Joe Kennedy: Not a Bootlegger or a Nazi, But a Hardcore Non-Interventionist

"He's Zelig, he's everywhere - from World War I to World War II to the Cold War to the New Frontier," says David Nasaw, author of the The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy. "If you look at the world the way [Kennedy] looks at it, your understanding of 20th Century American history is enormously expanded."

Nasaw, a professor of history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, spoke with Reason TV's Nick Gillespie about his best-selling biography of the father of JFK, RFK, and Teddy Kennedy. Nasaw argues that Kennedy, who served as the American ambassador to Great Britain during World War II, was never pro-Nazi but was consistently against military intervention even during the Cold War. And to the disappointment of Kennedy haters everywhere, Nasaw debunks the myth that Joe made a fortune via bootlegging during Prohibition. In fact, those stories about Kennedy Sr., who passed multiple security checks by the FBI while serving multiple presidents, only surfaced in the late '60s when JFK assassination buffs tried to tie the family to the mob.

About 8 minutes.

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Camera by Jim Epstein and Fisher.

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[Gj-]

Joseph Kennedy is little finger from game of thrones. He’d shake hands with anyone and do a deal with them as long as he made a dollar. The man had no morals.

[CrimzinEclipse]

“The only difference between me and Joe Kennedy, is that his last name is Kennedy.”
-Joseph Bonnano, head of the Bonnano Crime Family.

[grandmasterstudent]

I actually bought this book to read but now that I know the author was basically commissioned and some of his answers seem like a whitewashing of history, I’ll read with more skepticism.

[AmericanCombatAssoc]

So why did he have lunch every week with Joe Costello? Why did he meet repeatedly with Joe Bonnano? Why was he according to his own journal in Atlantic City for the cosa nostra meeting to establish the future of liquor distribution post prohibition?

[BrianMcQ]

"He's a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant business man." Mr. Nasaw: A brilliant businessman is one that succeeds without breaking every damn law on the books. Yes, he was EVERYWHERE in terms of influence, but it is a fact that he was one of the greatest criminal geniuses our country has ever produced. And his son Jack's entire life was manufactured out of whole cloth by his father. The premise of the book is literally unbelieveable. These are FACTS. I may read it to see how far it whitewashes.

[shalomccs]

Everybody from Joseph times knew about how he made his fortune, he brought whiskey from Scotland and Ireland 🇮🇪 all the gangsters from the 20s knew him specifically the Irish mob from Boston and the NJ boardwalk mob.

[drpoundsign]

FDR himself promised, in 1940, that American Boys would not fight in the War.
He knew Better. All Presidents say that. We were helping the UK with Lend-Lease. And, he cut off Japan economically, due to their atrocities in China, and their invasion of Indochina. That was only going to go one way.

[theultimaterockr]

I'm pretty skeptical of this book because it was funded by the Kennedys

[hoosierhiver]

So he admits the Kennedy's hired him to write this book, but it's totally objective of course.

[CMRinehart]

David does nothing but prop Kennedy Sr. Up as an honorable man. Very few were able to amass extreme wealth through honest endeavors way back when.

[shalomccs]

If I hire a biographer I will tell him what to write and what not to write. The skeleton will stay in the closet..

[eliaschevette]

I agree in one thing with Joe Kennedy. The USA does not need to trade with Europe it needs to trade a lot more with South America.

[grafenr.]

Joe Kennedy was a bootlegger. I believe that was illegal back then. I believe you can see Kennedy brand of liquor at your local ABC store.

[QEsposito]

The Kennedy family hired this guy to write bio and what do you know, Papa Joe is no longer involved with bootlegging! Reason only featured this writer because of the pro-market stance he wrote his subject through.

[vitan]

He had a liquor business making dough during Prohibition.

[kaewonf]

Conveniently left out the part where he bought Jack's elections to the House of Reps and White House. Ho hum...

[thejoyofthemusicinmylife]

As for being a bootlegger there is nothing wrong with providing the public with something that was legal for a long time then suddenly forbidden by the government.

[thosewhohaveearstohear....]

Most of all, he was anti-communist, as were John and Robert.

[proteusaugustus]

You don't think he bootlegged for his bars? They are bad people.

[GrayWatchman]

Huh? they hired him to write this and he claims objectivity???