The Kennedy Heirs: John, Caroline, and the New Generation

The children of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy and Joan Kennedy, and their siblings comprise the clan's third generation, according to Taraborrelli (Jackie, Janet and Lee). This account, the author's fourth on the Kennedys, based on 400 interviews conducted over the last 20 years, describes the glamour, advantages, and sorrow experienced by the Kennedy heirs. Although portrayed as arrogant and entitled, their lives were also darkened by the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, which Taraborrelli argues drove some family members to drug and alcohol addiction and might have contributed to six untimely deaths. Also included are the stories of Patrick Kennedy, Joseph Patrick Kennedy II, Kathleen Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, and others who carved out successful political careers or advocated for mental health and environmental issues. Readers will be fascinated by the relationship between Senator Ted Kennedy and members of the third generation, stories about matriarch Ethel, and life inside the family compound.