1 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: I'm George Severis and I'm Julia Claire, and this is 2 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: United States of Kennedy, a podcast about our cultural fascination 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week we go into one 4 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: aspect of the Kennedy story, and today we are talking 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: about the single place most associated with the Kennedy family, 6 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: their famous Hyannasport home. 7 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 2: The Kennedy Compound, as it came to be known, was, 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 2: in many ways the beating heart and refuge of this 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 2: sprawling and immensely powerful family, dogged by fame and tragedy. 10 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: And we thought who better to guide us through those 11 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,840 Speaker 1: hallowed halls than Rolling Stone Features director Kate's Story, author 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: of the great twenty twenty three book White House by 13 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: the Sea, A Century of the Kennedy's at Hayanna'sport. You 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: might remember Kate from the George Magazine episode where she 15 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: walked us through an oral history of the magazine that JFK. 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: Junior ran in the nineties in New York. She's our 17 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: first returning guest. We're so excited to have her back. Kate, 18 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the United States of Kennedy. It's so 19 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: good to see you again. 20 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 3: So good to see you again. Thanks for having me back. 21 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: Of course, So last time you were here, we were 22 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: talking about George Magazine and you wrote a piece for Esquire, 23 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: if I remember crect it was sort of like an 24 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: oral history of George Magazine, and you talked to people 25 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: that worked there, and it was George Magazine for anyone 26 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: who has listened to that episode is the magazine the 27 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: JFK Junior ran in New York in the nineties. And 28 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: I don't think I knew this at the time, but 29 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: through that piece you found your way into more Kennedy 30 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: research and like a growing Kennedy interests, and you ended 31 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,639 Speaker 1: up in twenty twenty signing on to write a book 32 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: about the Kennedy Compound, which is now out, and I 33 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: have it here with me White House by the Sea. 34 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: I have it opened to the page to the photos 35 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: I'm seeing Andy Warhol and Grace Jones at the Shreiver 36 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: Schwarzenegger wedding, which is one of I think probably my 37 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: favorite photo in the book. 38 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 3: I love that. 39 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: So, I mean, just off the bat, what about the 40 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: Kenny Compound sparked your interest? And why choose that as 41 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: like the focus of a book. 42 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 4: It always seemed like such a mysterious place that kind 43 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 4: of would come up over and over again and stories 44 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 4: about the Kennedy's. And I had a conversation with a 45 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 4: book agent after writing the George piece, and she was like, 46 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 4: it was it's my dream to have a Kennedy Compound book, 47 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 4: And as soon as she said it, it was like, that's 48 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 4: I would love to read that book. I don't know 49 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 4: if I'm the one to write it, because it felt 50 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 4: like just an impossible thing to break into. Hyna support 51 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 4: is such an incredibly private place. The neighbors are really 52 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 4: really protective of the Kennedy's, the ones who love them, 53 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 4: the ones who hate them like it. There's just such 54 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 4: a sense of these are our neighbors, this is our community, 55 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 4: just such a kind of a wall around it, so 56 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 4: that curiosity about what is it really like there. There's 57 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 4: also just fissedu a longevity to the interest in the 58 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 4: Kennedy Compound. The Kennedy's moved there in the twenties, and 59 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 4: of course it was like such a centerpiece of JFK's campaigning, 60 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 4: Like a lot of the most beautiful iconic photos taken 61 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 4: of him and Jackie are in high innes support and 62 00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 4: sailboats behind the compound and things like that, but it 63 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 4: continues to be a. 64 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 3: Point of interest. 65 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 4: To the photo that you pointed out that was taken 66 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 4: in the eighties, you know, things are still happening there today. 67 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 4: So the fact that there's just been this kind of 68 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 4: long tail of interest in the Kennedy Compound drew me 69 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 4: to it. I also am really interested in family dynamics, 70 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 4: kind of generational dynamics, so I felt like a really 71 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 4: interesting thing to dive into there. And just the chance 72 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 4: to tell the story of a family through a place 73 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:26,920 Speaker 4: was also really interesting to me. To really kind of 74 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 4: anchor them in this one place that's not Boston, it's 75 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 4: not Washington, DC, it's not Dallas, this really private place 76 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 4: of theirs. I felt like it would give kind of 77 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 4: new insight into the family. 78 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, so in terms of just the basic facts, like 79 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: can you describe what the Kennedy Compound looks like and 80 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: what its origin story is? 81 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 4: Yes, it does not look like what you imagine unless 82 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 4: you've been there, Like, it really is not what you 83 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 4: think of when you think of a compound. I had 84 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 4: never been there before I started working on this book. 85 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 4: I grew up in Florida. You think of a compound. 86 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 4: You think of huge walls and maybe a guard person 87 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 4: or the real walled off from the world type of place, 88 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 4: and the Kennedy Compound is definitely not that. JFKs parents 89 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 4: bought the first house in the compound, which is on 90 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 4: the water, and they first rented it and then bought 91 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 4: it and renovated it in the late nineteen twenties, and 92 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 4: so that was really the heart of the compound. This 93 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 4: is just a family house. They bought it to spend 94 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 4: their summers there, and then they ended up buying the 95 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 4: house behind it. It's on a very short street in 96 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 4: high Enna Support, which is a neighborhood in Hyenas on 97 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 4: kip Cod. I should back up and say we're talking 98 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 4: about kip Cod. There's a very tiny street in Hyena Support. 99 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 4: They bought the house on the end of it. The 100 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 4: family ended up buying the house behind it for Bobby, 101 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 4: so they had the two houses back to back, and 102 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 4: then JFK and his new wife Jackie ended up buying 103 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 4: the house that was kind of caddy corner to those 104 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 4: two houses. So the three houses are connected by a lawn, 105 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 4: but there's no wall up. It's not one piece of property. 106 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 4: These are just three houses that were bought up over 107 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 4: a period of time, and the press ended up calling 108 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 4: it the Kennedy Compound because it just came up during 109 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 4: the campaign. It was just a shorthand of you know, 110 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 4: said the photographer, to the Kennedy Compound. And it's really 111 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 4: stuck all these years and it's now in the National 112 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 4: Historic Register. Those three houses are the official Kennedy Compound houses. 