This Doomed Kennedy Had So Much Potential
Joseph P Kennedy Jr was the golden boy of the influential Kennedy dynasty, destined to stamp his family name on the highest echelon of world power. However, a friendly rivalry with the brother, who eventually realized his dream, led to a tragically abrupt ending for the ambitious wunderkind.
1. He Began On Vacation
Joseph P Kennedy Jr was born July 25, 1915, while his family was on vacation at a rented summer home in Hull, Massachusetts. Though his life began on vacation, befitting his silver spoon, it wouldn’t always be an easy street for Joe in terms of ambition. His family name came with certain expectations.
2. He Was American Royalty
Joe was born into the powerful Kennedy family, and with time, the family’s stature in the American consciousness would only grow. What’s more, his mother was a Fitzgerald, another influential Massachusetts family, which only increased the size of the shoes he had to fill. But it was his father who really set the standard.
3. He Had An Important Patriarch
Joe’s father and namesake, Joseph Kennedy Sr, was the grandson of Irish immigrants and the son of a saloon owner. But from these humble beginnings, the elder Joe would make a seismic impact. By the time his first son was born, Joe Sr had accrued a large fortune through stock market investments.
Such was his influence that he eventually found his way into politics, serving as the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Joe Sr had even grander ambitions for his firstborn son, Joe Jr, but he decided to have a few backup kids just in case…
4. He Had A Lot Of Siblings
While Joe Jr was initially the only apple of his parents’ eyes, they quickly produced for him some stiff competition–and lots of it. Eventually, Joe would find himself the eldest of a whopping nine children. But rather than hinder him, it taught the impressive young man some responsibility.
5. He Was A Good Older Brother
As the eldest child, Joe felt an enormous sense of protectiveness and care over his gaggle of younger siblings. His brother John F Kennedy (maybe you’ve heard of him?) would later reflect, “Very early in life he acquired a sense of responsibility towards his brothers and sisters, and I do not think he ever forgot it”. It wasn’t just his siblings that Joe felt loyalty to.
State Library and Archives of Florida, Wikimedia Commons
6. He Was Devout And Devoted
The Kennedys were an Irish Catholic family, and Joe was serious about his faith. As a child, he served as an altar boy. Due to the cultural dominance of Protestantism in the US, some criticized the Kennedys for their Catholic faith, including children in Joe’s school. He often jumped to the defense of his family’s honor and beliefs, displaying that characteristic loyalty. But he wasn’t just a goody two-shoes.
Richard Sears, Wikimedia Commons
7. He Engaged In Hijinks
Joe’s childhood wasn’t all serious. He and his siblings, particularly his brother John, would often get into mischief. Their mother’s memoir recalls how they defaced a sign in a local restaurant. It originally read “No dogs allowed”; the vexatious Kennedy brothers changed it to say “No hot dogs allowed”. Pretty tame by today’s standards, but his parents took measures to keep him out of trouble anyway.
Associated Press, Wikimedia Commons
8. He Got Sent Away
For high school, Joe’s parents sent him to Choate in Wallingford, Connecticut. This was a well-regarded preparatory boarding school and would have been very demanding of the young man. But if Joe struggled at all, he certainly never let on.
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9. He Was An Overachiever
Joe excelled at Choate. Not only did he get very good grades, but he was also an accomplished athlete and exceedingly popular among the other students. With all this in mind, it’s no surprise where he ended up next.
10. He Made The Ivy League
Following in his father’s footsteps, Joe’s grades (and maybe a little nepotism) landed him a spot at the prestigious Harvard University in his native Massachusetts. However, while studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree, Joe’s grades were remarkably unremarkable during his undergrad years. Perhaps he had too many distractions elsewhere.
11. He Was Extra Extracurricular
Joe was a prolific athlete at Harvard and seemed to focus much more on his extracurricular activities than on his studies. While enrolled in the school, he participated in no fewer than three different sports, including football, rugby, and crew. It wasn’t exactly all work, but it wasn’t all play either.
12. He Sewed Political Roots
Presaging a future in politics, Joe also served on the Harvard Student Council. Employing his natural charisma, he did his fair share of networking, joining a variety of clubs and societies such as the St Paul Catholic Club, the Hasty Pudding Club, and the now defunct (due to multiple allegations of misconduct) Pi Eta. Joe managed to graduate despite all his distractions, but he wasn’t done with Harvard yet.
