Robert, Jack, and Joe Jr. - the 3 eldest Kennedy brothers - had grown up under their father's ambitious maxim: "We don't want any losers around here."
Ironically, it would later on prove to be their undoing.
As a result of Joe Kennedy's obsession for his boys, all three would be fated to die in the prime of their lives.
In Joe Kennedy's house, sibling rivalry was the rule. At an early age, all nine of his children were urged to compete against one another.
But of the nine, Joe Jr. - the firstborn-- had been singled out early for greatness; his proud father often had told him of how Irish Catholics from the old generation had no chance in politics - let alone become president of the United States.
But the senior Kennedy correctly assumed that by the time Joe Jr. was grown up- things would change.
During World War II, the two oldest Kennedy brothers were enlisted officers in the service.
Jack - an experienced sailboater - was sent to the Pacific theater and assigned command of his own vessel, the PT 109 - a 40 knot torpedo boat designed to make hit and run attacks on Japanese shipping lanes in the southwest Pacific.
Joe junior - having graduated from flying school - was assigned to air patrol in the English Channel, to search and destroy Hitler's U-boats - duty that involved a lot of tedious, uneventful flying.
In the darkness of August 2, 1943 , PT 109 was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, killing two of John Kennedy's 13 crewmen. Kennedy rescued a badly-injured sailor, and eventually ended up saving all the surviving crew members- who had sought refuge by swimming to a nearby island.
After 2 weeks of hiding from Japanese patrol planes, the crew of PT 109 was rescued by another PT boat that had been sent by word from friendly natives - a storybook rescue indeed!
A few weeks later, the cool-headed actions of Jack Kennedy made the front page of the New York Times, plus all the hometown Boston Papers.
Later, flattering accounts appeared in The New Yorker magazine and Reader's Digest.
Back in England, upon hearing of Jack's heroics, rather than being proud of his brother, Joe Kennedy Jr. flashed with the fury of bitter sibling jealousy. After all, wasn't he the oldest? And was he not his doting father's favorite son?Jos
But jealousy can do strange things to a person - like throwing aside the tedium of submarine patrol, then putting in for a danger-filled, near- suicide mission.
"We don't want any losers around here...” These were the words that continued to echo in Airman Joe Kennedy's envious mind.
By summer of 1944, Hitlers first terror weapon - the V-1 buzz bomb- had created rampant panic in England, and it was imperative its launch sites be destroyed.
The V1's were in protected underground bunkers - difficult to damage by conventional bombing.
Joe Kennedy now saw HIS chance to become a hero.
On Aug. 12, 1944, A four-engined B-24, loaded with high explosives weighing over 20,000 pounds, took off from England. This flying bomb was willingly piloted by Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr - who had volunteered for the "50-50" survival/ suicide mission
The target was coastal France.
The mission: the pilot would put the bomber in a long shallow, dive - aimed directly at the V-1's underground launch site -then bail out just beyond Dover over the English channel.
Kennedy took off, and got into formation with fourteen other escorts. The four-engined "flying bomb," had been installed with a special radio remote control device; its purpose was to guide the overloaded bomber to the undeground target across the Channel.
In flight, Kennedy made final preparations to set the plane on remote control. After arming the bomb load, and signaling "O.K." to the escorts, the bomber suddenly disintegrated in a thundering explosion at 15,000 feet.
The U.S. Government ordered an immediate coverup. For almost 60 years, the incident was shrouded in secrecy - as the military sought to protect the fact they had been dabbling in early drone technology.
To the great dismay of Joseph Kennedy senior, it would now be up to younger son Jack to become President.
John F. Kennedy had never wanted to be president - always assuming that his father's wish would be fulfilled by his rival brother, Joe.
But now resigned to his fate, John Kennedy would serve in both houses of Congress - and was at last inuagurated in Jan of 1961 as the first Irish Catholic President- only to be felled by an assassin's bullet - the exact same fate that would befall his brother Robert in 1968.
Now, being the last son alive, it was up to Teddy to take up his father's torch of ambition, and become the next Kennedy to achieve greatness.
But unlike his older brothers, young Teddy had been handed everything, and suffered from a fatal character flaw: rampant dishonesty.
The youngest Kennedy son was a user. Throughout his early life, he would court trouble, knowing his family - or the famous name behind him -would be his escape.
As a teenager, Kennedy earned C grades at the private Milton Academy, but was admitted to Harvard as a "legacy" -- his father and older brothers had attended there, so the younger Kennedy's admission was virtually assured.
Edward "Ted" Kennedy never believed in hard work; and this included studying to achieve grades.
While in Harvard, he was expelled twice: once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.
Ted Kennedy then enlisted in the Army. His father, a former U.S. Ambassador to England, had pulled the necessary strings to have him assigned in Europe, avoiding the bitter war that was raging in Korea.
Serving two years In the Army, Ted Kennedy never advanced beyond the rank of private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged.
While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four times. Yet his Virginia driver's license was never revoked. He passed the bar exam in 1959, and two years later, was appointed an Assistant to the District Attorney in Massachusetts' Suffolk County.
In 1962, 30 year old Ted kennedy was elected as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.
It was in the Senate where Ted Kennedy would serve for 7 years, before the incident that would haunt him until the end of his life...Chappaquiddick- a tiny tourist island adjacent to Edgartown.
