The following is a heart-wrenching tale....and one that is little known.
" On Feb. 5, 1963, ... President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress on "Mental Illness and Mental Retardation." He proposed a new program under which the federal government would fund community mental-health centers, or CMHCs, to take the place of state mental hospitals. As Kennedy envisioned it, "reliance on the cold mercy of custodial isolations will be supplanted by the open warmth of community concern and capability." E. Fuller Torrey: Fifty Years of Failing America's Mentally Ill - WSJ.com
The explanation for John F. Kennedy's interest in the fate of the mentally ill is both poignant and personal. It is largely due to the machinations of a very evil man.
That man was not John Kennedy.
1. "Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. (September 6, 1888 November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and government official. Kennedy was an Irish American and was the father of U.S. President John F. Kennedy...." Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
2. "Joe was a fiercely ambitious individual who thrived on competition and winning. Also, in his eyes, the ultimate prize was the American presidency. He wanted his eldest son Joe Jr to become president, but after his death in World War II, he became determined to make his eldest surviving son, Jack, president." Ibid.
Actually, at first, Joe, Sr;, saw himself as President at first. Toward that end, status and reputation of the family was paramount.
3. Joseph, Sr. had nine children. Both greatness and tragedy dwelled in their home. While the deaths associated with the family are well known, the life of daughter Rosemary has been kept shrouded in mystery. Respect for the family is largely the reason, but her fate, and JFK's involvement in the federal takeover of facilities for the mentally ill are intricately related.
4. ""Sister of John F. Kennedy, Rosemary was said to have been considered retarded by members of her family but that assessment has been widely disputed by subsequent analysts. Some concluded that Rosemary may not have been as brilliant as other members of her family but she was a fully functioning person, kept a diary and had an active social life....."
Top 10 Fascinating And Notable*Lobotomies - Listverse
a. Diaries written by her in the late 1930s, and published in the 1980s, reveal a young woman whose life was filled with outings to the opera, tea dances, dress fittings, and other social interests:
"Went to luncheon in the ballroom in the White House. James Roosevelt took us in to see his father, President Roosevelt. He said, 'It's about time you came. How can I put my arm around all of you? Which is the oldest? You are all so big."
"Have a fitting at 10:15 Elizabeth Arden. Appointment dress fitting again. Home for lunch. Royal tournament in the afternoon."
"Up too late for breakfast. Had it on deck. Played Ping-Pong with Ralph's sister, also with another man. Had lunch at 1:15. Walked with Peggy. also went to horse races with her, and bet and won a dollar and a half. Went to the English Movie at five. Had dinner at 8:45. Went to the lounge with Miss Cahill and Eunice and retired early."
Gibson, "Rose Kennedy and Her Family," includes Rosemary's diaries from 19361938. Rosemary Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5. "... Joe Sr. decided, without consulting or informing his wife, to have a prefrontal lobotomy performed on Rosemary. ... Rosemarys surgery was performed very soon after the introduction of the technique in this country. Fewer than one hundred such operations had been completed at this time, and the procedure was very much experimental. The operation was recommended for hopeless patients who had failed to respond to other methods of treatment, people who had little to lose and everything to gain.
http://www.voy.com/18973/1/3447.html
a. "Various reasons for the operation have been given, but it left her permanently incapacitated."
Shorter, Edward. "The Kennedy Family and the History of Mental Retardation," pp. 3233.
b. After the surgery Rosemary was reduced to an infantile mentality that left her incontinent and staring blankly at walls for hours. Her verbal skills were reduced to unintelligible babble. In 1949, Rosemary moved to an institution and was visited on regular occasions by her sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver who became the founder of the Special Olympics."
Top 10 Fascinating And Notable*Lobotomies - Listverse
6. It was the ambition of Joseph Kennedy, Sr. that caused this beautiful young lady to become a veritable "vegetable." He could not allow the taint of scandal to stand in the way of the presidency.
The real reason for sentencing this vibrant 23 year old to such horror?
a. " The chief myth, perpetrated by family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy, is that Ted Kennedys sister Rosemary Kennedy was mentally retarded. Based on that myth, Eunice Shriver, another sister, founded the Special Olympics." Rosemary Kennedy's Inconvenient Illness
b. " While sexual conquest, for example, was an expected trait among the males in the household, the daughters were taught that an important element of their religious faith was abstinence until marriage.... , her parents were concerned about Rosemarys sexual awakening. Rosemary being widely regarded as one of the most attractive of the Kennedy girls, Joe and Rose were extremely worried about the possibility that she would become sexually abused or pregnant. The latter possibility was a special source of anxiety to a father who was constantly concerned about political implications and a mother who was raising her daughters to be good Catholics.
http://www.voy.com/18973/1/3447.html
Presidential ambition.....at the cost of destroying the brain of his daughter. She lived for 63 years in a mental tomb.
While Joseph, Sr. never visited Rosemary, her brothers and sisters never forgot her.
Thus, " As John Kennedy envisioned it, "reliance on the cold mercy of custodial isolations will be supplanted by the open warmth of community concern and capability."