113 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 4: But it's like I said, in Highenna Support, which is 114 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 4: a neighborhood, and Hynas is one of the bigger towns 115 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 4: in Cape Cod, the Highna Support is a very small 116 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 4: little neighborhood and there is. 117 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 3: Really not much to it. There are no stores, there 118 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 3: are no restaurants. 119 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 4: It's really just close together little summer houses, not little beautiful, 120 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 4: wonderful summer houses, bigger than any house that I would 121 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 4: ever be able to afford. These are not like McMansions. 122 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 4: These are summer houses. And yeah, so that's the compound 123 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 4: and Highnasport. 124 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: What was it like? 125 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 2: I know you said you had never been there before, 126 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 2: you had never been to Hyenna'sport. What was it like 127 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 2: your first time going? Yes, it's funny my first time going. 128 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 2: I went in November, which was the worst time to 129 00:05:58,240 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 2: go there, Like it's. 130 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 3: So gray, there's nobody around. That was not a time 131 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 3: to be on the Cape. 132 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 4: I put the directions into my phone and I just 133 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,919 Speaker 4: wrote Hyenna Support and I arrived and it was a 134 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 4: suburban looking street, just houses, and normally when you're going 135 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 4: somewhere to new I don't know if you do this 136 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 4: that you put the place in and you arrive on 137 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 4: main Street and there are coffee shops and their restaurants 138 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:19,919 Speaker 4: and shops and things like that. And I just arrived 139 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 4: to this street that there's nothing else around in November, 140 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 4: and so what I ended up doing that first weekend, 141 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 4: I was really curious to see if people were going 142 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 4: to talk to me. It was very, very unsure if 143 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 4: anybody was going to talk to me at all. I 144 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 4: ended up going in and out of shops and restaurants 145 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 4: and Hyenna's Highna sports neighbor And there's a wonderful museum 146 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 4: in Hyenna's called the JFK. Hyanna's Museum, which really tells 147 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 4: the history of the family there. It's a very cute, wonderful, 148 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 4: great place to go if you ever visiting the Cape. 149 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 4: I went there, introduced myself and told them what I 150 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 4: was thinking about working on, and they said they would 151 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 4: help it any way they could. They let me look 152 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 4: through a lot of their old exhibits, and then I 153 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 4: just started talking to neighbors and to say, do you 154 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 4: know this family, what do you think? 155 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 3: People were willing to talk, People were. 156 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 4: Willing to say, you know, they were curious about what's 157 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 4: the story you want to tell here? But I said, 158 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 4: I'm really interested in the history of Piana Sport and 159 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 4: how the Kennedys fit into that. The thing I always 160 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 4: say about the book is, of course it's a book 161 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 4: about the Kennedy's, but it's to me more than that, 162 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 4: It's a book about this place. And I really wanted 163 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 4: to do the place justice and do the neighbors justice. 164 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 4: And some of my most interesting characters in the book, 165 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 4: to me, are really the neighbors of the Kennedys and people. 166 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 3: Who work there. So those are the stories I wanted 167 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 3: to get right. 168 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 4: And so that's what I told neighbors and people working 169 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 4: around there, and it kind of all snowballed from there. 170 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 4: I was really able to crack my way into the 171 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 4: community and people were really amazing and sharing their stories 172 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 4: with me, and you ended. 173 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: Up talking to over one hundred people. Right, it's a 174 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: deeply report. I think there's a way to write a 175 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: book like this that is only focusing on the mythology 176 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: of things. And this is really a book that an 177 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: actual reporter would write. And we read a lot of 178 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: Kennedy related media on this podcast. Then it really runs 179 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: the gamut from true fan fiction. 180 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 3: I'm sure too. 181 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: I'm sure too actually factual. So I do is that 182 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: we appreciate areciate that. Yeah, this book is well researched. 183 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: So I do want to talk about the neighbors and 184 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: the staff because to me, that is really what gives 185 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: the book flavor. And also that's what I always want 186 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: to know. I mean, we know enough about JFK. But 187 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: what did the housekeeper have to say to me? That's 188 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: the most interesting part. But in terms of the Kennedy themselves, 189 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: can you talk a little bit about the Kennedys as 190 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: non waspy Catholic outsiders in this community early on in 191 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: the twenties and thirties, and what the process was like 192 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: in terms of first being rejected and then defiantly, you know, 193 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: making it their own. 194 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, So they started off looking for a summer cottage 195 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 4: in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and they rented for a few summers there, 196 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,079 Speaker 4: and Joe Kennedy's, as the story goes, applied to be 197 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,959 Speaker 4: a member of the golf club there, and the family's 198 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 4: Irish Catholic. There were very few Irish Catholics who were 199 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 4: members of the golf club at that time. He applied 200 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 4: to get in, and the way the family tells the stories, 201 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 4: they didn't even give him the dignity of response. 202 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 3: He just never heard back. And so they wanted a place. 203 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 4: Where the family could grow up there really spend summer 204 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 4: after summer, and so they kept going further and further 205 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 4: away from Boston in these different summer communities, and they 206 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,839 Speaker 4: ended up it was actually Rose Kennedy, the matriarch of 207 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 4: the family, ended up going on a shopping trip to 208 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 4: Hyenas Main Street and that was the first time the 209 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 4: family was ever in Hyennas and they ended up renting 210 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,439 Speaker 4: this house in High Enna Support and Joe eventually was 211 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 4: accepted as a member of the golf club there and 212 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 4: they ended up buying the house and moving there. But 213 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 4: that really wasn't the end of that kind of exclusion 214 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 4: of the family. They moved there and he was accepted 215 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 4: into the golf club. But there was always this sense 216 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 4: of you know them versus us. There's a longtime neighbor family, 217 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 4: the Tennies that lived across the street, who really were 218 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 4: not happy to have an Irish Catholic family living there. 219 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 4: The Kennedy kids were always trying to draw the daughter 220 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 4: Nancy into coming to church with them on Sundays, and 221 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 4: she would go because she wanted to be with her friends, 222 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 4: and her father hated that. 223 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 3: And then there was also Kennedy. 224 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 4: She's a really interesting figure, I think, but she really 225 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 4: was shy and held herself back and didn't really get 226 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 4: to know the neighbors for a long time, so they 227 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 4: saw her as stand offish and aloof and they saw 228 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 4: Joe as flashy new money. So they were viewed as 229 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 4: the Irish Catholic new money in town was the view 230 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 4: of the Kennedy's for a long time. The kids very 231 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 4: much were immediately a part of the community and had 232 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 4: very good friends and fit in quickly. 