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RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream
From New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer comes a sensational biography of the son of the legendary Senator and troubled standard bearer of America's most fabled political dynasty.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. inherited his assassinated father's piercing blue eyes and Brahmin style, earning a reputation as the nation's foremost environmental activist and lawyer - the "toxic avenger" - battling corporate polluters. But in this, the most revelatory portrait ever of a Kennedy, Oppenheimer places Bobby Jr., leader of the third generation of America's royal family, under a journalistic microscope. Based on scores of exclusive, candid on-the-record interviews, public and private records, and correspondence, Jerry Oppenheimer paints a balanced, objective portrait of this virtually unaccounted-for scion of the Kennedy dynasty. Like his slain father, the iconic senator and presidential hopeful, RFK Jr. was destined for political greatness. Why it never happened is revealed in this first-ever biography of him.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. inherited his assassinated father's piercing blue eyes and Brahmin style, earning a reputation as the nation's foremost environmental activist and lawyer - the "toxic avenger" - battling corporate polluters. But in this, the most revelatory portrait ever of a Kennedy, Oppenheimer places Bobby Jr., leader of the third generation of America's royal family, under a journalistic microscope. Based on scores of exclusive, candid on-the-record interviews, public and private records, and correspondence, Jerry Oppenheimer paints a balanced, objective portrait of this virtually unaccounted-for scion of the Kennedy dynasty. Like his slain father, the iconic senator and presidential hopeful, RFK Jr. was destined for political greatness. Why it never happened is revealed in this first-ever biography of him.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2015
92 people are currently reading
597 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Oppenheimer
15 books80 followersJerry Oppenheimer is an author who has written several unauthorized biographies of public figures including Hillary and Bill Clinton, Anna Wintour, Rock Hudson, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters, Ethel Kennedy, Jerry Seinfeld and the Hilton family.
Toy Monster: The Big Bad World of Mattel was published on Feb 3 2009 and his latest book (as of Aug 2, 2009), will be about Bernie Madoff, titled Madoff with the Money. Both published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
In addition to being a biographer he has also worked in several different capacities as a journalist, including as an investigative reporter and a producer of television news programs and documentaries.
Toy Monster: The Big Bad World of Mattel was published on Feb 3 2009 and his latest book (as of Aug 2, 2009), will be about Bernie Madoff, titled Madoff with the Money. Both published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
In addition to being a biographer he has also worked in several different capacities as a journalist, including as an investigative reporter and a producer of television news programs and documentaries.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
July 12, 2023
(I wanted to re-post this book in case anyone on my Friends list has any possible inkling of voting for this clown for president. RFK, Jr. is a ridiculous disgrace to his father's and family's memory, and should NOT be supported. This book pretty much tells it all. This guy is a disturbed charlatan, and if his name was Robert F. Kennerly he wouldn't get a second glance. Relegate him to the lunatic fringe where he belongs and support Joe Biden wholeheartedly.--7/12/23.) At first one wonders: why would anybody write a book about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at all, and then you remember that the Kennedys fascinate us, (and horrify us.) RFK, Jr.'s father died when he was 14, following his uncle President Kennedy when he was 9, and the children of Robert Kennedy, Sr. went through an upbringing of enormous tragedy, stupefying indulgence and obnoxious entitlement. Along the way there was drug use, rebellion, boarding schools, and of course, sex and sex and sex and sex. Kennedy, Jr. carved out a niche for himself in the environmental movement but his own personal "demons" as they are repeatedly called have kept him from the highest achievements that his family name should have elevated him to. Rather a trashy look at it all, (Jerry Oppenheimer's book is pretty gossipy, but most of the major events of this book are well-documented and long-known) it's an interesting look at how the famous are able to find a way to do pretty much anything they want to, and get away with it. There's enough early death and tales of philandering in this book to last several lifetimes.
November 25, 2015
Clearly, this man has problems! A spoiled, selfish, multi-year drug abuser and sexual profligate!
