I was 10 years old when John F. Kennedy (JFK) was elected President of the United States in
1960. This is the first political event that I remember from my youth. I don't remember having any recollection
of the Kennedy family before the 1960 election. Sometime after the election I first heard the name Joseph P. Kennedy
(JPK), JFK's father. During my late teenage years I remember learning that Joseph P. Kennedy had died. In between
the inauguration and Joseph's death, JFK was assassinated, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated and the US was embroiled
in political turmoil on many fronts. During the 50 years between JFK's assassination and today I have picked up
bits and pieces of information about the Kennedy family from news articles, books and a variety of TV shows. I
considered myself reasonably knowledgeable about the Kennedy family.
A few weeks
ago I bought a book published earlier this year, The Patriarch The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of
Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw. I decided it was worth my time to learn more about what is probably the most
famous American family of the second half of the 20th century. I have spent many hours reading and digesting the
information of Nasaw's book. Periodically as I was reading I would stop and go online to research an event or individual
mentioned in the book. "Remarkable" is probably the best word to describe Joseph P. Kennedy's life.
I can't recap all of the highlights of the book because of the incredible amount of information that is included.
I have selected a few items that got my attention.
Joseph P. Kennedy (JPK) began
creating his wealth beginning in his early 20's, around 1910. His ability to make money and build wealth in
a wide range of industries was amazing. He made money in commercial banking, ship building, investment banking,
media and entertainment, stock trading, liquor distribution, commercial real estate, oil and gas and more. The book states
that all of JPK's business activities were legal under the laws of his era, but some of his actions were unethical
within the standards of his day, and were clearly unethical or illegal by today's standards. I read many years
ago that JPK made part of his fortune as a bootlegger during Prohibition. Nasaw states this was not the case.
JPK established trusts for his children and grandchildren when he was very young. The first set of trusts for
his children were established before all nine of his children were born. He established trusts for his grandchildren
before any of his children were married. There was no expectation that any of Joseph and Rose Kennedy's nine children
would ever have to work for a living as he did. JPK's goal was to make enough money for all of his children to
dedicate their lives to public service and not ever be concerned about their personal finances. The work of JPK's children was
to be public service and it was.
The book goes into great detail about the relationship
of JPK, Rose and their children. The only word I can use to describe JPK and Rose's parenting approach is
"strange". JPK and Rose did not spend a lot of timie with their children at home. JPK and Rose
traveled extensively, much of it separately and without their kids. The Kennedy children spent much of their school
years away from home. It is very hard for me to understand why JPK and Rose parented the way they did. But they
were extremely wealthy and could afford servants, nannies, nurses and other help. They lived in an different era with
different standards. However, despite their many extended absences it appears they had an excellent relationship
with all of their children.
The book addresses the fact that JPK had many extramarital
relationships during his life. The most famous of his mistresses was Hollywood actress Gloria Swanson. Some of
the other women that he was involved with are named in the book but most are not. Some women have claimed to have relationships
with JPK that haven't been confirmed. There is no doubt that JPK and Rose Kennedy lived a very different life than
most married couples. JPK also provided a marital relationship role model that JFK appears to have adopted as his
own during his marriage to Jackie Kennedy.
There is no doubt that JFK's
political success as a Congressman, Senator and President was orchestrated by his father. Without JPK's money and contacts
there is no way JFK could have entered politics and been so successful at such a young age. They worked together
as a team and won the prize they were trying to achieve. JFK became President of the United States.
JPK's executed his plans for his sons political career brilliantly. There is no doubt that JFK and Robert Kennedy
and Edward Kennedy were very intelligent and skilled young men committed to public service when they started their
careers. However, their success was fueled by their father's money, contacts and management skills.
Before reading the book, I knew that JFK had medical problems when he was President. However, the book includes
a detailed discussion of JFK's medical problems throughout his life beginning when he was a child. It was almost a
miracle that JFK survived long enough to run for President.
The book extensively
covers JPK's career in government and his conflicts with world leaders on how to deal with evil governments and
his views of the world after he left government service. He has been called an "appeaser" and "isolationist"
because of his views. As I read about the debates that JPK had with world leaders on these issues over about three
decades I wondered what might have been if some different decisions had been made. However, none of us can turn back
the clock. We can only attempt to learn from past actions and make the best decisions we can in the future.
These are some of the highlights of the book. There is a lot more. The work of the Kennedy family to
address the issue of mental retardation and JPK's evolving views of the Catholic Church are extremely interesting.
I recommend The Patriarch to anyone that has an interest in learning more about the impact of one of the
most important families in US history.
