View source for US History - Kennedy curse

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2014}}
The '''Kennedy tragedies''',<ref name=WP>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/jfkjr/timeline.htm|title=Kennedy Family Tragedies|work=[[The Washington Post]]|accessdate=August 26, 2009|date=July 18, 1999}}</ref><ref name=tribune>{{cite news |first1= Pat |last1= Carr |first2= Lee |last2= Hulteng |url= http://www.courant.com/news/politics/20090826_tragedies_kennedy,0,5261652.graphic |title= Kennedy Family Tragedies |work= [[The Hartford Courant|The Courant]] |location= Hartford, CT |accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref><ref name=boston>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/packages/jfkjr/mcgrory.htm |title= Family Overshadowed by a Litany of Tragedy |work= [[The Boston Globe]] |last=McGrory |first= Brian|date=July 18, 1999|accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref> commonly known as the '''Kennedy curse''', is a term sometimes used to describe a series of events involving members of the [[Kennedy family]].<ref name=boston/><ref name=klein>{{cite book |title= The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years |last= Klein |first= Edward |authorlink= Edward Klein |year= 2004 |publisher= [[St. Martin's Press]] |isbn=978-0-312-31293-0}}</ref><ref name=guardian>{{cite news |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/26/kennedy-curse-senator-ted-death |title=History of the Kennedy Curse |work= [[The Guardian]] |date= August 26, 2009 |last1= Jones |first1= Sam |last2= Tran |first2= Mark |accessdate= August 26, 2009 |location= London}}</ref><ref name=hartford>{{cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-kennedy-curse-pictures,0,1958578.photogallery|title=The Kennedy Curse|work= The Courant |location= Hartford, CT |accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref><ref name=abc>{{cite news |url= http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1926999 |title= Is Pat's Crash Part of Kennedy Curse? |work= [[Good Morning America]] |publisher= [[ABC News]] |date= May 5, 2006 |accessdate=August 26, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1918758,00.html?cnn=yes |title= Ted Kennedy, 1932–2009: The Brother Who Mattered Most |work= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] |last= Lacayo |first= Richard |date= August 26, 2009 |accessdate= August 26, 2009}}</ref> The notion of a curse is superstitious and was created and fostered by the [[news media]].<ref name="grady-macho">{{cite news |last= Grady |first= Sandy |title= There is No Kennedy Curse: It's Actually Too Much Macho |work= [[Rome News-Tribune]] |date= July 22, 1999 |url= http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19990722&id=vIEIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NjUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5215,5772560 |accessdate= August 29, 2009 |via= Google News }}</ref><ref name="skeptic">{{cite web |last= |first= |title= Kennedy Curse |work= [[The Skeptic's Dictionary]] |url= http://www.skepdic.com/kennedycurse.html |accessdate= August 29, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/periscope/talk-of-a-kennedy-curse-is-nonsense-latest-death-of-kara-revives-idle-chatter-130061473.html |title= Talk of a Kennedy Curse Is Nonsense, Latest Death of Kara Revives Idle Chatter |work= [[IrishCentral]] |last= O'Dowd |first= Niall |authorlink= Niall O'Dowd |date= September 18, 2011 |accessdate= May 19, 2012}}</ref>

==Chronology==
Believers in the curse generally cite the following events as evidence of the family's misfortunes:

<!--Do **not** add Ted Kennedy (died at 57), Eunice Kennedy (88), or anyone else who died from a non-unusual reason (cancer is not unusual) or at a non-unusual age or without a source calling it part of the Kennedy Tragedy/Curse. Discuss at Talk.-->
* 1941—[[Rosemary Kennedy]] was often believed to have been [[Intellectual disability|mentally challenged]]. Some sources have claimed she was suffering from mental illness, such as depression and [[schizophrenia]]. Because of her increasingly violent and severe mood swings, her father, [[Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.|Joe, Sr.]], arranged in secret for her to undergo a [[lobotomy]]. The lobotomy instead further impaired her cognitive abilities, and as a result, Rosemary remained institutionalized until her death in 2005.<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="cnn-king">{{cite news |title= Tragedy Has Repeatedly Stalked Kennedy Clan |first= John |last= King |authorlink= John King (journalist) |publisher= [[CNN]] |date= July 17, 1999 |accessdate= February 15, 2008 |url= http://edition.cnn.com/US/9907/17/kennedy.tragedies/}}</ref><ref name="abc2012"/>
* August 12, 1944—[[Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.]] died when his plane exploded over [[East Suffolk]], England, as part of [[Operation Aphrodite|Project Anvil]].
