Laura Wright 
The media-deemed “America’s Royal Family” has long been known for wealth, privilege, and political power. This is not without detriment. The Kennedy family is also known for power abuses, corruption, substance abuse, and mental illness. Is the Kennedy family really cursed?
1941
Rosemary Kennedy was the daughter of Joe Kennedy, Sr. She suffered from violent mood swings, but the family agreed on a lobotomy in 1941. The results are typical. The lobotomy inflicted so much new damage that she was far worse after the procedure. She remained institutionalized until her death in 2005.
1944
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. was a war hero. Unfortunately, he tested an experimental airplane over East Suffolk, England, and it exploded.
Days after her brother’s death, his sister Kathleen Agnes Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, lost her husband of only 3 months.
1948
Kathleen died in an airplane crash with all three passengers. Her father was the only family member to attend her funeral. Her mother went into the hospital for medical tests.
1955
John F. Kennedy, future President of the United States, and his wife Jacqueline, have a miscarriage.
1956
John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline have a stillborn daughter.
1961
Joseph Kennedy, Sr., suffered a massive stroke that paralyzed his right side. He made some improvement after the event, but still became confined to a wheelchair. He lingered in this condition for eight years until his death.
1963
The grieving couple endures another tragedy. Their son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, is born prematurely and lives only two days. He dies on August 9.
John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, is assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22.
Lee Harvey Oswald, believed to be responsible for the assassination, is himself killed two days later. Jack Ruby is responsible for Oswald’s assassination.
1964
Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, future Senator, nearly dies in an airplane crash that kills two others. Ted suffered a broken back, punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding.
1968
Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles, California.
1969
Ted drives a car off a bridge and fatally traps his passenger, Mary Jo Kopchre. The infamous “Chappaquiddick incident” remains household discussion from that point on, and many eventually called Ted a “murderer.”
Joe Kennedy, Sr., the family patriarch, died on November 18. He outlived every son he had except for Ted.
1973
Joseph P. Kennedy II, son of Robert F., is involved in a car crash on August 13. The wreck leaves his passenger, Pam Kelley, paralyzed.
Ted Kennedy, Jr., had his right leg amputated on November 17. He’s been diagnosed with bone cancer and the procedure saves his life.
1975
Martha Moxley is a 15-year-old found bludgeoned to death with a golf iron. Ethel Kennedy’s nephew, Michael Skakel, is convicted for the murder in 2002.
1984
David Anthony Kennedy dies from a drug overdose in a hotel room.
1991
William Kennedy Smith is arrested and charged with rape.
1994
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in May. Her cancer was so aggressive she only lived four months after diagnosis.
1997
Michael LeMoyne Kennedy dies in a skiing accident. He’s already under suspicion for statutory rape after an affair of three years that started with a 14-year-old babysitter.
1999
John F. Kennedy, Jr. dies in an airplane crash along with his wife and sister-in-law.
2006
Patricia Helen “Pat” Kennedy dies of natural causes. She was briefly married, but her husband and his family were also imbued with substance addictions and infidelity. Her divorce was final in 1966. She developed her own struggle with alcoholism and never remarried.
2009
Senator Ted Kennedy died after a brutal struggle with brain cancer.
Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver also died of natural causes. Eunice was the founder of the Special Olympics.
2011
Kara Kennedy Allen dies of a heart attack while exercising.
Maria Shriver becomes embroiled in public scandal when her ex-husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, reveals his extramarital affairs and his illegitimate child with their maid of many years.
2012
Mary Richardson Kennedy hangs herself.
Conclusion
The idea of “curses” is one that goes back since the dawn of time, but there are instances where it seems entirely plausible. Many sources claim the Kennedy curse lore was fabricated by the media, but no fabrication is necessary to see there is something extraordinarily peculiar about the family.
Perhaps it’s the consequences of so much negativity in a single family, or the result of chronic substance abuse, dishonesty, and corruption. Or maybe it’s this:
“Let’s just call it what it is: the natural fallout when you’re a member of a family riddled with entitled, underachieving drunks, drug addicts and adulterers, whose treatment of women is historically deplorable.” –Maureen Callahan, The New York Post
http://nypost.com/2012/05/20/the-real-curse-of-the-kennedys/
