Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

American businessman, politician and diplomat (1888–1969)

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Lived 1888–1969, aged 81United States

United States PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
40 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1888–1969
Aged 81
Known for
LOLA
2023

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

He built a fortune in Hollywood studios and Scotch whisky, then planted three sons in the highest reaches of American power — one in the White House, two in the Senate. The architect of the Kennedy dynasty, whose own ambassadorship ended in disgrace after he doubted democracy's survival.

Biography

About

Born into East Boston politics on September 6, 1888, Joseph Patrick Kennedy made his first fortune as a stock and commodity investor, then pivoted to reorganizing Hollywood studios in the 1920s — work that helped form RKO and left him rich enough to own Chicago's Merchandise Mart, the largest privately held building in the country. Franklin Roosevelt, whom he'd met during World War I at a Bethlehem Steel shipyard, appointed him the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934, then sent him to London as Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1938. When war broke out, Kennedy g…

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