* May 13, 1948—[[Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington]] and the fourth child and second daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., died in a plane crash in [[France]].<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="abc2012"/>
* August 23, 1956—[[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy]] gave birth to a stillborn daughter.<ref name=hartford/> Although she is buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] next to her parents with a marker reading "Daughter", her parents had intended to name her "Arabella".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3001 |title=Arabella Kennedy (1956–1956) |work= Find A Grave Memorial}}</ref>
* August 9, 1963—[[Patrick Bouvier Kennedy]] died two days after his premature birth.<ref name=klein/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="cnn-king" />
* November 22, 1963—[[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[John F. Kennedy]] [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|was assassinated]] in [[Dallas|Dallas, Texas]]. [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] was charged with the crime, but was shot and killed by [[Jack Ruby]] two days later before a trial could take place. The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] and the [[Warren Commission]] officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. However, the [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations]] (HSCA) concluded that those investigations were seriously flawed and that Kennedy was probably assassinated as the result of a [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|conspiracy]].<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="abc2012"/>
* June 19, 1964—[[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[Ted Kennedy|Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy]] was involved in a plane crash in which one of his aides and the pilot were killed. He was pulled from the wreckage by fellow senator [[Birch E. Bayh II]] and spent weeks in a hospital recovering from a broken back, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name="abc2012"/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Kennedy-N344S.htm |publisher= Check-Six.com |title= The Luck of the Kennedys |accessdate= May 1, 2012 |date= May 8, 2008}}</ref>
* June 5, 1968—U.S. Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]] [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|was assassinated]] by [[Sirhan Sirhan|Sirhan Bishara Sirhan]] in [[Los Angeles]] immediately following his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary. Sirhan was convicted of Kennedy's murder and is serving a life sentence at the [[Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility]].<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="abc2012"/>
* July 18, 1969—In the [[Chappaquiddick incident]], Ted Kennedy accidentally drove his car off a bridge on [[Chappaquiddick Island]], fatally trapping his passenger, [[Mary Jo Kopechne]], inside.<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name=abc/><ref name="abc2012"/> In his July 25 televised statement, Kennedy stated that on the night of the incident he wondered "whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."<ref>{{cite news |title= 'Grief, Fear, Doubt, Panic'—And Guilt |work= [[Newsweek]] |date= August 4, 1969 <!--|accessdate=August 26, 2009-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite video |last= Kennedy |first= Ted |title= The Kennedys |medium= TV-series |work= [[American Experience]] |station= [[WGBH-TV]] |location= Boston |network= [[PBS]] |url= http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/kennedys/ |year= 2009 }}</ref>
* August 13, 1973—[[Joseph P. Kennedy II]] was the driver of a car which crashed and left his passenger, Pam Kelley, paralyzed.<ref name=klein/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="cnn-king" />
* November 17, 1973 - [[Edward M. Kennedy, Jr.|Ted Kennedy, Jr.]] had his right leg amputated because of bone cancer.