Jajshshahdgsgusisov, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
13. He Continued His Education
Having had his undergrad fun, Joe committed to his future. After graduating from Harvard, he spent a year studying at the London School of Economics where, under the mentorship of Professor Harold Laski, the young Kennedy studied economic theory and traveled throughout Europe to observe different systems in practice.
After that, he enrolled in Harvard Law School. But what about his personal life?
Shadowssettle, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
14. He Dated A Dame Destined For Tragedy
We don’t know much about Joe’s romantic life, other than one serious relationship with Athalia Ponsell. Born to a wealthy family in Ohio, Ponsell would go on to work as a model, Broadway dancer, TV star, and political activist. Tragically, she was also the victim of a fatal attack on the front steps of her home in 1974. It is painful to think how different things could have gone for not only her, but also Joe—who tread a far more dangerous path than he realized.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
15. He May Have Been Betrothed
Though it was never confirmed, rumors swirled among the Kennedys’ social circles that Joe and Ponsell were engaged to be married. The wedding never came to pass, however, due to his untimely demise. Ponsell never spoke much of their relationship in subsequent years, opting to keep it private. Perhaps it was simply too painful that she had lost a man set up for so much.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
16. He Was The Pick Of The Litter
With all of Joe’s accomplishments, he became something of a mentor and role model to the rest of his siblings and, in his role of responsible big brother, came to be something of a favorite among his parents and older relatives. Known to some family historians as “the Kennedy golden child," Joe was being groomed for greatness by those who came before.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
17. His Father Had High Expectations
One could argue that Joe’s parents placed the greatest expectations possible on him: His father aspired for his son to be no less than the President of the United States. President Kennedy had a nice ring to it. In fact, Joe may not have had a living moment where he wasn’t thinking about it.
Wide World Photos, Wikimedia Commons
18. He Got Primed From Birth
It was not only the Kennedys who had high expectations that Joe would do the family name proud. From his literal birth, his mother’s family, the Fitzgeralds, also voiced their ambitions for the young man. The day Joe was born, his maternal grandfather and then-mayor of Boston, John F Fitzgerald, straight up told reporters, “This child is the future president of the nation”. Joe took all this on board.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
19. He Was Going To Represent His Faith
Joe himself seemed to have absorbed all his family’s ambitions for him. One biographer claimed that he would often tell people he met that he was going to be the first Roman Catholic President of the United States. He certainly had confidence, now he just needed the connections.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
20. He Dipped His Political Toe
Joe’s first official foray into politics came in 1940. That year, he served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, where the Party overwhelmingly nominated Franklin D Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term. Showing face at the event, Joe’s political ambitions were now on public record. It was time to take the next step.
21. He Planned An Election Campaign
Slowly climbing the ladder—with his eye on the Presidency—Joe made plans to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives. Joe was ready to go until the United States entered WWII and began deploying American men to the Pacific and European theaters. As such, Joe's patriotic duty rose to attention, which was interesting considering some dodgy opinions he had voiced just a few years earlier…
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
22. He Praised A Monster
A few years before the outbreak of WWII, Joe, shockingly, made comments praising the Führer. Expressing approval for the rising dictator, the young Kennedy remarked that he “is building a spirit in his men that could be envied in any country”. He had a front-row seat.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1990-048-29A, CC-BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
23. He Visited A Monstrous Regime
Joe, at his father’s behest, visited Germany in 1934. While there, he observed the dictator’s rise and his admiration for him only increased. There was one horrific policy, in particular, that stood out to the aspiring President.
24. He Praised A Monstrous Practice
As if praising their psychotic leader wasn’t bad enough, Kennedy also expressed his admiration for the regime’s sterilization policy, one based on horrific and racist ideology around genetics. Lauding it as “a great thing," Joe opined that the Germans’ policies of eugenics would “do away with many of the disgusting specimens of men”.
