: The Irish Government and Northern Ireland , which is the 2019 recipient of the Brian Farrell book of the year award from the Political Studies Association of Ireland. He has twice (2012 and 2017) been awarded the accolade Champion of European Research by Irelands National Support Network for FP7 and Horizon 2020 in award ceremonies hosted by President Michael D. Higgins and the Minister of State for Training and Skills. The citation reads that as leaders of major research projects in the EU Framework Programme for Research and Development [these] researchers are deemed to have reached the pinnacle of the European Research System.

Mary E. Daly is Professor Emerita of History at University College Dublin and a former Principal of the UCD College of Arts and Celtic Studies. She has also held visiting positions at Harvard, Boston College and the European University Institute (EUI) in Fiesole. Professor Daly served on the National Archives Advisory Council, the Irish Manuscripts Commission and the Higher Education Authority. In 2015 she was appointed as a member of the Commission to Inquire into Mother and Baby Homes. Elected to the Royal Irish Academy in 1991, Mary served as Secretary of the RIA from 2000 to 2004 and was the first woman elected as President of the Royal Irish Academy, 201417. Her recent publications include Sixties Ireland: Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 19571973 (2016); and with Eugenio Biagini, The Cambridge Social History of Modern Ireland since 1740 (2017).

Tad Devine is a media consultant, writing, directing and producing television and radio advertising for leading Democratic and Independent candidates in the United States and providing strategic advice for national campaigns in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. In the United States, Tad has worked at the highest levels of campaigns for President of the United States. He served as senior adviser to the Bernie Sanders campaign for president in 2016. In 2000, he acted as senior strategist to the Gore/Lieberman campaign. In 2004, he served as a senior adviser and strategist to Senator John Kerrys campaign. A 2011 Fellow at The Institute of Politics at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, Tad has taught campaign management and strategy courses at New York University, University of Pennsylvania, Boston University and the George Washington University.

Larry Donnelly is a director of the Kennedy Summer School. From a Boston Irish political family, he is an attorney and was active in local politics there before relocating to Ireland. He is a lecturer and director of Clinical Legal Education in the School of Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is also a frequent commentator in the broadcast media about politics, law and current affairs in the United States and Ireland and a political columnist with TheJournal.ie .

Howard Keeley is the director of the Centre for Irish Research and Teaching at Georgia Southern University in Savannah, Georgia. He is also a member of the universitys Department of Literature. He has published articles on the representation of middle-class houses in post-Famine Irish literature. Dr Keeley (PhD Princeton) is the principal investigator on the WexfordSavannah research project, which examines the mid-nineteenth-century trade-and-migration axis that operated between County Wexford, Ireland, and Savannah. His efforts have resulted in Georgia Southern Universitys establishment, in November 2019, of an overseas learning facility in a heritage building in the town of Wexford.

Cody Keenan is a speechwriter who has worked with President Barack Obama for more than a decade, rising from a campaign intern in Chicago to Director of Speechwriting at the White House. He helped President Obama craft remarks on every topic for every audience from tiny backyards in Iowa to the biggest stadiums in the country; from a sermon in Selma to his farewell address. Educated at Northwestern University and Harvard University, Codys passion for public service was sharpened as a young aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Upon leaving the White House, President Obama asked Cody to continue their partnership as his post-presidential speechwriter. He is a visiting professor at the Department of Political Science, Northwestern University, a Fellow of American Universitys Sine Institute of Policy and Politics and a board member of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

Kerry Kennedy is the President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. Since 1981, she has worked on diverse human rights issues including child labour, disappearances, indigenous land rights, judicial independence, freedom of expression, ethnic violence, impunity, womens rights and the environment. Kerry founded RFK Compass, which convenes biannual meetings of institutional investors to address the impact of human rights violations on investment outcomes. She serves on the boards of the United States Institute of Peace, Human Rights First, Ethics in Action, SDG USA, Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa, Health eVillages, and the Kailash Satyarthi Childrens Foundation as well as several public companies. A graduate of Brown University and Boston College Law School, Kerry received the Medal for Social Activism from the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates along with many other awards and honorary degrees.