* October 30, 1975 - Martha Moxley, a 15 year old [[Greenwich, Connecticut]] resident, was bludgeoned to death with a golf club. In 2002, [[Michael Skakel]], nephew of [[Ethel Kennedy]], was convicted of felony murder for the crime. His conviction was reversed in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/nyregion/skakel-is-ordered-free-on-bail.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |title= After 11 Years in Prison, Skakel Goes Free on Bail |work= [[The New York Times]] |date= November 21, 2013 |accessdate= July 11, 2014 |location= New York}}</ref>
* April 25, 1984—[[David A. Kennedy|David Anthony Kennedy]] died of a [[cocaine]] and [[Demerol]] overdose in a [[Palm Beach, Florida]] hotel room.<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="cnn-king" /><ref name="abc2012"/>
* April 1, 1991—[[William Kennedy Smith]] was arrested and charged with the rape of a young woman at the Kennedy estate in Palm Beach, Florida. The subsequent trial attracted extensive media coverage.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/archive/1992/03/dunne199203 |title= The Verdict |last= Dunne |first= Dominick |authorlink= Dominick Dunne |date= March 1992 |work= [[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |accessdate=May 17, 2012}}</ref> Smith was acquitted.<ref name=WP/><ref name=boston/><ref name=klein/><ref name="cnn-king"/>
* December 31, 1997—[[Michael LeMoyne Kennedy]] died in a skiing accident in [[Aspen, Colorado]].<ref name=WP/><ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="cnn-king" /><ref name="abc2012"/> Earlier in 1997, Kennedy was suspected of statutory rape after having a three-year affair with a 14-year-old baby sitter.
* July 16, 1999—[[John F. Kennedy, Jr.]] [[John F. Kennedy, Jr. plane crash|died]] when the [[Piper PA-32R|Piper Saratoga]] light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] off the coast of [[Martha's Vineyard]] due to [[pilot error]]. [[Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy|His wife]] and a sister-in-law were also killed.<ref name=klein/><ref name=guardian/><ref name=hartford/><ref name="abc2012"/>
* September 16, 2011—[[Kara Kennedy|Kara Kennedy Allen]] died of a heart attack while exercising in a [[Washington, D.C.]] health club. Kennedy had reportedly suffered from lung cancer nine years earlier, but she had recovered after the removal of part of her right lung.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8771095/Kara-Kennedy-dies-aged-51.html |title= Kara Kennedy Dies Aged 51 |work= [[The Daily Telegraph]] |last= Goddard |first= Jacqui |date= September 17, 2011 |accessdate= May 19, 2012 |location= London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2039733/Kara-Kennedy-Lung-cancer-cure-caused-heart-attack.html |title= 'I'm So Grateful I Have Those Memories': Joan Kennedy Remembers Last Summer with Daughter Kara Before She Died |work= [[The Daily Mail]] |date= September 21, 2011 |accessdate= May 19, 2012 |location= London}}</ref>
* May 16, 2012—[[Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.#Personal life|Mary Richardson Kennedy]] hanged herself on the grounds of her home in Bedford, [[Westchester County, New York]].<ref name="abc2012">{{cite web |url= http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/kennedy-curse-political-familys-troubled-life/story?id=16362763 |title=Kennedy Curse: A Political Family's Troubled Life |publisher= ABC News |date= May 16, 2012 |last=Negrin |first= Matt |accessdate=May 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jsfT2VoGbAR2P9uBoMOiCBb6817g?docId=788fa9391b1f42e993f59fe3312a837b |title= RFK Jr.'s Troubled Estranged Wife Found Dead in NY |work= Google News |agency= [[Associated Press]] |date= May 16, 2012 |accessdate= May 16, 2012}}</ref>
* July 13, 2012 - [[Kerry Kennedy]] sideswiped a tractor trailer on [[Interstate 684]] while under the influence of [[zolpidem]], which Kennedy claimed to have mistaken for her daily thyroid medication.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-17/business/sns-rt-usa-newyorkkennedy-pixl2e8ihdyg-20120717_1_kerry-kennedy-mary-kennedy-seizure |work= [[Chicago Tribune]] |title= Kerry Kennedy Says Seizure, not Drugs, Caused Driving Accident |date= July 17, 2012}}</ref> She was acquitted on all charges on February 28, 2014.<ref>{{cite news |title= Kerry Kennedy Found Not Guilty of Drugged Driving in New York |url= http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Kerry-Kennedy-Verdict-Drugged-Driving-Trial-Crash-New-York-247613141.html |location= New York |publisher= [[WNBC-TV]] |date= February 28, 2014 |accessdate= May 16, 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Kennedy family}}

[[Category:Kennedy family]]
[[Category:Curses]]
[[Category:Assassination of John F. Kennedy]]