233 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 2: I was so interested when I was first reading extra 234 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 2: from of your book about Joe specifically, and I'm just 235 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 2: very interested in Joe as a person and as this 236 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 2: kind of outsized mob boss figure that he has in history. 237 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 2: What was his relationship like to Hyanna's Port after this, 238 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 2: because I've heard a lot about exactly what you just 239 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 2: said about the origins of it in the twenties, but 240 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 2: he lived for a long time. What was his relationship 241 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 2: like to that community throughout the rest of his life. 242 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 4: His anchor and his priority was certainly always his kids 243 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 4: and his family in terms of the social center for him. 244 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 4: They really didn't want that house to be a hosting 245 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 4: house like it was really where the family could be together. 246 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 3: And that was very true for Joe. He wasn't there 247 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 3: for a lot of the summers or in the early days. 248 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 4: He was working first in banking and then in Hollywood, 249 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 4: and when he was home, it was very much focused 250 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 4: on keeping the kids in line and having the kids compete. 251 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 4: And there's a scene in the book about you know, 252 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 4: he wasn't a sailor himself, but he would go out 253 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 4: into the water and follow the kids around sailing and 254 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 4: be like, you know, go faster, go faster. Second isn't 255 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 4: good enough. So he was very focused on his kids 256 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 4: when he was there. One of the contradictions in the 257 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 4: book and about the family in general, is this, it 258 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 4: was this kind of sacred family place. But Joe Kennedy 259 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 4: also brought the woman he was having an affair with, 260 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 4: the actress Glorious Swanson, too High in a Sport, which 261 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,320 Speaker 4: I was beyond shock to find out because this was 262 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 4: his wife's place, like he bought this house over his 263 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,440 Speaker 4: wife and his kids. Really, Rose was there every summer. 264 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 4: It was such a sanctuary for her. And I found an, 265 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 4: you know, old recording that he brought Gloria there. 266 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 3: There's this scene of her arriving and all the neighbors 267 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 3: with Spring. 268 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 4: So there's one definitely firmly reported instance of her being 269 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 4: a highness support during the period of them having an affair, 270 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 4: which she wrote about in her memoir, And David Nasa, 271 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 4: who's the biographer of Joe Kennedy, confirmed as well that 272 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 4: it was during these years they were having an affair 273 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 4: that he brought her there, and then the neighbor kids 274 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 4: remember her coming and seeing her car come in and out. 275 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 3: When Rose would go to Europe. I found that quite shocking. 276 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,479 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it is just such a Kennedy classic 277 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: to flaunt your affairs, to basically want to have it 278 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: both ways and be this symbol of integrity and patriotism 279 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 1: and also be just very clearly embroiled in fifteen scandals 280 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: at any kind of time. 281 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 2: Absolutely, we'll be back with more United States of Kennedy 282 00:12:47,880 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 2: after this break, and we're back with more United States 283 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 2: of Kennedy. 284 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,079 Speaker 1: So you mentioned sailing, and I know that you yourself 285 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:11,679 Speaker 1: did a little bit of sailing in preparation for this book, 286 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: because it was such a part of their culture that 287 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: when you asked to talk to was it Ted Kennedy 288 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: that you went, Max Ali, MAXI, yes, Can you talk 289 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: a little bit about gaining that access to the Kennedys themselves? 290 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, the Kennedys themselves. It was a funny dynamic. 291 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 4: Carrie Kennedy was the first one I spoke to, and 292 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,079 Speaker 4: she was really wonderful and welcoming and open and invited 293 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 4: me to her home and shared photos with me, and 294 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:37,599 Speaker 4: she was willing to talk to me. She introduced me 295 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 4: to her brothers and her cousins, and so it's snowballed 296 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 4: from there. 297 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,199 Speaker 1: And for anyone who doesn't know Kerry Kennedy, I'm visualizing 298 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: the family in my head. Yes, she is. 299 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 4: One of the children of Bobby and Ethel Kennedy. And 300 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 4: she runs the RK Human Rights Foundation now too, so 301 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 4: she's one of the most public facing members of the family. 302 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 4: Now most of them are not public facing these days, 303 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,959 Speaker 4: with some very notable exceptions, which she is public facing. 304 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 4: And who could you be talking about it? I know 305 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:02,959 Speaker 4: you might have been hearing them in the news lately, 306 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 4: but yet. So I talked to Carry first, and then 307 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 4: she introduced me to some of her family members. 308 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 3: But it was a lot of hesitation. 309 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 4: There's been so many books written about Kennedy, so many articles, 310 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 4: and so there was a big hesitation from the family 311 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 4: of a talk to you for a few minutes, or 312 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 4: you know, who are you type of thing. Max Kennedy 313 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 4: is a huge presence in Highness Port. One of the 314 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 4: first times I went there, there was a guy walking 315 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 4: down the street who looked exactly like at Kennedy, like 316 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 4: he had the smile. I later found out that was Max. 317 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 4: He's just always like walking around. He's just there all 318 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 4: the time. He's a real fixture there. He ignored me 319 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 4: for months and months and months, so I called him, 320 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 4: I sent him emails, just ignored me for months, and 321 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 4: then I finally heard back from him. 322 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 3: It was one of the first Falls. 323 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 4: I was working on the book, and he said, okay, listen, 324 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 4: I'll talk to you, but it has to be on 325 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 4: my sailboat, and it has to be this weekend because 326 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 4: I was shutting down the house. So I live in 327 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 4: New Jersey. So I got in my car and drove 328 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 4: five hours the next day to go on his sailboat 329 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 4: with him. I'd never been sailing before in my life. 330 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 4: I was frantically asking, what even what shoes do you 331 00:14:57,760 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 4: wear on a sailboat? What do I need to know? 332 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 4: I'm like, boat shooes, I know from my research. I 333 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 4: was like, I think that you don't want to like 334 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 4: scuff it with black Eye. I know it makes sense 335 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 4: that you wouldn't I just because of the name. I'm like, well, 336 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 4: that's what you wear on a boat. 337 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 3: But and they do, and they do have white souls exactly. 