Kick Kennedy: The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the Favorite Kennedy Daughter by Barbara Leaming Page A
Authors: Barbara Leaming
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official end to it. Robert had previously told Veronica that when the relationship ended he would send her a family brooch or locket with the inscription, “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Convinced that Lady Cranborne had indeed broken things off, Veronica waited for a package, a letter, or even a card from him. But she waited in vain—Cecils, she later reflected, being taught from early on to always be cautious and to avoid committing themselves in writing.
Whether Kick’s fate when she reached London at last would be more like Sissie’s or Veronica’s remained to be seen. In any case, Joe Kennedy sailed on the liner Manhattan with his daughter’s pleas that she be allowed to come over, on her own or in the company of other family members, still fresh in his ears. In the belief that her father seemed inclined to agree to a visit, Kick wrote at once to Billy and others in Britain to confidently announce that she would be with them again before long. She spoke too soon, for the situation that confronted Ambassador Kennedy when he arrived in London on March 9, 1940, instantly changed everything.
The brash American diplomat who had been so popular when he first took up his post two years previously was surprised and appalled to discover that in his absence from London he had been transformed into a pariah. There was much public anger about his remarks at the East Boston church. There was resentment that at such a critical point in British history he had chosen to remain out of the country for several months; there was indignation that when at length he did return he had failed to bring his wife and children; and there was anxiety that he would use what was thought to be his great influence at the White House to press for a negotiated peace. In fact, Joe Kennedy was far from the trusted counselor to Roosevelt that many Britons believed him to be. The President, while publicly pledging that the U.S. would never enter this war, had rejected Joe Kennedy’s repeated urgings that Washington broker a peace settlement with the Nazis. Roosevelt had gone so far as to initiate a secret correspondence with Churchill, a maneuver that Kennedy saw as a deliberate affront. More and more, Kennedy would find that he was being ignored, bypassed, and otherwise marginalized by a White House that thought it best to work around rather than through its own ambassador. At the moment, however, it was his low standing in Britain that seemed to concern Kennedy most when he ruled on Kick’s request.
On March 14, 1940, the ambassador wrote to notify Rose of his change of heart about any sort of family visit. He spoke of his desire to spare his children exposure to the negativity about the U.S. in general and to himself in particular that now seemed to prevail in Britain. But it is clear from his comments that the father’s principal concern was the impact that such sentiment threatened to have on Kick. He knew of her immense affection for her British friends, and of the warm feeling they had shown for her in turn.
And now, he worried that were she to be reunited with them, the nasty political arguments that were likely to break out might spoil her happy memories. As if the old man meant to counter in advance Kick’s inevitable assurances that she understood the British so much better than he, and that there really was nothing to worry about, Joe asked Rose to convey a remark recently heard from the lips of one prominent member of Kick’s set.
On a visit to Cliveden, to which he had brought an armload of gifts of Lady Astor’s favorite chocolate and chewing gum, old Joe had also happened to encounter Jakie Astor. At a moment when the British were known to be very keen to involve America in the European war, Jakie purported to take a contrarian view. Always ready with a barbed witticism, he insisted that he was actually rather pleased that the Americans had chosen to stay out. The British, Jakie
Whether Kick’s fate when she reached London at last would be more like Sissie’s or Veronica’s remained to be seen. In any case, Joe Kennedy sailed on the liner Manhattan with his daughter’s pleas that she be allowed to come over, on her own or in the company of other family members, still fresh in his ears. In the belief that her father seemed inclined to agree to a visit, Kick wrote at once to Billy and others in Britain to confidently announce that she would be with them again before long. She spoke too soon, for the situation that confronted Ambassador Kennedy when he arrived in London on March 9, 1940, instantly changed everything.
The brash American diplomat who had been so popular when he first took up his post two years previously was surprised and appalled to discover that in his absence from London he had been transformed into a pariah. There was much public anger about his remarks at the East Boston church. There was resentment that at such a critical point in British history he had chosen to remain out of the country for several months; there was indignation that when at length he did return he had failed to bring his wife and children; and there was anxiety that he would use what was thought to be his great influence at the White House to press for a negotiated peace. In fact, Joe Kennedy was far from the trusted counselor to Roosevelt that many Britons believed him to be. The President, while publicly pledging that the U.S. would never enter this war, had rejected Joe Kennedy’s repeated urgings that Washington broker a peace settlement with the Nazis. Roosevelt had gone so far as to initiate a secret correspondence with Churchill, a maneuver that Kennedy saw as a deliberate affront. More and more, Kennedy would find that he was being ignored, bypassed, and otherwise marginalized by a White House that thought it best to work around rather than through its own ambassador. At the moment, however, it was his low standing in Britain that seemed to concern Kennedy most when he ruled on Kick’s request.
On March 14, 1940, the ambassador wrote to notify Rose of his change of heart about any sort of family visit. He spoke of his desire to spare his children exposure to the negativity about the U.S. in general and to himself in particular that now seemed to prevail in Britain. But it is clear from his comments that the father’s principal concern was the impact that such sentiment threatened to have on Kick. He knew of her immense affection for her British friends, and of the warm feeling they had shown for her in turn.
And now, he worried that were she to be reunited with them, the nasty political arguments that were likely to break out might spoil her happy memories. As if the old man meant to counter in advance Kick’s inevitable assurances that she understood the British so much better than he, and that there really was nothing to worry about, Joe asked Rose to convey a remark recently heard from the lips of one prominent member of Kick’s set.
On a visit to Cliveden, to which he had brought an armload of gifts of Lady Astor’s favorite chocolate and chewing gum, old Joe had also happened to encounter Jakie Astor. At a moment when the British were known to be very keen to involve America in the European war, Jakie purported to take a contrarian view. Always ready with a barbed witticism, he insisted that he was actually rather pleased that the Americans had chosen to stay out. The British, Jakie
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