A few years later, though, Joe was singing a different tune.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
25. He Joined The Campaign
By the time the US entered WWII, Joe’s opinion (publicly, at least) had apparently flipped. He now felt a patriotic duty to serve his country and fight the fascist menace emanating from Europe. Still a student at Harvard Law, Joe dropped out of school and enlisted in the Navy as an aviator. He would quickly climb the ranks.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
26. He Got His Wings
Joe excelled in the Navy as a skilled pilot. He received his wings on May 5, 1942, and deployed to Britain shortly after, assigned to a Bomber Squadron. After two tours of duty, largely conducting anti-submarine operations, Joe earned the rank of lieutenant on July 1, 1944. By this time, however, he'd already gotten some unintentional press.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
27. He Received Undue Credit
Joe’s younger brother, future-President John F Kennedy (known to his friends and family as Jack), had also enlisted in the Navy, but deployed halfway around the world, to the Pacific theater. In 1943, after a heroic episode where Jack saved several of his men from a downed ship by swimming with them to a small island, the story made front-page news at home.
However, the San Francisco Examiner accidentally printed a photo of Joe alongside the glowing article about his brother’s exploits. While most would simply laugh it off, Joe was likely not too happy with the unintentionally stolen valor.
Joe Rosenthal, Wikimedia Commons
28. He Had Something To Prove
Joe was at home between his two tours when his brother made headlines, and at a dinner for his father’s 55th birthday shortly after the incident, an old friend toasted to “Ambassador Joe Kennedy, father of […] our own hero, Lieutenant John F Kennedy of the United States Navy”.
Joe, scheduled to ship out, did not get a mention at all and took it very personally. A guest who shared a room with Joe that night claimed to have caught the elder Kennedy brother silently weeping and muttering, “By God, I’ll show them”. His record spoke for itself.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
29. He Was A Prolific Pilot
By the time of his promotion to lieutenant, Joe had completed a whopping 25 combat missions. At the end of two tours, this number was enough to have him approved for leave—his duty considered fulfilled. But for Joe, something was still missing.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
30. He Had No Recognition
Despite his multiple combat missions, Joe still felt as if he had accomplished little in the Navy. Though his missions were successful overall, he had not yet actually sunk a sub nor taken down an enemy plane. To make matters worse, his brother, with whom he engaged in friendly rivalry, had a combat decoration while Joe did not.
The Navy, however, made him another offer—and it was a major disappointment.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
31. He Got An Offer
By June of 1944, Joe was beginning to lose hope that he would find the glory he so desperately sought. He got another promotion but, adding insult to injury, it came with an offer for the last thing he wanted: a desk job in London. Dejected, Joe declined and started packing his bags to head home. But not before opportunity knocked one more time.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
32. He Got An Opportunity
At the last moment, Joe suddenly got an exciting chance to finally prove himself when the Navy put out a call for a top-secret mission. Known as Operation Aphrodite, they warned that the mission was potentially very dangerous. But all Joe saw was his opportunity to finally catch up to his younger brother and achieve his goals.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum, Wikimedia Commons
33. He Volunteered To Hit The Enemy Hard
Operation Aphrodite centered around a counter to German attacks on London. The enemy had been using something called a "buzz bomb"—a primitive but deadly type of missile that was quite hard to intercept. Because of this, the Allies hatched a plan of their own to strike back at bomb-resistant enemy targets.
Upon hearing about it, Joe volunteered on the spot. However, the mission seemed extremely perilous as more details were revealed.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
34. He Was Carrying A Dangerous Payload
The Navy loaded up Joe’s plane with explosives. The plan was simple but nerve-wracking: The pilots would fly the plane as close to the German missile site as possible, and just before jumping out of the plane, would set it on a course to collide with the site itself. It was a terrifying prospect, but Joe was chomping at the bit.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
35. He Embarked On A Doomed Mission
On the evening of August 12, 1944, Joe took to the sky. With him was his co-pilot, Lt Wilford J Willy. The two aviators set course for Normandy, France. Joe would never touch land again.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
36. He Started Strong
Joe was a skilled pilot, and everything seemed to begin without a hitch. An Allied photo-reconnaissance plane following them confirmed that the plane successfully made its first remote-controlled turn at the correct altitude and location. As it approached the French coast, the eldest Kennedy child uttered his final two words.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
37. His Last Words Were A Code
Later investigations confirmed that Kennedy and Willy removed the safety pin on the explosives, which armed them for detonation. Afterward, Kennedy radioed HQ and spoke the agreed code phrase, which would turn out to be his final known words: “Spade Flush”. What happened next horrified everyone.
