The Kennedy Family is no doubt one of the most famous dynasties in the United States. Prominent for their enormous contribution to public service, entertainment, business, and most notably politics. One of the family Patrons: Patrick Joseph Kennedy was the first member of the family to be elected to public office in 1884, serving in the Massachusetts state legislature until 1895. Since then the Family has produced numerous public officials including congressmen, senators, ambassadors, and the 35th President of The United States. However, despite this level of power and influence, the dynasty has gained notoriety for a series of premature deaths, accidents, assassinations, and other calamities known as the Kennedy Curse that have befallen the family over the years.

The alleged curse has primarily struck the children and descendants of businessman Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., (The first child and only surviving son of Patrick Joseph Kennedy). But it has also affected family friends, associates, and other relatives. Political assassinations and plane crashes have been the most common manifestations of the “curse”. Following a car crash in 1969 that led to the death of one of the family’s associates, the last child of the family Ted Kennedy, who had by that point lost 4 of his siblings prematurely, wondered if “some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys”. Diving back into the archives, we have compiled a list of events that proves the manifestation of the Kennedy Curse.

Table of Contents

Botched Lobotomy of Rosemary Kennedy In 1941

Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest daughter of the Kennedy Family, was said to have suffered from a lack of oxygen at birth. As she grew older, she became more rebellious and the family worried she would do something that could tarnish Kennedy’s reputation. At the age of 23, she struggled to read and write, and she suffered from mood swings, seizures, and violent outbursts making her mental illness much harder to hide.

Her father, Joseph P Kennedy Sr., decided to subject Rosemary to lobotomy, an experimental new procedure. The lobotomy was botched, leaving Rosemary with the intellectual capabilities of a 2-year-old and taking away her ability to walk and talk. This marks the beginning of the manifestation of the Kennedy Curse. Rosemary remained institutionalized in seclusion, in rural Wisconsin, until her death in 2005.

Death of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in World War II

Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. was the eldest child in the Kennedy Family. Following United States’ formal entry into World War II, He enlisted in the US Naval Reserve and was trained to be a naval aviator before being dispatched to Britain. After completing 25 combat missions, he volunteered for top-secret assignments known as Operation Aphrodite and Operation Anvil.

On one of these missions, in August 1944, an explosive carried in his plane detonated early, destroying Kennedy’s plane and killing him and his co-pilot instantly. The details surrounding his final mission and death were kept secret until the end of the war. Joe Jr. was just 29 years old when he died. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart Medal.

Kathleen ‘Kick’ Kennedy’s plane crash in 1948

Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy formally known as Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington was the second daughter of the Kennedy Family. She was married to William John Robert Cavendish, the Marquess of Hartington, a British politician and Army officer, who was killed in action during the Second World War. Following Lord Hartington’s death, Kathleen got romantically engaged to Lord Fitzwilliam, a British soldier, and nobleman.

Kathleen alongside her new lover Lord Fitzwilliam was flying from Paris to the French Riviera for a vacation on the 13th of May 1948, when they were caught in a storm that subjected the plane to severe turbulence. When they emerged from the clouds, the plane was in a deep dive, moments away from impact. Despite attempting to pull up, the strain on the plane proved too much and it disintegrated. All 4 onboard were killed instantly.

Patrick Bouvier Kennedy’s death in 1863

Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was the infant child of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. He died from complications of hyaline membrane disease (HMD), two days after his premature birth on August 7 in Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Another manifestation of the Kennedy curse?

The couple had already suffered one miscarriage and a stillbirth. Patrick’s death left the Family and nation in mourning. However, it also brought HMD, now known as infantile respiratory distress syndrome, into the public consciousness, inspiring further research.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963

The most Prominent Member of the Kennedy Family John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on the 22nd of November 1963. John F. Kennedy who served as the 35th President of the United States was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza.

The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the shooting. 40 minutes later, Oswald was arrested by the Dallas Police Department and was shot dead by Jack Ruby two days later. In 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin.

Ted Kennedy’s plane crash in 1964

On the 19th of June, 1964 Ted Kennedy, the last child of Kennedy Snr. survived a plane crash that killed one of his aides as well as the pilot. The plane was on its way to a Democratic State Endorsing Convention in Springfield. The small plane crashed in an apple orchard near Southampton, Massachusetts.

The senator was pulled from the wreckage by passenger (and fellow senator) Birch Bayh. Kennedy spent five months in a hospital recovering from a broken back, a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding. Following the crash, Bobby Kennedy remarked to aide Ed Guthman: “Somebody up there doesn’t like us.

The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

On June 5, 1968, United States Senator and Member of the Kennedy family Robert F. Kennedy was shot by a young Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on the night of his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary; Robert died the following morning.

Robert who was a lawyer by profession, served as the 64th United States attorney general from 1961 to 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968. Sirhan Sirhan, the young Palestinian who shot RFK claimed to have acted in retaliation for RFK’s pro-Israeli stance during the 1967 Six Day War.