TPM
This evening the US Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill that reopened the US government
and increased the debt limit. However, the bill is only applicable until the first quarter of 2014 when tonight's actions
will expire. Instead of dealing with the hard decisions that must be made concerning the mismatch between US government income
and expense and the ever escalating US federal government debt, our government has kicked the can down the road once again.
Our "leaders" have once again failed to act responsibly.
A budget conference
committee will be formed with the task of negotiating a budget agreement before tonight's legislation expires. The expectations
are very low that the committee will accomplish anything meaningful during the remainder of the calendar year.
In the meantime the Federal Reserve continues to print fiat money by purchasing Treasury and Mortgage securities
at the rate of approximately $1T per year in order to keep long term interest rates artificially low. And the Federal
Reserve continues to keep short term rates at essentially zero. All Federal Reserve manipulations have done is
permit the US government to act irresponsibly, misallocate capital and transfer wealth from savers to debtors (including the
government).
It astounds me that the politicians and central bankers think that
the insane policies that they put into place will actually create a positive outcome on a long term basis. They keep
making the situation worse, not better. The time has come to acknowledge and address the real issues and take appropriate
actions. The time has come to Defuse The Debt Bomb, http://youtu.be/UDjNxABHVqs.
TPM
The political battle over US government policies between Democrats and Republicans, between
President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House John Boehner and between Liberal
Progressive and Conservative media pundits is in full swing. Obama and Boehner both spoke on national TV this afternoon
to express their frustration at the failure of the other side to negotiate properly. We currently have a partial US
government shutdown and the US federal debt will supposedly hit the debt limit on October 17. The President and his
team keep telling Americans that the US government is getting dangerously close to defaulting on its debt. The Conservatives
are telling everyone that will listen that Obamacare will destroy the US economy and that the ever increasing US debt
will bankrupt our country. Even though it is very costly Obamacare as a standalone program is not the problem.
The financial impact of Obamacare when added to the already excessive levels of federal deficits is a major problem.
What is stunning about all the debate and accusations that are being thrown back and forth is that there are very
few factual statements being made by anyone. I have written many articles and blogs on this website that address the
reality of the current and future US debt burden. The actual data is available to everyone that cares to find and analyze
it. Books have been written on this topic. I have reviewed a number of them in my articles. When truly knowledgeable
people discuss the state of the US fiscal problems there isn't a lot of dispute. The debt problem has been developing
for decades. The real debate concerns the actions to be taken to correct the problem because solving
our debt problem is going to be extremely painful for many people. The real debate is about pain avoidance. Many
people on both sides believe we can escape the economic pain from our excessive debt if we follow their recommended path.
Republicans, Conservatives, Tea Partyers and fiscally responsible independents
want to make major progress on solving the long term problem now thinking this will positively impact growth. If we act
now pain will be felt and the economy will likely go into recession in the near term. People will get less,
or at least not get more, from the Federal government. The opportunity for long term growth will likely be
improved.
Democrats, Liberal Progressives and those that live on the largess
of the Federal government want to keep expanding our debt and continue making more and more economic promises to the
general population. At some point in the future the continuously expanding debt bubble will burst and Americans
will feel even greater economic pain, most likely a major depression. There are some economists that believe the
government can keep spending money and building debt indefinitely. We know from history that this concept is absurd.
Every major nation or empire with grossly excessive debt has experienced economic failures that contributed to its demise.
The US will be no different.
All kinds of labels are being tossed about in the
media. People are being attacked for being supporters of the Tea Party or being a Conservative. My question to
my readers is "Which side are you on? What actions should our leaders take? Do you believe
our national government should take responsibility for its past fiscal errors or just drive on spending money it doesn't have
until the global financial markets say "enough is enough" and effectively force our nation into bankruptcy."
You may think that the US is too powerful and too large for the rest of the world to force us into bankruptcy.
I am sure that is what the great empires of the past thought as they spent their wealth and borrowed money they couldn't pay
back. History tells us that all of the great powers of the past were destroyed or relegated to second tier status.
Why does anyone think it is different this time? Do you really want our Federal
government to keep expanding our debt?
TPM
“There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with
it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.” — PJ O’Rourke
Thanks to Richard Russell of Dow Theory Letters for putting this quote on his website.
Mr. O'Rourke's statement may be a bit simplistic but is not far from the truth. Many people claim rights to
many goods and services from our government that are paid for by their fellow citizens. The bottom line
is that US citizens have a few rights that are absolute and everything else is a privilege that may or may be changed or stopped by
our government at will. The article on thepurplemuse.com that gets the most hits by far is Rights vs Privileges, http://www.thepurplemuse.com/id11.html. Check it out.
TPM