338 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 4: So I just were sneakers, if you sneakers, and like 339 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 4: four fleeces. It was so cold and so yeah, I 340 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 4: met him on the dock and he was like, let's go. 341 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 3: So we're talking just on this boat. 342 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 4: So I had my recorder and obviously it's incredibly windy 343 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 4: on a sailboat, and so I was trying to interview 344 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 4: him while the big boom is going back and forth 345 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 4: over my head, and I was there with his wife, Vicky, 346 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 4: who was also lovely, and then two of their friends 347 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 4: shouting dock at me as it would come, and I'm 348 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 4: trying to think of intelligent questions to ask him. 349 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 3: So we did the interview and I was like. 350 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 4: But really, I'm sure we're going to keep talking after this. 351 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 4: You know, we get off the boat at the dock 352 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 4: and he's like, see you, Like that was it. The 353 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 4: whole conversation was just on the boat, and I was like, so, 354 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 4: you know, can we when you get a coffee? And 355 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 4: he's like, you know, I just wanted you to experience 356 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 4: the boat and sailing because you're just not going to 357 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 4: understand our family to understand sailing and with these boasts 358 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 4: mean to us. And his sister, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, another 359 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 4: one of Bobby and Ethel's kids, said the same thing 360 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 4: to me. I'd interviewed her before I talked to Max, 361 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 4: and she'd asked me and she's like, oh, where do 362 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 4: you like to go sailing? I was like, I've never 363 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 4: been sailing. She was like, well, then, how are you 364 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 4: going to write this book, as she was so confused, like, 365 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 4: what do you mean You've never been sailing? So that 366 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 4: is my one and only time I've ever been sailing. 367 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 3: How do you not resent these people? 368 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: I mean, I will say, to Julia's point, you're fair 369 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: in your descriptions of them, But there's a wistfulness and 370 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: the nostalgia to the book. There are books that are 371 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: so damning and critical about the Kennedy's, and this isn't 372 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: one of them. This is really focusing on their family relationships. 373 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: It's not focusing on the scandals, the politics, whatever. How 374 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: did your idea of the Kennedy family evolve during this process? 375 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 3: I went into it. 376 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 4: With a real open mind, like I have no course 377 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 4: in this race when it comes to the Kennedy's. I 378 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 4: didn't go into it wanting to either tear them down 379 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 4: or to build them up and protect the legacy. Whatever 380 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 4: I found was going in the book. I didn't know 381 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 4: them before. I have not stayed in touch with him 382 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 4: really since then. So I went into it really open 383 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 4: eyed as a journalist, and I told that to my 384 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 4: sources too. I said, if you have something great to 385 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 4: say about the family, if you have something awful to say, 386 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,159 Speaker 4: about the family. I'm here to listen to you, and 387 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 4: I'm here to put those stories into this book. The 388 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 4: thing about Hyenna Support is a lot of the big 389 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 4: scandals that you associate with the family, they didn't really 390 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 4: happen there. So if like chap Equitic, for example, did 391 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 4: happen on the Cape the Palm Beach, the right the 392 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 4: William Kennedy Smith William. 393 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 1: Kenny smith On Beach rape case was in the Florida 394 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: Kennedy compound. 395 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, yes, So I did ask everyone that I spoke 396 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 4: to about him if he spent time in Highest Sport, 397 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 4: and he did from time to time, and he was 398 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 4: spotted there after the rape case with JFK. Junior and 399 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,680 Speaker 4: that was go were whispers about that. But I said, 400 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 4: if you have a story like that that you've heard 401 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 4: of that you want to tell me, I'm here to 402 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 4: listen to those stories as well. But High in a 403 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 4: Support was really like a family place where the family 404 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 4: went to be together. So a lot of those stories 405 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:57,199 Speaker 4: that that wasn't really place where they happened. But I 406 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 4: went into it truly, truly open eyed. 407 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 3: You. 408 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 2: Over the course of reporting this book, stumbled upon the 409 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 2: fact that before he died Ted Kennedy had been embarking 410 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:13,880 Speaker 2: on an oral history project related to the compound. Can 411 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 2: you tell us a little bit about that? 412 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I love that you're asking about this 413 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 4: because I never get to ned out about this is 414 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 4: such a nerdy journalism research moment. But I had been 415 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,159 Speaker 4: trying to find this source, Dotson Raider, who was a 416 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,679 Speaker 4: family friend, for like months and months and months. Just 417 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,679 Speaker 4: I saw his name in the back of another Kennedy 418 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 4: book of a story was cited to him. So I 419 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 4: tracked him down for months and months. You had been 420 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 4: a journalist. He'd written for Esquire in a few other magazines. 421 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 4: I had such a hard time finding him. I finally 422 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 4: found him, and he invited me to his home on 423 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 4: that Brest side to tell these wonderful stories about the 424 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 4: Kennedy family, and it was a great interview. He was 425 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 4: very close friends with a lot of the family and 426 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:50,679 Speaker 4: spent a lot of time in highness support. 427 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 3: And as he was. 428 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 4: Walking me out the door, he was like, well, tell 429 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 4: the library thanks for sending you, And I was like, 430 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 4: what do you mean, And he assumed that I had 431 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 4: found him through the JFK Library, that they had sent 432 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:03,479 Speaker 4: him to me. And I had spent a lot of 433 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 4: time working very closely with the library on the research 434 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 4: for the historical documents for this book, and nobody had 435 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 4: mentioned his name, and I was like, what are you 436 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 4: talking about? And he was like, I had been working 437 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 4: with Ted Kennedy on this oral history project about the 438 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 4: Kennedy Compound before he died. And I was like, what 439 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 4: are you talking about there? That doesn't exist anywhere. I'd 440 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,159 Speaker 4: never heard of anything like that, and he was like, no, 441 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 4: I donated to the library. 442 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: They must have it. 443 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 3: And he had no copy of it himself. 