# What happened to the Kennedys (Jack and Bobby) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 2, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547 "2006-12-02T00:13:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547/41 "2006-12-05T17:46:20Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Well, for one thing JFK’s first congressional campaign was bought by his father. Old Joe paid a flack named Russo to run as an independent (there was a republican named Russo facing Jack. The electorate was confused, and split the vote-Russo lost. [/quote] There were ten candidates in that primary. Adding both the Russo’s votes together, they finished fourth. [Cite.](http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/The+Election+of+1946.htm) > [@](#): > > later, in the 1960 presidentail campaign, Joe paid the Cook County (Chicago) machine to have thousands of dead people vote for Jack-Chicago swung the election to JFK. There may be a smidgen of truth to this, though the payoffs were certainly political rather than monetary. Regardless, giving Illinois to Nixon still results in a 276-246 Kennedy victory. [Cite.](http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/scores.html#1960) > [@](#): > > Bobby almost certainly violated MANY laws as ATTY General-one was raiding the offices of the Teamster’s Union-Bobby hated Jimmy hoffa. What law was “almost certainly” violated? Hoffa was a criminal. [Cite.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa) > [@](#): > > Also, bobby used the FBI to place illegal wiretaps on Martin Luthor King’s phones-they even bugged the hotel bedrooms where king met whores for sex! toatally illegal, and unethical to boot! You can blame J. Edgar Hoover for that one. Wiretapping had already begun in 1961; Kennedy’s approval came in 1963 and was based on Hoover’s lies. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy) and [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.). Once again, **ralph** , you have filled a post with 95% innuendo and 5% fact. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547/42 "2006-12-05T17:47:35Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Also, bobby used the FBI to place illegal wiretaps on Martin Luthor King’s phones… [/QUOTE] Was this after the Fortress of Solitude was destroyed and he was trying to build the Kryptonian Warship? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547/43 "2006-12-06T01:48:42Z")
Never mind all that trivia, who was really behind [Huey Long’s assassination?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long#Assassination) And did it have anything to do with [The Business Plot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plot) – just two years earlier?! Coincidence, you fnord say? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547/44 "2006-12-06T15:00:23Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] There were ten candidates in that primary. Adding both the Russo’s votes together, they finished fourth. [Cite.](http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/The+Election+of+1946.htm) There may be a smidgen of truth to this, though the payoffs were certainly political rather than monetary. Regardless, giving Illinois to Nixon still results in a 276-246 Kennedy victory. [Cite.](http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/scores.html#1960) What law was “almost certainly” violated? Hoffa was a criminal. [Cite.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa) You can blame J. Edgar Hoover for that one. Wiretapping had already begun in 1961; Kennedy’s approval came in 1963 and was based on Hoover’s lies. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy) and [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.). Once again, **ralph** , you have filled a post with 95% innuendo and 5% fact. [/QUOTE] What law was “almost certainly” violated? Hoffa was a criminal. Cite. Well, I thought you needed a court order to place a wiretap. Bobby had Dr. King’s phones, hotel rooms bugged-where was the court order? incidentally, Hirsch reports that RFK and JFK listened to the tapes with relish, and made jokes about their contents. Nice tribute to the leader of the Civil Rights Movement! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547/45 "2006-12-06T15:23:28Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Well, I thought you needed a court order to place a wiretap. Bobby had Dr. King’s phones, hotel rooms bugged-where was the court order? [/QUOTE] Not until 1968. Before that, it was murky, but Olmstead v. US (1928), said that wiretapping without judicial approval didn’t violate civil rights. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547/46 "2006-12-12T19:50:44Z")
Thank you, **Frank** , for a concise refutation of all the usual anti-Kennedy canards. Both JFK and RFK had their flaws, to be sure, but both were men of uncommon wit, courage and patriotism, who did their best to serve their country and to leave the world a better place than they found it. They inspired millions to public service, and I fear we shall not see their likes again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-kennedys-jack-and-bobby/382547.md?page=2)