# Was Joseph Kennedy a Real Piker? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 30, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812 "2004-05-30T17:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/1 "2004-05-30T17:54:53Z")
I just finished reading a biography of Joe Kennedy, father of JFK, RFK, and Ted Kennedy. Man! This guy was a criminal! He made money in all kinds of rackets: -he manipulated stockprices, and made a fortune in Libbey-Owens-ford stock, by “pump and dump” scams -He used his position as ambassador to Great Britain, to secure lucrative long-term contracts toimport scotchwhiskey in to the USA -He invested in movie production and distribution, and skimmed millions in profits by falsely accounting thertre expenses. The man seemed to have no morality at all…the only thing he seemed to careabout washimself. At the same time, he paid journalists like Arthur Krock to write glowing articlesabout him, for public consumption. Give the horrible things that this man did, how was he able to make people think that the Kennedies weresuch stand up people? Would a guy like this today be in Fedral prison? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/2 "2004-05-30T18:03:19Z")
How are you using the word “piker”? Random House > [@](#): > > pik-er (pie’kuhr) n. > 1. a person who does anything in a > contemptibly small or cheap way. > 2. a person who gambles or speculates in a > cautious way. To answer the OP he was a rascal when rascals could flourish. re “Give the horrible things that this man did, how was he able to make people think that the Kennedies weresuch stand up people?” He married well into a politically well connected family and supported his kids in runs for public office. [From Who2 profiles](http://www.who2.com/josephkennedysr.html) > [@](#): > > The patriarch of the political Kennedy family, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was born during Boston’s Irish boom of the late 1800s. Famously ambitious, he attended Harvard and by age 25 was already president of a small bank. Later he moved into investment banking, movie theaters, film production and liquor, becoming wealthy in the process. (It is often alleged that he ran liquor illegally during Prohibition.) He supported Democrat Franklin Roosevelt in the elections of 1932; in 1933 the new president made Kennedy chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 1938 FDR appointed him ambassador to Britain, making Kennedy the first Irish Catholic to hold that post. His 1913 marriage to Rose Fitzgerald, the daughter of Boston mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, resulted in nine children. Their son John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946 and became president in 1961. Two other sons, Robert and Edward, became U.S. senators. > > Extra credit: Kennedy was a key player in his son John’s political campaigns: “We’re going to sell Jack like soap flakes” was his famous quote before the 1946 election… Several of Kennedy’s children have died tragically: his oldest son Joe Jr. was killed in a plane explosion during World War II; daughter Kathleen (“Kick”) was killed in a plane crash in France after the war; sons John and Robert were assassinated. Another daughter, Rosemary, had a lobotomy in 1941 and was institutionalized thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/3 "2004-05-30T18:09:00Z")
Somehow you’re surprised? Look at just one of his sons… Murdered (ok, killed, not exactly murdered) a girl, and not only didn’t go to jail, but continues to be elected by the fools in Mass. -Butler (Political refugee from MA, now residing in the much saner and conservative NH) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/4 "2004-05-30T20:27:21Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Somehow you’re surprised? Look at just one of his sons… Murdered (ok, killed, not exactly murdered) a girl, and not only didn’t go to jail, but continues to be elected by the fools in Mass. > > -Butler > (Political refugee from MA, now residing in the much saner and conservative NH) Are you suggesting that it’s genetic? Or taught? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/5 "2004-05-30T20:44:21Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Somehow you’re surprised? Look at just one of his sons… Murdered (ok, killed, not exactly murdered) a girl, and not only didn’t go to jail, but continues to be elected by the fools in Mass. > > -Butler > (Political refugee from MA, now residing in the much saner and conservative NH) And the court records showing his conviction are…where, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/6 "2004-05-30T23:26:20Z")
[Cecil’s take on how he made his money](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_159.html) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/7 "2004-05-31T05:30:49Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Somehow you’re surprised? Look at just one of his sons… Murdered (ok, killed, not exactly murdered) a girl, and not only didn’t go to jail, but continues to be elected by the fools in Mass. Much like W’s wife. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-joseph-kennedy-a-real-piker/247812/8 "2004-05-31T06:49:57Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Much like W’s wife. What election did Laura Bush win?