444 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 4: It only existed what he gave to the libraries, and 445 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:32,120 Speaker 4: I think that existed. So I ran home and called 446 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 4: the library and they said, we don't know what you're 447 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 4: talking about. Weeks later they called me back and they said, okay, 448 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 4: we found it. It was in a closet somewhere in 449 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 4: the library, but just hadn't been entered into the system, 450 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 4: and things tig months, if not years, to be entered 451 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 4: into those presidential library systems. That point, I was one 452 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 4: year into a two year contract for the book, and 453 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 4: they were like, there's no way it's going to take 454 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 4: less than a year to get this done. A month 455 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,120 Speaker 4: before I turned in the book, they called and they 456 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 4: got all the approvals that they needed, sent me all 457 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 4: of these recordings of these interviews with Ted Kennedy with 458 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 4: the neighbors who had never spoken before, and it was 459 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 4: just like incredible. So the whole kind of like introduction 460 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 4: of the book is based on one of those interviews 461 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 4: of Ted Kennedy walking Dotson through this house and sharing 462 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 4: his memories rooms to room, and it was just an 463 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 4: absolute gold mine. 464 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 3: It was so special. So I'm the first researcher who 465 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 3: had access to that. 466 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: Wow. I mean, it is very Kennedy to participate in 467 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: their own self mythologizing like it is. It does not 468 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,959 Speaker 1: surprise me that there was already an oral history being 469 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: made by the people themselves. But speaking of self mythologizing 470 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: and of the Kennedy's you know, for lack of a 471 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 1: better word, pr acumen, there is so much intersection between 472 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: the compound and pop culture. I mean, I mentioned the 473 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: photo of Andy Warhol and Grace Jones, but I'm leafing 474 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: through the photo section you have here, and there are 475 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: a lot of important historical events both during jfkse presidency 476 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,919 Speaker 1: and afterwards that had some sort of with Hannah Sport. 477 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit 478 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:08,439 Speaker 1: about some of the most interesting or unexpected celebrities that 479 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 1: have been there, events that have happened on the property 480 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: and things like that. 481 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, the eighties were a really fun, kind of surprising 482 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 4: period for me to do research on. And that was 483 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:19,280 Speaker 4: because at that point, like the Kennedys had kind of 484 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,440 Speaker 4: fallen out of politics a bit, but at that point 485 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 4: they were celebrities, Like they had gone beyond a political 486 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,199 Speaker 4: family and to really a family of celebrities. So you 487 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 4: have Mariy Schreiver marrying Arnold Schwartzenegger Caroline Kennedy at that point, 488 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:33,200 Speaker 4: there's just so much attention paid to her, in spite 489 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 4: of the fact that she's never really put herself out publicly. 490 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 4: The attention stayed there, But the height of it was 491 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 4: really that Maria Schreiver Arnold Schwartzeneggers wedding, big kind of 492 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 4: public you know, broadcast journalists at that time, and so 493 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 4: she invited this incredibly shiny a list guest list to 494 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 4: the wedding, and so Oprah was there, and Andy Warhol 495 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 4: wrote about it in his diaries being there, and Grace 496 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 4: Joseph was his date, and they made such an entrance together, 497 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 4: the two of them. So that was a very fun, 498 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,239 Speaker 4: very flashy wedding. That was probably the most celebrities who 499 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 4: were there at one time. And then after that, Ted 500 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 4: Kennedy was the one who ended up taking over the 501 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 4: Big House after the death of his mother Rose Kennedy, 502 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 4: and he really started using it as more of a 503 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 4: place to host. The Clintons were there at one point, 504 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,359 Speaker 4: and he started having more political events there, which is 505 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 4: where you see some of those names come in. 506 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 2: Got it. 507 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: And there was also there's sort of just like adjacencies 508 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:26,400 Speaker 1: to famous people. Can you talk a little bit about 509 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: the couch the Pope sat on? Yes, he didn't sit 510 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: on it in its current location. 511 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 3: No, and also not when he was pope. It was 512 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 3: before he was pope. 513 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 4: And then Rose Kennedy put a plaque on it to 514 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,439 Speaker 4: say like that a pope had sat there and then 515 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:41,719 Speaker 4: brought it to the in a support house. 516 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 3: So it was a very proud item for her, okay. 517 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: And then there was like some other story about Oprah 518 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: a different time she visited where she didn't want to 519 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: play family games. 520 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 3: Yes, what was the story? 521 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 4: The way she told it was that Kennedy family's incredibly 522 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,360 Speaker 4: famously competitive, and they're very known for the touch football 523 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,119 Speaker 4: on the big lawn that they had there. So Oprah 524 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 4: was invited to come with Mry Schriver, who was a 525 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 4: good friend of hers, and she wrote that Oprah Endow 526 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 4: writing that she was so exhausted from the competition she 527 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 4: ended up hiding in a bathroom. 528 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,679 Speaker 1: And I mean to exhaust Oprah, someone who is a 529 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 1: harder worker than any of the Kennedy's company. So it 530 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: really goes to show you that it's a unique and 531 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: special family. 532 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. 533 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 3: Absolutely. 534 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 2: And wasn't Taylor Swift there at one point as well. 535 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, So Taylor dated one of the Kennedy's a number 536 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 4: of years ago, ended up buying the house across from 537 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 4: the big House, like on this tiny little street. 538 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 3: She ended up buying the house. 539 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 4: She never really lived there, so she bought it and 540 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,200 Speaker 4: ended up renovating it and sold it a number of 541 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,920 Speaker 4: years later at a huge profit. So she really didn't 542 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 4: spend time in that house, but she was dating Connor Kennedy, 543 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,959 Speaker 4: and so the neighbors and people very much remember her 544 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 4: being there, and there were these very Kennedy asked looking 545 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 4: photos of her drive forth walking around in her bathing suit. 546 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:55,399 Speaker 3: But the neighbors loved her. 547 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 4: They were very excited to see her there as she 548 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 4: went out for ice cream with the family at the 549 00:23:58,840 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 4: ice cream shop. 550 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: In the one time, I do want to say, we 551 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: did a whole episode about Taylor Swift and Connor Kennedy 552 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: with fran Hofner, who's a Vulture writer, and she really 553 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 1: walked us through the sort of mythology of the Kennedy 554 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,119 Speaker 1: era for Swifties and for the Swiftie fandom. It's interesting. 555 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: Taylor Swift apparently has a long time obsession with the 556 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: Kennedy's yes, and so it was seen as a kind 557 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,199 Speaker 1: of vulturous for her to, in the words of the 558 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: more suspicious anti Swift people, ingratiate herself with the family. 559 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: But apparently they loved her. 560 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 4: Yeah, they loved her. Ethel really in particularly loved her. 561 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,439 Speaker 4: The whole thing was very quiet, her buying this house, 562 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 4: and it remains kind of quiet. But Ethel on the 563 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 4: golf course was like, I can't wait for her to 564 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 4: be my neighbor. She was very into it. But yeah, 565 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 4: Taylor and Ethel had an interesting little friendship happening. But 566 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 4: I'll have to listen to that episode, I would love 567 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 4: to hear more about that. 568 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: Well. 569 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 2: Moving away from the celebrities and the more famous people 570 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 2: who graced the halls of the compound, clearly there was 571 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 2: a whole world of regular people, support staff, people who 572 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:05,159 Speaker 2: kept the light song at the Kennedy compround, nanny's, cooks, nurses, drivers, 573 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 2: sailing instructors, tennis instructors, gardeners. How did they contribute to 574 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 2: the history and why was it important to you to 575 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 2: include them? 576 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 4: Yeah, those were some of my favorite stories because I 577 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 4: think for me, and I think for a lot of people. 