The Forgotten Kennedy

Cross-posted from Fortune Favors the Brave.

Photo taken circa 1938

Meet Rosemary. In this picture, she's about twenty years old--pretty, lively and sociable, if possessing an uneven temper. Rosemary is the Kennedy you probably have never really heard about. If you have heard about her, it was probably from Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Accepted reports nowadays state that Rosemary had a very mild mental retardation; though this is a matter of contention as she was never officially diagnosed and appeared to have an IQ fairly substantially above the cutoff for a disability (being capable of at least four-digit multiplication and division). Other theories include a common learning disability like dyslexia. Regardless, she was reportedly very moody and inclined towards depression. Her diaries are written clearly, speaking of social outings.

As she got older, however, she apparently became tense and irritable, prone to swings of mania and depression. In an attempt to make her more placid, Joe Kennedy (without the consent of her mother, Rose, and without informing any of her siblings) had a lobotomy operated. A surgeon who was present at the lobotomy described this procedure in this way:

"We went through the top of the head, I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the skull. It was near the front. It was on both sides. We just made a small incision, no more than an inch." The instrument Dr. Watts used looked like a butter knife. He swung it up and down to cut brain tissue. "We put an instrument inside," he said. As Dr. Watts cut, Dr. Freeman put questions to Rosemary. For example, he asked her to recite the Lord's Prayer or sing "God Bless America" or count backwards. "We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded." When she began to become incoherent, they stopped." (The Sins of the Father, Kessler)

Yes, that's right, folks. Rosemary had a couple holes made in her skull while under a "mild tranquilizer" and brain tissue ceremoniously removed (sound familiar?) until she was incapable of speaking clearly. The lobotomy had the intended result, all right--in addition to a few biological waste issues, she perfected the thousand-yard stare and was incapable of speaking coherently. Her mental state was described as being infantile at best. Placid indeed.

Even if Rosemary did have a mental retardation, it would be considered medical malpractice to perform a lobotomy upon someone with such a disability. It was far more common to use lobotomies for mental illness. And the question remains...what was Joe afraid of?

Consequently, Rosemary was institutionalized. Throughout her brother's presidential campaign, she apparently miraculously became a schoolteacher in Wisconsin. It was later made apparent to the public that, using the official story, Rosemary was mentally disabled. There is a bright spot, though--as a result of her experiences with Rosemary, Eunice Kennedy Shriver began her crusade for the mentally disabled and made many efforts to include her sister when possible. Eunice Kennedy visited Rosemary frequently throughout the eighties, and tried to keep her offspring and siblings involved with Rosemary. Sometimes Eunice brought her on vacations in various places, though she still required much aid.

Though hearsay, one of Kathleen Kennedy's former boyfriends stated that Kathleen had informed him that the family considered Rosemary a disgrace and a failure (ibid.) Rose Kennedy's relationship with her husband was, understandably, a *bit strained* after Rosemary's lobotomy. Until her family moved to England for a time, Rosemary lived with her father's assistant.

Rosemary died in 2005 at the age of 86 with her sister Jean Kennedy and her brother Ted "Mary Jo Who?" Kennedy around her at a Wisconsin hospital. Although she was allegedly buried in a particular cemetery, it does not have a marker and that same cemetery will not confirm burial.

And people wonder why the Kennedy clan seems to be cursed.

(much of this information has been drawn from the book "The Sins of the Father" by Ronald Kessler and from official news reports. Celestine has barely restrained her disgust in an attempt to write an 'unbiased' post.)