The Chappaquiddick Incident in 1969.

In July 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy left a party on Chappaquiddick Island to drop off a family acquaintance, Mary Jo Kopechne, back at the ferry landing. The car skidded off the bridge into the water: Kennedy escaped the car, swimming free and leaving the scene.

He only reported the crash to the police at 10 am the next morning, by which point Kopechne’s body had already been recovered from the sunken car. Kennedy was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident, receiving a 2-month suspended jail sentence, and having his driver’s license suspended for 16 months.

Amputation of Ted Kennedy Jr. in 1973.

Ted Kennedy Jr. is the son of Senator Ted Kennedy and nephew of JFK, In 1973, when he was twelve, osteosarcoma (a form of bone cancer) was diagnosed in his right leg. The leg was surgically amputated on November 17, 1973. On that same day, his father had escorted his niece Kathleen down the aisle at her wedding and rushed back to the hospital.

Also in In 1982, his mother Joan Bennett Kennedy revealed that Kennedy missed by just ten minutes aboard Air Florida Flight 90, which crashed into the Potomac River on January 13 of that year, killing 74 people. Kennedy was delayed on the drive to the airport and missed the flight.

Death of David Kennedy in 1984

David Kennedy, the fourth son of Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel Skakel, David nearly drowned as a boy but was saved by his father. The day after his own near-death experience, David watched his father’s assassination live on television.

Kennedy turned to recreational drug use to cope with the trauma he had experienced, and a car accident in 1973 left him addicted to opioids. Despite numerous trips to rehab following minor overdoses, David never kicked his addiction. He was found dead in April 1984, having overdosed on a combination of cocaine and prescription medication.

Death of Michael LeMoyne Kennedy In 1997

Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was the sixth of eleven children to Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. Like many members of the family, he was also a lawyer, businessman, and activist in Massachusetts. However, his death on the 32nd of December 1997, is one of the manifestations of the Kennedy Curse.

Michael died on December 31, 1997, in a skiing accident in Aspen Mountain, Colorado. He was playing football while on skis with several other members of the Kennedy family when, at approximately 4:15 p.m., he hit a tree. Kennedy was not wearing a helmet or other safety equipment. He was taken to Aspen Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead

John F Kennedy Jr.’s plane crash in 1999

John Kennedy Jr. was born 2 weeks after his father, John F. Kennedy, was elected President. John Jr. lost his father just before his third birthday. In 1999, while working as a successful legal professional in New York, John Jr. flew from New Jersey to Massachusetts via Martha’s Vineyard to attend a family wedding with his wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law.

The plane was reported missing shortly after it failed to arrive on schedule and stopped responding to communications. Wreckage and debris were later found in the Atlantic Ocean, and their bodies were discovered several days later on the seabed. It’s thought Kennedy became disorientated during a descent over water at night, resulting in the crash.

Death of Kara Kennedy in 2011

Kara Kennedy was the oldest and only daughter of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy and Joan Bennett Kennedy. Professionally, she served on the boards of numerous charities and was a filmmaker and television producer. Kara had reportedly suffered from lung cancer in 2002, but she recovered after the removal of part of her right lung.

However on September 16, 2011, two years after her father’s death, she suffered a fatal heart attack resulting in her death at a Washington, D.C., health club after her daily workout. The incident has been cited as another example of the Kennedy curse.

Mary Richardson Kennedy’s suicide in 2012

Mary Richardson Kennedy was the wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from 1994 to 2010 when she filed for divorce. Professionally she was an interior designer, architect, and philanthropist. She was a proponent of green building and was a co-founder of the Food Allergy Initiative, the largest fund for food allergy research in the United States.

On May 16, 2012, Richardson was found dead at her home in Bedford, Westchester County, New York. Her death was ruled as a suicide by hanging. An autopsy report revealed that she had antidepressants in her blood system. Her funeral, organized by the Kennedy family, was held at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Bedford

Accidental overdose of Saoirse Kennedy Hill in 2019

On the 1st of 2019 – Saoirse Kennedy Hill, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died of an accidental overdose after being found unresponsive at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. According to the toxicology results revealed in the death certificate, Hill had methadone, diazepam, nordiazepam, fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, and ethanol in her system at the time of death.

Maeve Kennedy McKean drowns in 2020

Maeve Kennedy McKean was the daughter of Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy. She was public health official, human rights attorney, and academic. She also served as a senior advisor for human rights in the Obama administration.

On 2 April 2020, Maeve Kennedy McKean disappeared with her eight-year-old son, Gideon, during a short canoe trip in the Chesapeake Bay. Maeve’s body was found by divers four days later. Gideon’s body was found two days after hers, on April 8. Authorities believe Maeve paddled to retrieve her son’s ball, leading the wind and current to overturn the canoe. Another manifestation of the Kennedy Curse

The Kennedy Curse: Death & Calamities Involving Members Of The American Political Dynasty