578 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:22,720 Speaker 3: It can be hard to put yourself in the shoes 579 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 3: up the Kennedy's. 580 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 4: There's no families like that, but I could imagine being 581 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 4: a neighbor to a Kennedy or working for Kennedy. So 582 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,159 Speaker 4: to think about the family through the eyes of the 583 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,120 Speaker 4: people who were crossing their paths in that way was 584 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 4: the most interesting to me. One of my favorite interviews 585 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 4: was with this piano player who was hired to play 586 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 4: at the family home at the end of Rose Kennedy's life. 587 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:45,680 Speaker 3: She always played the piano. It was like a big 588 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 3: part of her life growing up and for the kids. 589 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 4: But as she got older, she wasn't able to play anymore, 590 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 4: so Ted Kennedy hired this spocal musician to come play 591 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 4: the piano for her and his story. 592 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 3: You know, a piano player is a kind of an 593 00:25:58,280 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 3: interesting one too. 594 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,120 Speaker 4: Because, as I guess, most people in these roles, they're 595 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 4: kind of invisible, so the guests are walking by them, 596 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 4: and so it's really such. 597 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 3: A fly on the wall type of perspective that you're getting. 598 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 4: So John, this piano player had these amazing stories of 599 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:14,920 Speaker 4: the celebrities coming in and out. 600 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 3: I just found it fascinating. 601 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: Can you tell us a little bit about Eugenia Fortees 602 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: She was one of the more interesting non Kennedy characters 603 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:23,719 Speaker 1: in the book. 604 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, she's one of my favorites. 605 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 4: You were asking about my first time there, And what 606 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 4: struck me when I got to Hinna Support is that 607 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,439 Speaker 4: there's a tiny sliver of a public beach there and 608 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 4: it's called Eugenia Fort's Beach, And it just really struck. 609 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 3: Me that this is a place so associated with. 610 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,160 Speaker 4: The Kennedy's and the one public place is not named 611 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 4: for them, it's named for this woman, Eugenia, who I 612 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 4: had never heard of, and so it was important to 613 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:45,120 Speaker 4: me to learn more about her. She was at Cape 614 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 4: Verdian woman who lived in Hyennas not Hyenna support and 615 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 4: she worked as a cook for many of the families 616 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 4: in the community, never the Kennedy's, but some of their neighbors. 617 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 4: So the Kennedy kids all grew up knowing her, particularly 618 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,440 Speaker 4: Ted Kennedy. She kind of had a bit of a 619 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,239 Speaker 4: friendship with Ted Kennedy when he was growing up, and 620 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 4: she ended up becoming one of the founding members of 621 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 4: the End of lacp on the Cape, and she really 622 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:09,320 Speaker 4: really fought to keep that beach public. The community really 623 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,640 Speaker 4: wanted to make that a private beach. It's where the 624 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 4: yacht club is set, and yacht club is kind of 625 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 4: a funny name for what this is. It's like a 626 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 4: tiny little hut basically where the boats come in and out, 627 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 4: but that's where it's set, and so they wanted to 628 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 4: turn it private. Many times this came up, and Eugenia 629 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 4: really really fought to keep it public, like she would 630 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 4: bring a rocking chair and come sit at these town 631 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 4: meetings to fight for that to continue to be public. 632 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 4: And then later on in Ted Kennedy's political career, he 633 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,960 Speaker 4: turned to her when kind of a dark period of 634 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 4: They were the reverse Freedom Rise is what they were, 635 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 4: so called that this kind of racist organization sent black 636 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 4: Southern Americans up to Cape cod to the houses of 637 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 4: Democratic politicians to say, you know, like we don't want 638 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 4: them here, We're sending them there. 639 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 3: It was horrific. 640 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 4: It was absolutely in humane, and Ted Kennedy turned to 641 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:03,880 Speaker 4: Eugenia Forts to say, what should we do with these 642 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 4: bus loads of people who have arrived, and she kind 643 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,440 Speaker 4: of gave him guidance about making sure they were taken 644 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 4: care of at a place to sleep. I mean, they 645 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 4: were kind of tricked into getting onto these buses because 646 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 4: they were told they would have jobs when they got 647 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:16,919 Speaker 4: to Massachusetts. 648 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 2: They did the I mean, Republicans did the exact same thing. 649 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,119 Speaker 2: The Trump administration did the exact same thing that Martha's 650 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 2: Fenyard dead. Yeah, yeah, it was an exact echo of it. 651 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 2: But Eugenia was a really important voice and kind of 652 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 2: making sure that that was wrong, that was Righted. I 653 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 2: think it's so cool that you included her for a 654 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 2: number of reasons. One, I'm from Massachusetts originally, and Eugenia 655 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 2: was from New Bedford, and New Bedford has a big 656 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 2: Cape Verdean population, and that's just not something that a 657 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 2: lot of histories of the area really detailed. But the 658 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 2: Cape Verdian population has been there for a really long time. 659 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 2: A lot of people forget that. At the time that 660 00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 2: Eugenie Fortes was a young woman, these beaches were segregated, 661 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 2: even in Massachusetts. One of her founding acts before becoming 662 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 2: involved in the end WACP was getting stopped by a 663 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 2: police officer on a segregated beach and saying that there 664 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 2: were complaints about her and her friend being there. 665 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 3: I don't know. 666 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 2: This is a bigger problem I have with a lot 667 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 2: of selective histories of Massachusetts, but I feel like there 668 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:26,560 Speaker 2: are these really important black histories that get erased all 669 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 2: too often. 670 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 1: Yeah. 671 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 3: Absolutely. 672 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,040 Speaker 4: I was lucky enough to speak to her nephew, who 673 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 4: was able to give me incredible insight into her. The 674 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 4: interesting thing about working on a more local history about 675 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 4: a national family. You say Cape cod you say High 676 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 4: I Suportant, people say Kennedy's. But people in that community, 677 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 4: Eugenia was really one of the wise. They wanted to 678 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 4: talk to me about the most, and it was really 679 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 4: important to them that her story be told. And she's 680 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 4: really the one who shaped this community in a really 681 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 4: tangible way. 682 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 2: We're going to take a short break, stay with us, 683 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 2: and we're back with more United States of Kennedy. 