Edward Kennedy and his cousin, Joey Garghan - plus friend Jim Markham, had decided to throw a summer party for the "boiler room girls," a group of campaign workers for late brother Robert Kennedy's 1968 run for the presidency.
Among the group was 23-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, who just happened to be the most attractive of the lot.
The "reunion" took place on July 18, 1969 at Lawrence cottage - about a mile across the channnel from Edgartown, where Kennedy and the boiler girls had rented rooms for the weekend of the big party.
According to Kennedy (after the party) he and Mary Jo Kopechne left Lawrence Cottage at around 11.15 p.m. The last ferry was at 12.00. The six women at the party had been told that they would be taken back to their hotels via that same ferry. But Ted Kennedy decided he would personally escort Mary Jo back to Edgartown, assuring her a "safe" journey home.
What happened afterwards remains a miasma of fact, speculation, and controversy.
Although he had been on the island many times, Kennedy deliberately took a wrong turn; while driving on an unpaved road, he mistakenly (drunkenly) drove off Dyke Bridge, and the 1968 Delmont Oldsmobile 4 door was suddenly submerged in shallow water.
Kennedy would later tell the police that this had occurred around 11:30pm - his first lie.
Kennedy also claimed he had escaped from the car, then made several attempts to rescue Mary Jo - his next lie.
Incredibly, although there were three houses with lights on very close to the scene, Kennedy chose to take the 1 1/2 mile walk back to Lawrence Cottage, where he told his cousin about the accident.
NOTE: Kennedy's walk involved passing up the Chappaquiddick Fire Station, a mere half mile from the accident scene The station was unlocked and included an alarm. The fire captain lived close by and could have been there within 3 minutes!
Kennedy later claimed he got back to the cottage at 12.20 a.m. This was also a lie.
According to their testimony, Kennedy, Gargan and Markham then drove back to the scene of the accident and tried to get Mary Jo out of the car. After 45 minutes they gave up - yet another lie.
But what had actually happened? According to his cousin's revelation years later, initially after the accident,a panicked Ted Kennedy had made his way back to the cottage, imploring his cousin to tell the police that he (Garghan) had been the driver, "or else it would ruin my chance to be president."
His cousin reported that Kennedy kept wondering..."how will I be able to explain this"? Garghan and Markham kept urging Kennedy to report the crash immediately; but Kennedy refused- trying to figure a way out.
At this point, it became obvious that Ted Kennedy would lie his way out, and somehow invent some plausible alibi that he was not driving. That way, he could still be the president.
Back at the accident scene, Kennedy then told the two he was going make the swim to Edgartown, where he would then report the accident.
Herein begins the great unknown part of the episode.
Kennedy had claimed he swam the mile back to Edgartown - thinking the last ferry had gone. But the currents were swift, and Kennedy was far from being an expert swimmer.
Kennedy also cleverly had lied in his police report, saying that..."he nearly drowned getting to his hotel."
Meanwhile Gargan and Markham claimed they got back to the cottage at around 2.15 a.m. If so, this leaves an hour unaccounted for.
Also, the man operating the Chappaquiddick Ferry that night would later testify that he was NEVER approached by Kennedy,
Arriving at his Edgartown hotel, Kennedy had made it a point to speak to the desk clerk at the Shiretown Inn at 2.30 a.m.- a deliberate atttempt to establish an alibi.
Records show that Kennedy did not make any phone calls from the hotel. Kennedy made his first call at 8 a.m. the next morning to friends, who later met with him just before 9 o'clock.
Next, Kennedy returned to Chappaquiddick on the ferry at 9.50 am. It was only THEN that he reported the accident.
At approximately 10 am on July 19, a scuba diver retrieved Mary Jo's body out of the car.
Ironically, according to the diver, Mary Jo had found an air-pocket in the car and probably had lived for at least an hour. This view was supported by the medical examination of the body. The doctor found she had died of SUFFOCATON rather than drowning.
Investigators at the scene found it difficult to believe Kennedy would have been able to get out of the car once it went into the water; or that he would have been able to swim the mile distance back to Edgartown to his hotel.
To this day, two overriding questions go unanswered:
1)After the wreck, how did Kennedy get out of the car?
Once submerged, the enormous hydrostatic pressure of the water would have made it virtually impossible for any of the 4 doors to be opened; and the air pocket that enabled Kopechne to stay alive for 1 hour would have been lost with the inflow of the sea water
2) How did Kennedy actually get back to Edgartown; did he travel unseen on the ferry?
To swim a mile in the dark, in a swift current, in only 1 1/2 half hour's time would have been near-impossible for even the most expert of swimmers.
But what if Kennedy had immediately gone to the Chappaquiddick fire station after the accident? Mary Jo Kopechne would have undoubtedly been rescued alive; and Kennedy could have simply told the truth. It would have been a case of "all's well that ends well."
But Teddy Kennedy, the epitome of inhumane callousness - thought his chances of being president were far more important than the life of some lowly "boiler room" girl.
In his 40- plus years in politics, Ted Kennedy was known as the lion of the Senate; but in reality, he was more like the lion in the Wizard of Oz - with the heart of a coward; but in addition to cowardice, Ted Kennedy had the mind of the devil.
In summation of the Greek tragedy that is the story of the four Kennedy brothers, we best characterize it by that old song from Billy Joel...
..."Only the good die young."