The Kennedy Heirs: John, Caroline, and the New Generation - A Legacy of Tragedy and Triumph

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

Overview

From New York Times bestselling author J. Randy Taraborrelli comes The Kennedy Heirs, his most revealing Kennedy book yet.

A unique burden was inherited by the children of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his celebrated siblings, Senators Robert and Ted Kennedy. Raised in a world of enormous privilege against the backdrop of American history, this third generation of Kennedys often veered between towering accomplishment and devastating defeat. In his revelatory new book, acclaimed Kennedy historian J. Randy Taraborrelli draws back the curtain on the next generation of America’s most famous family.

John Kennedy, Jr.’s life in the public eye is explored, following the Kennedy scion as he faced the challenges posed by marrying his great love, Carolyn Bessette. Riveting new details are shared about the couple’s tragic demise—and why Ethel Kennedy advised Carolyn not to take the trip that would ultimately end her life. John’s sister, Caroline Kennedy, had her own complicated relationships, including a marriage to Ed Schlossberg that surprised her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and an unexpected bond with her mother-in-law, Mae Schlossberg.

Additional stories, many shared here for the first time, illuminate the rest of the Kennedy dynasty: Kara Kennedy, Ted’s daughter, and her valiant battle against lung cancer; how Ted’s wife, Vicki, introduced a new era of feminism to the Kennedy family; the lifelong struggles with addiction faced by Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Patrick Kennedy; the unexpected way pop star Taylor Swift helped Conor Kennedy heal after the death of his mother, Bobby’s wife Mary; and Congressman Joe Kennedy III’s rise to prominence. At the center of it all is the family’s indomitable matriarch, Ethel Kennedy—a formidable presence with her maddening eccentricities and inspiring courage.

Based on hundreds of exclusive first-hand interviews and cultivated over twenty years of research—including numerous Oral Histories from the JFK Library and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute—The Kennedy Heirs is an epic drama of ambition, scandal, pride and power.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250174062
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/11/2019
Pages:	624
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.50(h) x 2.10(d)

About the Author

J. RANDY TARABORRELLI is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including: Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot, adapted as a miniseries for NBC; After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family 1968 to the Present, which was adapted as a mini-series for Reelz; and Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill.
Visit the author’s Web site at www.jrandytaraborrelli.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Book 1

Part 1 Son of Camelot 3

Prologue: The Tide of Events 5

Part 2 The Senator's Family 55

Part 3 Being Kennedy 87

Part 4 Family Secrets 115

Part 5 The Caretakers 153

Part 6 A Tale of Two Brothers 171

Part 7 The Reckoning 227

Part 8 The In-Laws 273

Part 9 Running Out of Time 285

Book II

Part 1 Daughter of Camelot 315

Prologue: Pinkie Swear 317

Part 2 The Politics of Marriage 341

Part 3 "The Kennedy Curse Ends Here" 353

Part 4 The Shriver Way 369

Part 5 Family at War and Peace 399

Part 6 A Political Gamble 443

Part 7 Betrayal of the Heart 473

Part 8 A Miraculous Life 489

Part 9 Demons 499

Part 10 The Family Endures 513

Epilogue: American Promise 536

Postscript: Permission to Speak Freely 544

Author's Note 549

Research 555

Sources and Other Notes 561

Personal Acknowledgments 583

Index 585

Editorial Reviews

03/18/2019

The offspring of the Camelot generation wallow in melodrama without much compensating achievement according to this dishy group portrait. Kennedy biographer Taraborrelli (After Camelot) styles the children of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy, and their cousins, as sensitive souls shadowed by their elders’ assassinations and other misfortunes that “caus our hearts to ache unbearably for them.” The narrative, however, depicts a clan of overentitled mediocrities with unimportant careers whose only interesting characteristic is bad judgment: RFK Jr. moves from drug addiction to relentless womanizing to antivaccine lobbying; his brother Michael sleeps with his kids’ 16-year-old babysitter and dies in a skiing accident; JFK Jr. leads a feckless life, then dies along with his wife and his sister-in-law when the Cessna he was piloting crashes. Presiding over Taraborelli’s account, and the lavishly described Hyannisport rigmarole of clambakes and touch football, is RFK’s widow, Ethel, an imperious matriarch and the book’s liveliest figure, forever slapping people and lecturing everyone on the Kennedy mystique. Padding out the chapters is much tabloid-grade gossip about small-bore marital squabbles, infidelities, and catfights sourced to servants and anonymous friends. Some readers may find this material unengaging, but Kennedy worshippers—and haters—will feast on the juicy details in Taraborrelli’s soap opera. (June)

Publishers Weekly

2019-04-08
The prolific celebrity biographer delivers another Kennedy family saga, this time focusing on the 29 individuals comprising the "third generation" of the famed clan.