This gossipy book is absorbing for theses reasons: the poor parenting of Ethel Kennedy, who repeated the mixture of poor parenting and intense Catholic piety inherited from her own mother, Ann Brannack Skakel. (Jerry Oppenheimer is Ethel's unauthorized biographer [The Other Mrs. Kennedy"] and has great insight into both women and the Skakel children's upbringing. Thus, he's written about 3 generations of Kennedys and Skakels.) His flaying of Kenney stalwart, Lem Billings, and his refusal to whitewash Bobby Kennedy Jr.'s constant abuse of drugs, alcohol, sex, and those around him.
“John, after his father’s death, was brought up by a controlling and domineering mother, but one who obsessively looked out for his care and well-being,” he writes. “Bobby, after his father’s death, was essentially given up by his angry, widowed mother.”
After meeting Bobby Kennedy in 1947 at the age of 17
“Her (Ethel's) only interest was the Kennedy family,” Oppenheimer told People magazine in 1991. “The Kennedy name, what Bobby could do in the future, what the other Kennedys were doing, what Jack’s future was. She just gave her life over to them.” (NY Daily News)
The children, Oppenheimer writes, were afterthoughts. Bobby, the third-eldest, was a sensitive boy who turned to animals for company. There was little adult supervision.
“It was incredible,” a former nanny told Oppenheimer. “There wasn’t anybody to say, ‘Don’t do that.’ It was hard to control them.”
Ethel was 40 and three months pregnant with her last child, when RFK was murdered. (Bobby Jr. was 14.) A week after his father’s funeral, the family celebrated his brother’s 13th birthday. Bobby slipped laxatives into everyone’s drinks as a prank.
“Just leave home!” Ethel yelled at him. “Get out of my life!”
She often used such language with him. “Her moods could swing drastically,” Oppenheimer writes, and soon after, she “literally beat Bobby with a hairbrush.”
From the NY Daily News Review:
Unable to cope with her grief — let alone her children’s — Ethel shipped Bobby off to a series of boarding schools, each less prestigious than the last, each forced to expel the namesake son of a martyred political icon."
Bobby wasn’t even 15 and was already using drugs heavily. He insisted each school allow his pet falcon to stay in his room. He formed a gang, The Hyannis Port Terrors, and one of his favorite practical jokes was bumping the fender of a passing car, having a pal collapse in the road, then yelling, “You’ve killed a Kennedy!” He once spat in a cop’s face."
Ethel did nothing. She was sealed off in her McLean, Va., estate. Only her dead husband, his legacy and her privilege as a Kennedy widow existed. Nothing Bobby did got her attention for long, and that attention was usually negative."
What I found disturbing was Oppenheimer's homophobia; constant reminders that Lem Billings (JFK's close friend and former boarding school roommate) who, at Ethel's intervention, became a "father figure" to Bobby Jr. was gay and was "in love" with the younger RFK. He slams it on with a trowel!
A fairer criticism is Billings' involvement in the boy's drug usage and his failure to rein in the boy in matters of drug and alcohol usage, sexual promiscuity, using the Kennedy name to bully others into doing his bidding.
Oppenheimer also shows conclusively, that RFK Jr. is quite willing to turn on his mentors, undercut them, and hire people with police records for former felons conservation crimes, e.g. the transportation and sale of wild species, if they're friends of his (especially fellow falconers. RFK Jr. has been an enthusiastic falconer since his teens)although he claims to be dedicated to conservation and environmental issues.
He married 2 bright, successful and uncommonly attractive women who were admired and well-liked but drove one to divorce and --in part--the other to suicide with his flagrant cheating and self-centeredness. His in-laws refused to attend the funeral he made for his second wife, Mary Richardson, a talented architect and designer, and held their own memorial service. After her burial, he had Mary's body disinterred and reburied without her family's knowledge. He and his family also spread stories of Mary's 'instability"--disputed by friends and her family--after her suicide.
Undoubtedly, the young Kennedys have suffered great losses and suffered them in the public eye to boot. However, many of us have lost a parent early and life and have done so without the money, fame, and privilege of the Kennedy children. Who else could be expelled from at least 2 boarding schools for drugs and bad behavior yet be admitted to Harvard???