684 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: Were there any other nannies, governesses, tennis instructors, cooks. I'm 685 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 1: fascinated by the kind of downtown abbey feel of a 686 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: place like this. You know, I know so many of 687 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: these people are very loyal to the Kennedy family and 688 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 1: have been there for generations. Were there other people like 689 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: that that you spoke to, or whose relatives you spoke to, 690 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 1: or anything like that. 691 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, they had these kind of governesses for the summer 692 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 4: because it was not their permanent residence, so they would 693 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 4: bring in these young women to come for the summer 694 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 4: to help with the kids. So I spoke to a 695 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 4: number of those women who would come into help. Really 696 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 4: from the big Camelot years. There were a few people 697 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 4: who worked there who wrote memoirs that I leaned heavily 698 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 4: on that were really insightful and incredibly interesting, including a 699 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 4: driver who worked for the family for a very long 700 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,560 Speaker 4: time who ended up living above the garage of the 701 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 4: family home. His perspective was just incredible, like what he 702 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 4: was able to see if I was able to talk 703 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 4: to a neighbor kid who was the one who ended 704 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 4: up teaching Jackie Kennedy how to slalom ski. So there 705 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 4: were the people who worked for them in official capacities, 706 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 4: and then the people who came in and out for 707 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,400 Speaker 4: these little brief moments. Another really important person who worked 708 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 4: for the family was this man named Sandy Eiler, who 709 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 4: was basically a one man summer camp for the Kennedy 710 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 4: families and the neighbors. The family loved to tell stories 711 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 4: about Sandy that he was really one of the ones 712 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 4: who they would really light up talking about. He was 713 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 4: the one who would organize the flag football games and 714 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 4: the baseball games for the kids and the neighbor kids too. 715 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 4: The Shriver kids remember him going from house to house 716 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 4: to wake up the kids and then making them to 717 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 4: go jump into the water before breakfast, and he would 718 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:40,080 Speaker 4: ended up being invited to many of the weddings of 719 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 4: the kids he saved in their lives for a very 720 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 4: long times. He had passed before I started working on 721 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 4: this book, but I spoke to a lot of people 722 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 4: who knew him really well. 723 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:51,960 Speaker 2: Man slalom skiing say, I mean, this is a relatable 724 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 2: is my class issues are absolutely frothing right. 725 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: Now and feel feel better after our yearly ski train 726 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,280 Speaker 1: during the season. This has been so interesting and it 727 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: is such a fascinating lens through which to view a 728 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: family is through this space that had so much meaning 729 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: for all of them and also a place where so 730 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: much of their life is in this kind of public, 731 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 1: official capacity, and this is where they went to relax. 732 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,040 Speaker 1: But I'm wondering, what is the compound like today? I mean, 733 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: we're past that kind of golden era where even past 734 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: the era you mentioned in the eighties where there was 735 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: such a celebrity ecosystem built around the Kennedy's. The Kennedy 736 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: name is in such an interesting place right now because 737 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: on the one hand, of course RFK Junior has gone 738 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: in a completely different direction, but on the other hand, 739 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,960 Speaker 1: there are still young people that are trying to carry 740 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,440 Speaker 1: on some sort of mythology, some sort of legacy. What 741 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: is the compound like now? Just as a place. 742 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 4: So the big house, the main house is empty, and 743 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 4: it's owned by an organization that was made in Ted 744 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 4: Kennedy's name after he passed away by his widow, and 745 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,480 Speaker 4: they're trying different things with it. What they want eventually, 746 00:32:58,600 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 4: is it for to be a place where they're like, 747 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 4: big meetings can happen for politicians, is what they've landed on. 748 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 4: It is a tricky property because it's at the end 749 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 4: of this very short, very residential street. So there were 750 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 4: talks about turning it into like the JFK Birthplace type 751 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 4: of house that people could visit, and that's really what 752 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 4: Rose Kennedy wanted done with it, but the logistics of 753 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 4: that are incredibly complicated because of. 754 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:19,240 Speaker 3: Where it is. 755 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:20,800 Speaker 4: So right now it's in this kind of what's going 756 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 4: to be a meeting place. I don't know how much 757 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,720 Speaker 4: is actually being used right now though as a meeting place. 758 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 4: When I was working on the book, it basically was empty. 759 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,160 Speaker 4: Ethel Kennedy spent the whole end of her life as 760 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 4: a year rounder in highness support. She was at that 761 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 4: house all the time, and she recently passed away, and 762 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 4: that house now belongs to Max Kennedy, my sailing buddy Max, 763 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 4: so he moved in with his family there recently. There 764 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:43,440 Speaker 4: was a beautiful spread and I think el de Corr 765 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 4: had these incredible. 766 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:45,120 Speaker 1: Life I hope. 767 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 4: So yeah, so yeah, you get a peak of what 768 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 4: it looks like now there, and then the JFK House 769 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 4: is now owned by one of Ted Kennedy's sunns and 770 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 4: it is a private residence. So there is a big 771 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 4: fence up around that JFK House now that went up 772 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,720 Speaker 4: during the presidency over the years, of course, but the 773 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 4: other houses all remain open and look like they always 774 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 4: look from the outside. The estimate that I have been 775 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,840 Speaker 4: told is there about a dozen other Kennedy houses and 776 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,040 Speaker 4: high indes support. The family members have bought up other 777 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 4: houses as the years have gone on, including Kerry Kennedy 778 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 4: and including Bobby Kennedy, Bobby Junior, he has a house 779 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:19,799 Speaker 4: there around the corner from the compound too, So there 780 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,359 Speaker 4: are a number of other houses that have been bought 781 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 4: up by the family and they continue to go, they 782 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 4: continue to spend their summers there. I asked one of 783 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 4: the family members at one point, why do you keep 784 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 4: why do you still go there? Because when people go there, 785 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:32,959 Speaker 4: people still try to sneak photos at the compound from 786 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 4: the beach and you see the on social media, people 787 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,959 Speaker 4: tagging you know, the Kennedy Compound on from walking behind 788 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:39,520 Speaker 4: the house, and there's just such a there's such a 789 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:41,839 Speaker 4: it's so associated with the family. Now it feels like, 790 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 4: if you want your privacy, and many of these people 791 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,400 Speaker 4: are incredibly private people, why here, Like, go to any 792 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 4: other part of Cape Cod and you would be able 793 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 4: to have so much more privacy. And what they said 794 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 4: was that this is where our family is, and this 795 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 4: is how these cousins know each other, So this is 796 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 4: where they spend holidays. And when I was doing a 797 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:00,799 Speaker 4: lot of the interviews at the house is that were 798 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:02,920 Speaker 4: owned by the Kennedy's, there were cousins coming in and 799 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 4: out the door, you know, asking do you have a 800 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:06,640 Speaker 4: whiffleball bat kind of thing? 