Kennedy curse

The Kennedy Curse refers to a series of unfortunate events that have happened to the Kennedy family. While these events could have happened to any family, some have referred to the continual misfortune of the Kennedy family as a curse. Several of the Kennedys died young, notably brothers John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy who were assassinated while in office, and John F. Kennedy, Jr., who died in a 1999 plane crash. The political weblog Wonkette has described them as "a family that has experienced an absolutely supernatural amount of assassination, misfortune, disease, addiction and the crashing of every known form of human transport, including snow skis."

Validity

There are several theories regarding the origin of the "curse".

Critics of the curse theory argue that given the sheer size of the family, the number of unfortunate events is not unusual. The "curse" may be seen less as a supernatural phenomenon than simply as an operation of the laws of probability. Moreover, while tragic events occur to a lesser or greater extent in all families, they make headline news when they involve a famous clan. It could also be argued that the Kennedys, owing to their relative wealth, have a lifestyle that is quite different from that of average persons -- most people, for example, do not pilot or fly in private planes -- and consequently they are more often in greater physical danger.

Chronology

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

• 1941 - Rosemary Kennedy was erroneously believed to be mentally retarded as she grew older; she became increasingly violent and suffered severe mood swings. Subsequently, she underwent a popular neurosurgical technique of the time with the intention of controlling her outbursts. The lobotomy impaired her cognitive abilities even more and she remained in an institution until her death in 2005 as a result. Due to this tragedy, several of the Kennedy family have been involved in advocacy on behalf of developmentally disabled people (founded Special Olympics and other organizations) and mental illness.
• August 12, 1944 - Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the eldest son of the Kennedy patriarch Joseph Kennedy, is killed over the English Channel while flying a mission during World War II.
• September 10, 1944 - William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, son in law of the Kennedy patriarch Joseph Kennedy, is killed in action by a sniper in Belgium while serving as a major in the Coldstream Guards during World War II.
• May 13, 1948 - Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, dies in a plane crash in France.
• 1955 - Jacqueline Kennedy suffers a miscarriage.
• August 23, 1956 - Jacqueline Kennedy gives birth to a stillborn daughter. (Although the daughter was unnamed and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to her parents with a marker reading "Daughter," later reports indicated that the Kennedys had intended to call her "Arabella Kennedy".)
• December 19, 1961 - Joseph P. Kennedy, the family patriarch, suffers a greatly disabling stroke which makes movement and communication extremely difficult and limited until his death.
• August 9, 1963 - Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, the second son of John and Jacqueline Kennedy, dies two days after his birth, nearly six weeks premature.
• November 22, 1963 - President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas consipiracy,(see John F. Kennedy assassination).
• June 19, 1964 - Sen. Ted Kennedy is 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 (D-Ind.) and spent weeks in a hospital recovering from a severe back injury, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.
• June 5, 1968 - Robert F. Kennedy, brother to both John and Ted, is shot multiple times in Los Angeles, immediately following his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary (see Robert F. Kennedy assassination). He died the next day.
• 1969 - "Chappaquiddick Incident": A car driven by Ted Kennedy goes off a bridge, killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, a former aide to Robert Kennedy.
• 1973 - Edward Kennedy, Jr., loses his right leg due to bone cancer at the age of twelve.
• January 23, 1973 - Alexander Onassis, stepson of Jacqueline Kennedy, dies in a plane crash. Some claim that the Onassis family also has a curse of its own.
• 1973 - Joseph P. Kennedy II, son of Robert and Ethel, is the driver in a car accident that leaves one passenger, Pam Kelle, permanently paralyzed.
• April 25, 1984 - David A. Kennedy, a son of Robert, dies from a Demerol and cocaine overdose in a Palm Beach, Florida, hotel room.
• November 19, 1988 - Christina Onassis, stepdaughter of Jacqueline Kennedy, dies in Argentina of drug abuse-related heart failure.
• 1994 - Jacqueline Kennedy is diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer, dies later that year on May 19 from it.
• 1997 - Michael Kennedy, son of Robert, becomes embroiled in an adultery scandal involving allegations of statutory rape. Dies later that year on December 31 in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado.
• July 16, 1999 - John F. Kennedy, Jr.; his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy; and Carolyn's sister Lauren Bessette die when the private plane Kennedy is piloting crashes into the Atlantic Ocean on a hazy evening en route from Essex County Airport in Fairfield, New Jersey to Martha's Vineyard. Kennedy was rated for Visual Flight Rules but not for Instrument Flight Rules, which the situation required. His plane was fully instrumented. In the darkness and the fog, the pilot lost track of the small airport and went into the ocean. Unfortunately, JFK, Jr, had not taken the time necessary for an instrument rating. When he took off, just before dark, visual flight was barely possible; by the time the plane reached Martha's Vineyard, it wasn't. However his fuel control selector was switched manually into the off position and Kennedy always flew with a flight instructor and there was reported to have been one with him, the passenger seat of the plane was never found, which is where the instructor would have been.

