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Dry Run for the World. For once, Joe Kennedy underestimated himself: he and Rose had a mere nine children—but Joe's fortune is reckoned at more than $200 million. He became general manager of the huge Fore River shipbuilding yard at Quincy during World War I, joined the investment banking house of Hayden, Stone & Co., sold short and made $15 million in a few hours during the market crash of 1929, served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1934-35) and the U.S. Maritime Commission (1937)—and was U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain during the ominous years of 1937-40.
Remarkable as a businessman, Joe Kennedy was even more remarkable as a father. He set up individual million-dollar trusts for each of his children so that they could choose careers without having to worry about finances. In fact, Joe banned all discussion of money among members of his family. He charged his children with his own competitive energy, once ordered a couple of the boys from the table when he learned they had hacked around and lost a sailing race. Says Jack Kennedy: "Dad persuaded us to work hard at whatever we did. We soon learned that competition in the family was a kind of dry run for the world outside. At the same time, everything channeled into public service. There just wasn't any point in going into business."
The Kennedys competed among themselves and against the world. It was sometimes a little tough on the world. One of the most realistic accounts of life with the Kennedys was written by David Hackett, a weary weekend visitor. Excerpts from Rules for Visiting the Kennedys:
Anticipate that each Kennedy will ask you what you think of another Kennedy's a) dress, b) hairdo, c) backhand, d) latest public achievement. Be sure to answer "terrific" This should get you through dinner. Now for the football field. It's "touch," but it's murder. If you don't want to play, don't come. If you do come, play, or you'll be fed in the kitchen and nobody will speak to you. Don't let the girls fool you. Even pregnant, they can make you look silly. Above all, don't suggest any plays, even if you played quarterback at school. The Kennedys have the signal-calling department sewed up, and all of them have A-pluses in leadership. Run madly on every play, and make a lot of noise. Don't appear to be having too much fun, though. They'll accuse you of not taking the game seriously enough. Don't criticize the other team, either. It's bound to be full of Kennedys too, and the Kennedys don't like that sort of thing.
Message to Father. Jack Kennedy prepped at Choate, went to London School of Economics for a few months under famed Socialist Harold Laski ("My father wanted me to see both sides of the street''), majored in international relations at Harvard. During his junior year Jack went to Europe under the auspices of Ambassador Joe Kennedy, and in Berlin one night in 1939, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Alex Kirk gave him a message to take to his father: world war would erupt within a week. It did.