Earl P. Olsen, Wikimedia Commons
38. He Was The Victim Of A Tragic Accident
Two minutes after uttering the code phrase, tragedy struck: the explosives on board the plane detonated early, destroying the aircraft completely and ending the lives of both pilots, who had not yet had a chance to parachute out. Plane wreckage landed as far as a village in Suffolk, England, causing damage to some buildings.
Fortunately, there were no on-ground injuries. Onlookers watched in horror—even some notable ones.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
39. His Demise Had Famous Witnesses
Onboard the reconnaissance plane following Joe’s was Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, son of President Franklin D Roosevelt. The Presidential son would later recount with horror how he witnessed the tragic event, and his account has been widely cited, though we should note that Air Force records cannot corroborate it. Regardless, the tragic loss was felt by the world.
United States Army, Wikimedia Commons
40. He Passed Tragically Young
Joseph P Kennedy Jr left this mortal plane on August 12, 1944. With so much promise, achievement, and momentum driving his electric life, the eldest Kennedy son’s story was cut short at the unbearably young age of 29. But this painful grief was only beginning for his family.
RandomUserGuy1738, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
41. He Was Never Found
Adding to the tragedy, neither of the pilots’ remains were ever recovered from the accident. In a memorial book he later created for his family called We Remember Joe, John F Kennedy wrote a moving tribute to his brother’s life: “His worldly success was so assured and inevitable that his death seems to have cut into the natural order of things”. But what exactly went wrong?
42. He Was Absolved Of Responsibility
An investigation launched into the accident that took Joe’s life never discovered an exact cause for the premature detonation. Some possible theories included a signal gone wrong or a jamming, but one thing was for certain: Neither of the pilots was at fault for the grisly error. And, in a bittersweet twist, Joe finally got his wish.
ABC, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977)
43. He Finally Got His Accolades
Joe finally received his coveted commendation when he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The citation of the award stated that the late young Kennedy received honors “for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy”. His name got immortalized elsewhere too.
Naval History & Heritage Command, USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
44. He Got Etched Close To Home
Joe’s name was also memorialized alongside his fellow lost fighters. In England, his name can be found on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, which honored those lost in WWII whose remains were never recovered. His family opted to memorialize him alongside the highest echelons of American service.
45. He Made It To Washington In The End
The Kennedy family marked their eldest son’s passing with a commemorative headstone in Arlington National Cemetery, a US military cemetery near Washington DC, erecting a cenotaph (an empty tomb in honor of those whose remains are elsewhere). The cemetery became something of a family plot as President John F Kennedy was later buried there too following his untimely demise. The Navy paid tribute to their fallen lieutenant.
Arlington National Cemetery, Flickr
46. He Got Honored By The Navy
The Navy named a destroyer ship, the USS Joseph P Kennedy, in his honor. The destroyer saw involvement in some high-profile missions, like the blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the recovery of astronauts from several NASA missions. But most touchingly, Joe’s younger brother, future Senator Robert F Kennedy, briefly served on the vessel. But that wasn't all.
John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
47. His Foundation Did Important Work
Joe’s family also set up a charity organization in his honor, the Joseph P Kennedy Jr Foundation. Over the years, the foundation has done important work, aiding people with developmental challenges. Joe’s passing also marked the beginning of another grisly family tradition.
John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
48. He Was The First Kennedy Tragedy
Since Joe’s demise, there has been a tragic series of calamities surrounding the Kennedy family that has become known as the “Kennedy curse”. Joe is generally considered the first to kick this off, but many followed.
Some subsequent misfortunes included the loss of Kathleen Kennedy in a plane crash, the taking out of senator and Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy, and the most well-known, the assassination of President John F Kennedy.
49. His Brother Took Up His Path
After Joe’s passing, his father’s ambitions for him transferred to his next eldest son, John F Kennedy. Jack, as he was known, saw election to the House, then the Senate, then, of course, to the highest office in the land, the President of the United States. Joe’s untimely demise arguably changed the course of history, and perhaps he was the better man for the job.
50. It Should Have Been Him
While Jack would turn out to be an accomplished and beloved politician, he may have pursued that path more out of a sense of duty to his father and brother. Indeed, Joe always seemed more enthusiastic and driven.
As one historian noted, “The drive to be supreme among the nine Kennedy children had always been an all-out obsession for Joe more than for Jack”. It seems it was this obsession that led Joe to volunteer for that doomed mission on that fateful day, and history was made because of it.
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