RFK should have had to pay for his sins early in life. He'd be a better man today if his mother, head masters, father figure(s, including Ted Kennedy) and the judicial system had held him to the same legal standards we all must uphold. In her terror that Bobby Jr. would tarnish the family name, his mother--who suddenly became a helicopter parent in the face of various misdeeds--got him off the hook far to many times for far too serious infringements. No wonder the boy grew up with a hyper inflated sense of entitlement.
That's one thing the book makes abundantly clear.
This gossipy book is absorbing for theses reasons: the poor parenting of Ethel Kennedy, who repeated the mixture of poor parenting and intense Catholic piety inherited from her own mother, Ann Brannack Skakel. (Jerry Oppenheimer is Ethel's unauthorized biographer [The Other Mrs. Kennedy"] and has great insight into both women and the Skakel children's upbringing. Thus, he's written about 3 generations of Kennedys and Skakels.) His flaying of Kenney stalwart, Lem Billings, and his refusal to whitewash Bobby Kennedy Jr.'s constant abuse of drugs, alcohol, sex, and those around him.
“John, after his father’s death, was brought up by a controlling and domineering mother, but one who obsessively looked out for his care and well-being,” he writes. “Bobby, after his father’s death, was essentially given up by his angry, widowed mother.”
After meeting Bobby Kennedy in 1947 at the age of 17
“Her (Ethel's) only interest was the Kennedy family,” Oppenheimer told People magazine in 1991. “The Kennedy name, what Bobby could do in the future, what the other Kennedys were doing, what Jack’s future was. She just gave her life over to them.” (NY Daily News)
The children, Oppenheimer writes, were afterthoughts. Bobby, the third-eldest, was a sensitive boy who turned to animals for company. There was little adult supervision.
“It was incredible,” a former nanny told Oppenheimer. “There wasn’t anybody to say, ‘Don’t do that.’ It was hard to control them.”
Ethel was 40 and three months pregnant with her last child, when RFK was murdered. (Bobby Jr. was 14.) A week after his father’s funeral, the family celebrated his brother’s 13th birthday. Bobby slipped laxatives into everyone’s drinks as a prank.
“Just leave home!” Ethel yelled at him. “Get out of my life!”
She often used such language with him. “Her moods could swing drastically,” Oppenheimer writes, and soon after, she “literally beat Bobby with a hairbrush.”
From the NY Daily News Review:
Unable to cope with her grief — let alone her children’s — Ethel shipped Bobby off to a series of boarding schools, each less prestigious than the last, each forced to expel the namesake son of a martyred political icon."
Bobby wasn’t even 15 and was already using drugs heavily. He insisted each school allow his pet falcon to stay in his room. He formed a gang, The Hyannis Port Terrors, and one of his favorite practical jokes was bumping the fender of a passing car, having a pal collapse in the road, then yelling, “You’ve killed a Kennedy!” He once spat in a cop’s face."
Ethel did nothing. She was sealed off in her McLean, Va., estate. Only her dead husband, his legacy and her privilege as a Kennedy widow existed. Nothing Bobby did got her attention for long, and that attention was usually negative."
What I found disturbing was Oppenheimer's homophobia; constant reminders that Lem Billings (JFK's close friend and former boarding school roommate) who, at Ethel's intervention, became a "father figure" to Bobby Jr. was gay and was "in love" with the younger RFK. He slams it on with a trowel!
A fairer criticism is Billings' involvement in the boy's drug usage and his failure to rein in the boy in matters of drug and alcohol usage, sexual promiscuity, using the Kennedy name to bully others into doing his bidding.
Oppenheimer also shows conclusively, that RFK Jr. is quite willing to turn on his mentors, undercut them, and hire people with police records for former felons conservation crimes, e.g. the transportation and sale of wild species, if they're friends of his (especially fellow falconers. RFK Jr. has been an enthusiastic falconer since his teens)although he claims to be dedicated to conservation and environmental issues.