" On Feb. 5, 1963, ... President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress on "Mental Illness and Mental Retardation." He proposed a new program under which the federal government would fund community mental-health centers, or CMHCs, to take the place of state mental hospitals. As Kennedy envisioned it, "reliance on the cold mercy of custodial isolations will be supplanted by the open warmth of community concern and capability." E. Fuller Torrey: Fifty Years of Failing America's Mentally Ill - WSJ.com
The explanation for John F. Kennedy's interest in the fate of the mentally ill is both poignant and personal. It is largely due to the machinations of a very evil man.
That man was not John Kennedy.
1. "Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. (September 6, 1888 November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and government official. Kennedy was an Irish American and was the father of U.S. President John F. Kennedy...." Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
2. "Joe was a fiercely ambitious individual who thrived on competition and winning. Also, in his eyes, the ultimate prize was the American presidency. He wanted his eldest son Joe Jr to become president, but after his death in World War II, he became determined to make his eldest surviving son, Jack, president." Ibid.
Actually, at first, Joe, Sr;, saw himself as President at first. Toward that end, status and reputation of the family was paramount.
3. Joseph, Sr. had nine children. Both greatness and tragedy dwelled in their home. While the deaths associated with the family are well known, the life of daughter Rosemary has been kept shrouded in mystery. Respect for the family is largely the reason, but her fate, and JFK's involvement in the federal takeover of facilities for the mentally ill are intricately related.
4. ""Sister of John F. Kennedy, Rosemary was said to have been considered retarded by members of her family but that assessment has been widely disputed by subsequent analysts. Some concluded that Rosemary may not have been as brilliant as other members of her family but she was a fully functioning person, kept a diary and had an active social life....."
Top 10 Fascinating And Notable*Lobotomies - Listverse
a. Diaries written by her in the late 1930s, and published in the 1980s, reveal a young woman whose life was filled with outings to the opera, tea dances, dress fittings, and other social interests:
"Went to luncheon in the ballroom in the White House. James Roosevelt took us in to see his father, President Roosevelt. He said, 'It's about time you came. How can I put my arm around all of you? Which is the oldest? You are all so big."
"Have a fitting at 10:15 Elizabeth Arden. Appointment dress fitting again. Home for lunch. Royal tournament in the afternoon."
"Up too late for breakfast. Had it on deck. Played Ping-Pong with Ralph's sister, also with another man. Had lunch at 1:15. Walked with Peggy. also went to horse races with her, and bet and won a dollar and a half. Went to the English Movie at five. Had dinner at 8:45. Went to the lounge with Miss Cahill and Eunice and retired early."
Gibson, "Rose Kennedy and Her Family," includes Rosemary's diaries from 19361938. Rosemary Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5. "... Joe Sr. decided, without consulting or informing his wife, to have a prefrontal lobotomy performed on Rosemary. ... Rosemarys surgery was performed very soon after the introduction of the technique in this country. Fewer than one hundred such operations had been completed at this time, and the procedure was very much experimental. The operation was recommended for hopeless patients who had failed to respond to other methods of treatment, people who had little to lose and everything to gain.
http://www.voy.com/18973/1/3447.html
a. "Various reasons for the operation have been given, but it left her permanently incapacitated."
Shorter, Edward. "The Kennedy Family and the History of Mental Retardation," pp. 3233.
b. After the surgery Rosemary was reduced to an infantile mentality that left her incontinent and staring blankly at walls for hours. Her verbal skills were reduced to unintelligible babble. In 1949, Rosemary moved to an institution and was visited on regular occasions by her sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver who became the founder of the Special Olympics."
Top 10 Fascinating And Notable*Lobotomies - Listverse
6. It was the ambition of Joseph Kennedy, Sr. that caused this beautiful young lady to become a veritable "vegetable." He could not allow the taint of scandal to stand in the way of the presidency.
The real reason for sentencing this vibrant 23 year old to such horror?
a. " The chief myth, perpetrated by family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy, is that Ted Kennedys sister Rosemary Kennedy was mentally retarded. Based on that myth, Eunice Shriver, another sister, founded the Special Olympics." Rosemary Kennedy's Inconvenient Illness
b. " While sexual conquest, for example, was an expected trait among the males in the household, the daughters were taught that an important element of their religious faith was abstinence until marriage.... , her parents were concerned about Rosemarys sexual awakening. Rosemary being widely regarded as one of the most attractive of the Kennedy girls, Joe and Rose were extremely worried about the possibility that she would become sexually abused or pregnant. The latter possibility was a special source of anxiety to a father who was constantly concerned about political implications and a mother who was raising her daughters to be good Catholics.
http://www.voy.com/18973/1/3447.html
Presidential ambition.....at the cost of destroying the brain of his daughter. She lived for 63 years in a mental tomb.
While Joseph, Sr. never visited Rosemary, her brothers and sisters never forgot her.
Thus, " As John Kennedy envisioned it, "reliance on the cold mercy of custodial isolations will be supplanted by the open warmth of community concern and capability."