801 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 3: But yeah, they still they're still there. Wow. 802 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 2: Well that would be a great place to end in 803 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,160 Speaker 2: and of itself. But there is just one more thing 804 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 2: that I've been wanting to ask you about, which is 805 00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 2: I've heard you say obviously that you had no real 806 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 2: preconceptions or ties to the Kennedys before you started this project, 807 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:25,640 Speaker 2: but that one of your favorites over the course of 808 00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 2: researching them came to be Rose Is. She's someone who 809 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 2: we haven't talked about as much on the show as 810 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 2: other members of the Kennedy extended universe, And so I 811 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:40,799 Speaker 2: just wanted to maybe close out by letting you dish 812 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:41,960 Speaker 2: about why you love Rose. 813 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,279 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, you know, reading the histories of the 814 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 4: family when I got started, the kind of perception of 815 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 4: her is she's very cold, and there's a lot of like, 816 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:51,799 Speaker 4: oh my god, she would leave her kids to go 817 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:52,680 Speaker 4: shopping in Europe. 818 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 3: Like, there's a lot of that kind of writing about her. 819 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 3: And the fact that she stayed with Joe through obviously 820 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 3: his terrible industry Russians and so many other things that 821 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:03,800 Speaker 3: Joe did over his life. 822 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 4: There's kind of like a like she's this kind of cold, stoic, 823 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:11,399 Speaker 4: you know, willing to hang in through anything, kind of woman. 824 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:12,440 Speaker 3: That's kind of the perception. 825 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 4: But as I researched and talked to people who knew her, 826 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 4: particularly the end of her life, there was the other 827 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 4: side of her that came out through this place that 828 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 4: was her home where she obviously felt the most comfortable, 829 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,759 Speaker 4: and as a parent myself, there were just things she 830 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:26,480 Speaker 4: would say, you know. One of my favorite quotes in 831 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,719 Speaker 4: the book was she ended up building a little hut 832 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:30,359 Speaker 4: at the end of the property just for her, and 833 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,480 Speaker 4: she says something like any mother will know. It's not splendor, 834 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:34,240 Speaker 4: it's solitary. 835 00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:34,719 Speaker 3: Confinement. 836 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:36,759 Speaker 4: I need, like, she had this huge family with these 837 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 4: crazy kids running around, and she just wanted to be 838 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,919 Speaker 4: by herself for a moment every day. And as a parent, 839 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 4: that's incredibly relatable. She was picky about who she opened 840 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 4: up with, and there were these neighbors of hers who 841 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 4: really became her closest friends at the end of her life, 842 00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:52,440 Speaker 4: who she really opened up within ways about Joe's behavior, 843 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,720 Speaker 4: about what happened to her daughter Rosemary, which is obviously 844 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:58,279 Speaker 4: so horrific, and you get these glimpses of humanity that 845 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,280 Speaker 4: I think she's not often granted in the bigger histories 846 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 4: of the family. 847 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, she's such an interesting figure because I always go 848 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:08,719 Speaker 1: back and forth where you hear about these stories where 849 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:10,839 Speaker 1: she's so cruel. I mean, one of them that has 850 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,680 Speaker 1: stuck with me is her disapproval of Kicks, of Kick 851 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:18,239 Speaker 1: marrying and non Catholic. And of course, initially you're like, 852 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,000 Speaker 1: how can a mother be so disapproving and blah blah, 853 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:25,880 Speaker 1: And then during the episode we did about Kick, you know, 854 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,000 Speaker 1: you have the realization that one of the reasons why 855 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:30,360 Speaker 1: she's acting like that is because she is so genuinely 856 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,080 Speaker 1: religious that she thinks Kick would not go to heaven 857 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,879 Speaker 1: if she went through with this marriage. So even though 858 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:39,719 Speaker 1: it seems so cool, it comes from a certain kind 859 00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:43,400 Speaker 1: of actual love for her daughter. And there's always moments 860 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:46,240 Speaker 1: like that with ros. She's both a very hardened woman 861 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,000 Speaker 1: but also does really care about her family. 862 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:49,439 Speaker 3: Yeah. 863 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,399 Speaker 4: Absolutely, I think her family was really always the most 864 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:53,120 Speaker 4: important thing to her, and so kind of and this 865 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,080 Speaker 4: is a family house, and this is where the family 866 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:58,120 Speaker 4: would be together when great things happen, weddings, when terrible 867 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,799 Speaker 4: things happen, funerals, and this is where they always came. 868 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,319 Speaker 4: And so this place that was so important to her, 869 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 4: I think allowed her to open up in a way 870 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,359 Speaker 4: that you could just don't see in other settings for her. 871 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:10,239 Speaker 1: Well, the book is White House by the Sea. This 872 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,319 Speaker 1: was so interesting, and I have to say, if nothing else, 873 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,760 Speaker 1: the photo section in the center of it is great. 874 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,520 Speaker 1: And speaking of Eugenia, for it's is a really great 875 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:22,400 Speaker 1: photo of her in here. There's all these crazy looking 876 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,840 Speaker 1: family photos. You know, there was just this haunted quality 877 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,839 Speaker 1: to any visual representation of the Kennedy's that really comes through. 878 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:31,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, looking at the old photos was really such a 879 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:32,520 Speaker 3: fun part of the process. 880 00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:35,120 Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much. Kate, you're our first returning guest, 881 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:36,880 Speaker 1: and I hope you write another book about a different 882 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,239 Speaker 1: element of the Kennedy's and come back soon. 883 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,319 Speaker 3: Yes, thank yous so much, thank you for having me. 884 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:43,000 Speaker 3: So that's it for this week's episode. 885 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,000 Speaker 1: Next week we're doing a special episode counting down the 886 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,040 Speaker 1: top Kennedy moments of twenty twenty five. And there were 887 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 1: a lot, so happy holidays from everyone here at United 888 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,520 Speaker 1: States of Kennedy and we will see you next week. 889 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:57,800 Speaker 2: United States of Kennedy is hosted by me, Julia Clair, 890 00:38:57,920 --> 00:38:58,880 Speaker 2: and George Savers. 891 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:01,839 Speaker 1: Original music by Joshua Chapolski. 892 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 2: Editing by Graham Gibson. 893 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,239 Speaker 1: Mixing and mastering by Doug Bame. 894 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,880 Speaker 2: Research by Dave Ruth and Austin Thompson. 895 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:09,680 Speaker 1: Our producer is Carmen Laurent. 896 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,080 Speaker 2: Our executive producer is Jenna Cagele. 897 00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 1: Created by Lyra Smith. 898 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:16,880 Speaker 2: The United States of Kennedy is a production of iHeart Podcasts.