Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.

This article is about the politician, Joseph Kennedy, Sr.; For the baseball player, see Joe Kennedy.

Background and early career

Joseph was born in Boston, the son of Patrick J. Kennedy, a successful businessman and Irish Catholic community leader. Patrick Kennedy intended to name his son after himself, but his mother insisted the names be reversed so that Joe would not be immediately recognized as Catholic in Boston, then Protestant-dominated. Kennedy was born into a highly sectarian environment where Catholics were often the victims of prejudice and exclusion. Many Catholics got involved in the Democratic Party, as did Patrick and many family relatives.

Related Topics:
Boston - Patrick J. Kennedy - Irish Catholic - Boston - Democratic Party

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Joe Kennedy's home was a prosperous and comfortable one, thanks to his father's successful liquor business and an influential role in local politics. At the city's most prestigious high school, Boston Latin School, he was a poor student; in his senior year he earned a C in Greek, a D+ in algebra, and D's in elementary Latin, history, and geometry. He also failed physics, French, and advanced Latin. However, he was a popular student, having been elected class president and playing on the school baseball team (with a .580 batting average).

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Despite his low grades, he was admitted to Harvard University where he still received mostly C to D grades. He focused mainly on the social side of campus life, where he networked ferociously, working hard to gain admittance to the prestigious Hasty Pudding Club.

Related Topics:
Harvard University - Hasty Pudding Club

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After graduating from Harvard University in 1912, his first job was a state-employed bank examiner. In that role, he learned that a Protestant-controlled bank was trying to take over the small, Catholic-dominated Columbia Trust Bank, in which his father was a minority shareholder. He played an active role in opposing the takeover, borrowing $45,000 to buy control and was ultimately rewarded by being appointed president of the bank on January 12, 1914. At age 25, he became the youngest bank president in the history of the United States to date.

Related Topics:
Harvard University - 1912 - January 12 - 1914

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That year, he also married Rose Fitzgerald, the daughter of John F. Fitzgerald, the Democrat mayor of Boston and probably the most recognized politician in Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
Rose Fitzgerald - John F. Fitzgerald - Massachusetts

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Kennedy emerged as a highly successful entrepreneur with an eye for value. He bought into a company Old Colony Realty Associates, Inc., which bought distressed real estate. Old Colony acquired single family homes and other properties in foreclosure, slightly improved them - usually presentationally - and sold them quickly, often for strong profits. From an initial investment of $1000 in 1914, when the company was dissolved in 1917, he received $25,000, excluding the substantial dividends he had already received.

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He accepted a Government appointment at a shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts where he oversaw the production of submarines and battleships. He also supervised the construction of housing for shipyard workers and even the onsite cafeteria. In the early 1920s, Joseph acquired two movie studios and personally produced several films, he then sold the companies to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

Related Topics:
Quincy, Massachusetts - 1920s - Film - Radio Corporation of America (RCA)

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He was romantically linked to Gloria Swanson during 1929 and 1930, during which time he poured large sums of money into Gloria Productions Limited, a film company which Swanson had just started. Their affair came to an end in 1930 following an argument over money

Related Topics:
Gloria Swanson - 1929 - 1930 - Money - Film - Affair

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