What is the true source of the Kennedy familys wealth?
Dear Cecil: What is the true source of the wealth of the Kennedy family of Hyannis, Massachusetts? I have heard several stories about Joe Senior having made a killing in Prohibition rum, sleazy stock market practices, or the Boston construction industry. I heard the other day that he made the seed money for all this by selling opium to China, and that takes the cake. Also, what is the Kennedy money doing today? Besides the Democratic party, is there a family business? Do they have a foundation or something? Why don’t I see the Kennedy Trust as a sponsor of quality public television? — Peter Greenberg, Jackson Heights, New York Dear Peter: Cecil doesn’t ordinarily go in for this People magazine stuff, but Lord knows I like dishing the dirt as much as the next guy, and Joe Kennedy is a target the size of all outdoors. J.P. was what we call an operator. He made his money by (1) pulling various hustles before it had occurred to anyone to make them illegal, and (2) possibly pulling other hu