In this sprawling post-Camelot account, Taraborrelli (Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill, 2018, etc.) details the lives of the third generation—the grandchildren of Joe and Rose Kennedy—as they have tried to live up to Kennedy values (honor, family, loyalty) while failing to cope with the murders of John F. (1963) and Bobby (1968). Growing up in families that never discussed the assassinations among themselves and offered few healing mechanisms to their children, the young heirs often self-medicated with alcohol and drugs. Innumerable infidelities, confrontations, and divorces run through this soap opera, which teems with intimate views of angry, heavy-drinking matriarch Ethel, mother of Bobby's 11 children; Ted, who kept the family together, and his wife, Joan, both "unpredictable, alcoholic parents"; and the smiling, seemingly happy children, who struggled inside, some wanting "anything other than to be Kennedys." Taraborrelli rehashes Bobby's son Michael's affair with a 16-year-old babysitter; the murder conviction of Ethel's nephew Michael Skakel; David Kennedy's death by cocaine overdose; JFK Jr.'s death in a plane crash, and so on. "Terrible things have happened to the Kennedys," writes the author, "sometimes by fate and circumstance, sometimes by their own volition." Taraborrelli's depictions of Caroline's therapy as a child and the family's expectation that Bobby Jr., who made drug runs to Harlem, would run for president, are unsettling. All of this is recounted against the glitz, wealth, and historical role of the family, the ever present paparazzi, the family pressure to excel, and the children's careers in politics and other fields. No scandal or luxurious dining room goes overlooked.

A doorstop of a melodrama. Kennedy die-hards will love it.

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for The Kennedy Heirs:

“Leaves no stone unturned as it retraces the lives of the Kennedy children.” —Hollywood Reporter, “Hollywood’s Top 10 Beach Reads”

“Taraborrelli has become a leading Kennedy historian…an authoritative, irresistible page-turner.” —Shelf Awareness

"Kennedy followers will be intrigued by this absorbing narrative of the dynasty's continuing hold on American life." —Library Journal (starred)

"A dishy group portrait...Kennedy worshippers—and haters—will feast on the juicy details in Taraborrelli’s soap opera."—Publishers Weekly

"In this sprawling post-Camelot account, Taraborrelli details the lives of the third generation—the grandchildren of Joe and Rose Kennedy—as they have tried to live up to Kennedy values…No scandal or luxurious dining room goes overlooked. Kennedy die-hards will love it.” —Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Jackie, Janet, and Lee (currently being developed for TV by Tomorrow Studios)

“Riveting...Taraborrelli presents a woman of passion, both sexual and emotional, whose facade somehow always remains in place...the magic of Jackie's aura is imperishable to this day...deliciously readable.” —New York Times Book Review

“In this revealing biography, Taraborrelli explores the complicated relationship between Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, her mother Janet Lee Auchincloss, and her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill. Though the two sisters became two of the most idolized women of the 20th century, they struggled with sibling jealousy and constantly sought 'money and power'—which their mother told them was 'the secret to happily-ever-after.'” —People magazine, "Best Books About the Kennedy Family"

"Taraborrelli takes an intimate look at the sisters’ complicated relationship with [Aristotle Onassis], and reveals for the first time what really happened when Lee learned her sister was marrying Onassis five years after John F. Kennedy’s death." —Harper's Bazaar

"Veteran Hollywood biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, drawing on interviews with family members, reveals how their formidable and hard-nosed mother, Janet Bouvier Auchincloss, sought to mould her daughters in her own ruthlessly mercenary and social-climbing image." —Daily Mail

"Meticulously researched...fascinating and absorbing...Taraborrelli captures the glamorous, tragic, seductive and completely absorbing world of the Kennedys and those who married them. With his bite-size chapters, insightful writing and impeccable research, Taraborrelli's Jackie, Janet & Lee is irresistible, intimate and revealing." —Shelf Awareness

“Taraborrelli’s gossipy narrative revels in luxurious decor, stunning outfits, and soap-operatic fights in this entertaining saga of how wealthy, fashionable women got that way.” —Publishers Weekly

“A narrative about money and the seemingly unlimited power that goes with it...The aura of Camelot lives on in a book for Kennedy completists and those who enjoy tales of the rich and powerful.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Engrossing...An intimate look into the intertwined lives of the Bouvier, Auchincloss, Kennedy, and Radziwill families. Taraborrelli creates a tabloid-style story of money, power, politics, and family—a voyeuristic look into a world of patrician privilege.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher