Obituary: Rosemary Kennedy was one of the inspirations for the Special Olympics



Obituary: Rosemary Kennedy was one of the inspirations for the Special Olympics

Obituary: Rosemary Kennedy ; US President's unknown sibling, victim of a lobotomy that `went wrong'

Jan 10, 2005

Independent-London

by Rupert Cornwell

Caption: A Kennedy family photo taken in 1937. Rosemary Kennedy (standing on R) the mildly retarded younger sister of slain US president John F. Kennedy, has died.(AFP/File)

ROSEMARY KENNEDY was the unknown Kennedy, the hidden and virtually unmentioned member of the very public dynasty that was - at least until the arrival on the scene of the Bushes - the nearest thing in America to a royal family.

She was the third child of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, following "Joe Junior", the eldest, who died on service in the Second World War and the future President Jack Kennedy, assassinated at Dallas in 1963. Her misfortune was to be born - in 1918 - mildly mentally retarded, into a family dominated by her driven and ruthlessly ambitious father.

As a girl, Rosemary lived a relatively normal life. She kept diaries of her life in the 1930s, chronicling a privileged existence of tea dances, dress fittings and a visit to Franklin Roosevelt at the White House. When her father was US ambassador to Britain, she was presented to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

But her problems apparently grew worse as the Kennedys prepared to return home from London. Her father, fearful she might do something that might damage the reputation of a family for which he had huge ambitions, decided that she should undergo a lobotomy, a treatment then in its infancy but regarded as a miracle cure for mental illness.

The operation took place in 1941, but, according to the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, "something went terribly wrong". Rosemary emerged not better, but far worse. She was moved between several private institutions before her father placed her in the St Coletta home in central Wisconsin, where she spent her last 57 years.

According to Goodwin, her mother Rose did not learn of Rosemary's lobotomy for two decades, until 1961, the year her second son was inaugurated the 35th President. For the ambassador, for whom power, success and winning were the only things that mattered, his eldest daughter was literally unmentionable.

The Kennedy biographer Thomas Reeves wrote of how Joe Senior's mistress the Hollywood actress Gloria Swanson once asked him about Rosemary. "Joe became enraged. `His blue eyes turned to ice and then to steel,' Swanson wrote later. Within seconds he was shouting, `I don't want to hear about it. Do you understand me, do you understand me?' Once Rosemary was institutionalised," Reeves wrote, "she did not exist, she was a loser."

Other members of the family, however, continued to visit her. Later she became one of the inspirations for the Special Olympics, founded in 1968 by her sister Eunice and Eunice's husband Sargent Shriver, activists in the field of mental retardation.

Her death leaves just four survivors among the nine children of Joe and Rose Kennedy. They are Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Senator and former presidential candidate, and her sisters Eunice, Patricia and Jean. All four were at her bedside when she died.

Rose Marie ("Rosemary") Kennedy: born Boston, Massachusetts 13 September 1918; died Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin 7 January 2005.

When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Coleman: Peace Corps mission and expansion Senator Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, says in an op-ed, A chance to show the world America at its best: "Even as that worthy agency mobilizes a "Crisis Corps" of former Peace Corps volunteers to assist with tsunami relief, I believe an opportunity exists to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the Peace Corps and its expansion to touch more and more lives."

RPCVs active in new session of Congress In the new session of Congress that begins this week, RPCV Congressman Tom Petri has a proposal to bolster Social Security, Sam Farr supported the objection to the Electoral College count, James Walsh has asked for a waiver to continue heading a powerful Appropriations subcommittee, Chris Shays will no longer be vice chairman of the Budget Committee, and Mike Honda spoke on the floor honoring late Congressman Robert Matsui.

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January 8, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Zambia RPCV Karla Berg interviews 1,374 people on Peace 7 Jan Breaking Taboo, Mandela Says Son Died of AIDS 6 Jan Dreadlocked PCV raises eyebrows in Africa 6 Jan RPCV Jose Ravano directs CARE's efforts in Sri Lanka 6 Jan Persuading Retiring Baby Boomers to Volunteer 6 Jan Inventor of "Drown Proofing" retires 6 Jan NPCA Membership approves Board Changes 5 Jan Timothy Shriver announces "Rebuild Hope Fund" 5 Jan More Water Bottles, Fewer Bullets 4 Jan Poland RPCV Rebecca Parker runs Solterra Books 2 Jan Peace Corps Fund plans event for September 30 Dec RPCV Carmen Bailey recounts bout with cerebral malaria 28 Dec more top stories...

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Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help?

The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005.

Changing of the Guard With Lloyd Pierson's departure, Marie Wheat has been named acting Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations responsible for the day-to-day management of the Peace Corps. Although Wheat is not an RPCV and has limited overseas experience, in her two years at the agency she has come to be respected as someone with good political skills who listens and delegates authority and we wish her the best in her new position.

Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia."

RPCV safe after Terrorist Attack RPCV Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the U.S. consul general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia survived Monday's attack on the consulate without injury. Five consular employees and four others were killed. Abercrombie-Winstanley, the first woman to hold the position, has been an outspoken advocate of rights for Arab women and has met with Saudi reformers despite efforts by Saudi leaders to block the discussions.

Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors.

The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By C. O. Jones (98.64.204.14) on Sunday, August 09, 2009 - 2:48 pm: Edit Post

President Kennedy and all the rest of his family were a useless bunch of idiots who championed causes that led to the undoing of this country, like equal opportunity employment that lowered the country's standards and gave minorities the right to compete on equal footing without trying to improve themselves through education, etc., and the "hands-tied-behind-our-backs" politically-commanded wars that have killed so many of our youth.
The two shining stars were Sargent Shriver and his wife Eunice. Their contributions have been great and effective. God bless tham both.