Raymond P. Sinibaldi - John F. Kennedy in New England

Images of Modern America

JOHN F. KENNEDY
IN NEW ENGLAND

Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, officially consists of a post office located next to a seasonal convenience store. Census records indicate there are 193 housing units, of which 144 are seasonal, and the population is 543. One of those happened to be the 35th president of the United States. The Kennedys transformed this tiny little hamlet into an international landmark. (Cecil Stoughton.)

FRONT COVER: Those who knew him best would say that there were few things that John F. Kennedy enjoyed more than being at the tiller of a sailing ship. In 1962, he chose the Coast Guard yacht Manitou (Spirit of the Water) as the floating White House. In this image, he is sailing her in Rhode Island Sound in August 1962. (Robert Knudsen.)

UPPER BACK: It was a month after the death of Patrick Kennedy at just two days old, when JFK and his son John walked Baileys Beach in Newport, Rhode Island. The two explored a rowboat, which prompted a hug from dad. Those closest to the Kennedy family noted how the death of Patrick transformed the president and brought his family closer. (Cecil Stoughton.)

LOWER BACK COVER (from left to right): The president is driving around Hyannis Port, swarmed by nieces and nephews, a favorite pastime of Uncle Jack, a nickname of JFK. It has been said that the only time JFK carried any cash was when he would take the kids to buy penny candy in Hyannis Port. (Cecil Stoughton.); The first couple leave the hospital at Otis Air Force Base in Mashpee, Massachusetts, in August 1963. Jacqueline Kennedy remained hospitalized for a week following the cesarean birth of her son Patrick. The couple was captured holding hands, a rare public site. (Authors collection.); The president arrives for Sunday mass at Our Lady of Peace church in Booth Bay, Maine, on August 12, 1962. He arrived by boat to a crowd of about 2,500 who gathered in front of the Boothbay Fishermans Co-op welcoming him. Selectman Bob Grover told Booth Bay Register reporter Diane Randlett in 2012, The town was so excited to see the president, no one was a democrat or republican that day. (Cecil Stoughton.)

Images of Modern America

JOHN F. KENNEDY
IN NEW ENGLAND

RAYMOND P. SINIBALDI

Copyright 2017 by Raymond P. Sinibaldi
ISBN 978-1-4671-2521-5
Ebook ISBN 9781439660317

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016952612

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For William F. Kelly, Dada... I hardly knew ye

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to many for bringing this lifelong dream to fruition. Heading the list is Laurie Austin, the audiovisual archivist at the JFK Library. Her passion for history, knowledge of the subject matter, and drive to be the best she can be went a long way in assisting this effort to be the best that it could be. She is the consummate professional, and I am grateful for her contribution. Maryrose Grossman of the JFK Library audiovisual staff and her ability to read my mind brought a more comprehensive view to the project. Thank you to the entire staff at the JFK Library for their joyful assistance and hospitality. Jennifer Quan of the JFK Library Foundation, thank you for your graciousness. John Newberry, your generosity is appreciated. Debi Davis of Berlin, New Hampshire; John Kearns of the Dioceses of Fall River, Massachusetts; and Mike Habrel, thank you for your fact finding. Thanks go to Mary McIntosh, whose recollections were invaluable, and to nieces Cara and Kristi, for providing my summer base. Thank you to Willie and Paula for their inexhaustible support and to Nancy whose courage inspires all who are touched by her energy. Rach, Beth, Boom, Mook, and Jules tolerated and supported dads trip down his rabbit hole. Working with Ryan Easterling, Caitrin Cunningham, and Erin Vosgien of Arcadia Publishing has been simply delightful. And to Lynda, Im never going to lose your precious gift, it will always be that way.

Most the photographs contained herein came from the John F. Kennedy Library and, more specifically, from White House photographers Robert Knudsen and Cecil Stoughton. Knudsen and Stoughton photographs are noted with their last names. Uncited quotes within captions came from the JFK Library in either written letters or oral histories of the attributed individual. Words attributed to Jacqueline Kennedy are taken from her recorded interviews with Arthur Schlesinger.

INTRODUCTION

John F. Kennedys heritage was rooted in the country of Ireland and in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. His eight great-grandparents, bearing the names of Kennedy, Murphy, Hickey, Field, Fitzgerald, Cox, and Hannon, emigrated from Ireland dating back into the 1840s. Each of them came to the city of Boston seeking the economic opportunity offered in America. His paternal grandfather Patrick Kennedy represented parts of the city of Boston in both houses of the Massachusetts State Legislature from 1884 through 1896. His maternal grandfather John Honey Fitz Fitzgerald served in the Massachusetts Senate, represented Bostons ninth district in the US House of Representatives, and served as Bostons 38th and 40th mayor.

Born in the Boston suburb of Brookline, the second child of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald, JFK planted his roots in the city of his forbears and in the seaside community of Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Inspired by trips to the USS Constitution as a young boy, Kennedy was drawn to the sea. He once wrote, I have been interested in the sea from my earliest boyhood... My earliest recollections of the United States Navy go back to the days when, as a small boy, I used to be taken to the USS Constitution in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The sight of the historic frigate, with its tail spars and black guns, stirred my imagination and brought American history alive for me. His older brother Joe was born in Hull, Massachusetts, a seaside community on Bostons south shore. The little boy, whom they called Jack, spent times in Hull visiting his Grandpa Fitzgerald in his oceanfront home. It was in 1928 when he spent his first summer in Hyannis Port that his love affair with the sea was fostered, bloomed, and flourished. This love affair would mark him and then define him, and it would last a lifetime.

He has become an icon, which the Oxford Dictionary defines as a person... worthy of great respect and reverence. He has been marbleized by the mind-numbing events of that dark weekend in November over a half century ago. For those of us who were the children of his New Frontier, the images remain sharp, vivid, and clear, crystalized through the prism of time.

It is difficult to tell when one transitions from human to legend to hero to icon. In 25 years as a history teacher, I discovered a phenomenon I call the iconic streamline. This is simply the singular event for which said icon has come to be known. When students are asked what they know about a particular historical person, the responses are almost always the same: Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, Rosa Parks wouldnt give up her seat on the bus, and Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. Throughout my quarter century as a teacher, when I asked my students what they know about John F. Kennedy, the answer was virtually always the same: He got shot.