Secondary events

Despite being in the news, these events are not considered to be part of the "curse" by all believers.

• November 26, 1950 - Edward Cavendish, 10th Duke of Devonshire, Kathleen Kennedy's father-in-law, had a heart attack and was treated by the suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams. He died.
• 1983 - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is arrested in South Dakota for heroin possession.
• 1986 - Patrick J. Kennedy, a son of Senator Ted Kennedy, begins treatment for cocaine addiction.
• 1991 - William Kennedy Smith, son of Jean Kennedy, is accused of raping a woman in Palm Beach, Florida. He is tried and acquitted.
• August 12, 1999 - Anthony Radziwill, son of Lee Radziwill and nephew of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, dies of cancer one month after his first cousin, John F. Kennedy Jr. perishes in a plane crash. He was also childless.
• 2002 - Michael Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy, is convicted in the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley when he was a teenager.
• 2004 - William Kennedy Smith faces civil charges based on an alleged 1999 sexual assault; the charges are dismissed.
• 2006 - Patrick J. Kennedy is involved in a single-car accident in Washington DC on 4 May. He has since entered treatment for addiction to prescription pain medication.
• 2006 - Ted Kennedy was aboard a plane which was struck by lightning and had to be diverted to New Haven, Conn. Senator Kennedy had just delivered the commencement address at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and was on his way to his Cape Cod home when the plane was struck. This, coupled with the aforementioned 1964 plane crash and the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, makes Ted Kennedy the only Kennedy family member to cheat death three times.

Refutations of The "Curse"

Some skeptics follow the belief that the Kennedy curse is to some extent a self-fulfilling prophecy where the actions of the family members enhance their risk for tragic events. A few refutations of the "cursed" events:

• 1944 - Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. volunteered for a special mission piloting a plane loaded with explosives.
• 1948 - Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, flew in weather that initially caused the pilot to refuse to fly.
• 1961 - Joseph P. Kennedy was 73 years old; not an uncommon age for a stroke, especially in 1961.
• 1963 - John F. Kennedy visited Dallas against the advice of the Secret Service, and refused to drive in a closed top vehicle despite fears that an assassination would be likely.
• 1969 - Chappaquiddick incident - Ted Kennedy is suspected by some to have been driving heavily drunk.
• 1983 - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had illegal drugs in his car and thus brought about his own arrest. Since his arrest he has not had a relapse.
• 1984 - David A. Kennedy was a recreational narcotics user and thus brought about his own death.
• 1986 - Patrick J. Kennedy was a recreational narcotics user, and thus brought about his own addiction. Since his arrest he has not had a relapse.
• 1988 - Christina Onassis was not a Kennedy. Some claim that her death was related to the Onassis family curse.
• 1997 - Michael Kennedy was playing ski football without proper safety equipment.
• 1999 - John F. Kennedy, Jr. was described by experts as a relatively inexperienced pilot, and was not night-rated for his particular aircraft. Flying a plane at night is a difficult situation in the best of circumstances.
• 2002 - Michael Skakel isn't a Kennedy by blood or law, only a nephew by marriage.
• 2006 - Patrick J. Kennedy suffered no physical injuries after the crash and was able to put the incident in a positive light, affirming publicly his resolve to seek help for his substance abuse problems.

See also

• Coincidence theory
• Dead Kennedys

External links

• Misfortunes of a Family - CNN feature listing many of these incidents