He married 2 bright, successful and uncommonly attractive women who were admired and well-liked but drove one to divorce and --in part--the other to suicide with his flagrant cheating and self-centeredness. His in-laws refused to attend the funeral he made for his second wife, Mary Richardson, a talented architect and designer, and held their own memorial service. After her burial, he had Mary's body disinterred and reburied without her family's knowledge. He and his family also spread stories of Mary's 'instability"--disputed by friends and her family--after her suicide.
Undoubtedly, the young Kennedys have suffered great losses and suffered them in the public eye to boot. However, many of us have lost a parent early and life and have done so without the money, fame, and privilege of the Kennedy children. Who else could be expelled from at least 2 boarding schools for drugs and bad behavior yet be admitted to Harvard???
RFK should have had to pay for his sins early in life. He'd be a better man today if his mother, head masters, father figure(s, including Ted Kennedy) and the judicial system had held him to the same legal standards we all must uphold. In her terror that Bobby Jr. would tarnish the family name, his mother--who suddenly became a helicopter parent in the face of various misdeeds--got him off the hook far to many times for far too serious infringements. No wonder the boy grew up with a hyper inflated sense of entitlement.
That's one thing the book makes abundantly clear.
November 27, 2015
What a disappointment. The book reads like a poorly written National Enquirer article. What it lacks in historical accuracy it makes up in outrageous fiction. This is the last Jerry Oppenheimer book, which I will ever read.
November 11, 2021
Made it to 64% mark. This had a tabloid feel to it.
What was the source of author JO's material? Fresh
interviews? Or quotes of other author's interviews?
Ethel Skakel Kennedy & her late spouse Senator Robert
Kennedy Sr. had 11 offspring. In 1968, Robert Sr., shot
3 times, was removed from life support by his family,
after being declared "brain dead." Robert Jr., (hereafter
Robt.) eventually a famous environmental attorney, had
3 wives and fought drug addiction. This included alleged
trips to Harlem to buy heroin.
How accurate was this info ? If Ethel's behavior was as
erratic as the book indicated, she should have been
investigated for child abuse and neglect. The Kennedys
may have been taught to be stoic & deny their feelings,
but at minimum, Ethel should have linked her kids to
counseling after the violent death of their Dad. Ethel's
BIL Ted should have insisted. Ethel+ her brood displayed
poor personal boundaries. They wanted what they wanted
(right or wrong) when they wanted it. The 3rd generation
Kennedy males (including cousins), w/ some exceptions,
disrespected females. Some 3rd gen males tended to view
women as replaceable chess pieces.
Robt. came across as a liar & philanderer. And a boy-man.
Allegedly he lied to/ emotionally mistreated his 1st spouse
Emily Black Kennedy (he got his mistress pregnant while
still wed to Emily. Tacky!) & stole Riverkeeper environ-
mental grp from founder Robert Boyle. And had a symbiotic
relationship w/ closeted gay mentor (former JFK chum)
"Lem" Lemoyne Billings? Also Robt didn't link his v sad/
estranged 2nd wife Mary to mental health treatment & she
hung herself. They were in process of a divorce. Now he
must live w/ his poor judgment.
The thing that bothered me the most: Robert Jr's younger
bro Michael (I'll call Mike) lived in NY with his wife Vicki
& kids. JO recounted a discussion of sibs Robt., Joe and
Mike & cousin Michael Skakel (Ethel's neph. hereafter M.S.)
where Mike admitted he'd go to jail for statutory rape of his
13 yr old babysitter Marisa (these 2 had a 5 yr affair). NY law
protected children under age 16 who had sex w/ a perp.
Reportedly M.S. & wife found these 2 in a compromising
position. My anger? Would any of these 4 men react calmly
if he knew his daughter had been a victim of statutory rape?
And perp Mike being under the influence of alcohol/ cocaine
when the rape(s) occurred? No excuse. M.S. got: Marisa to a
counselor +convinced her to inform her parents of the rape
& cous Mike to rehab. Marisa turned 18 when the scandal
broke (after her 5 yr affair w/ Mike). Her family declined
to press charges & later she refused to testify. The fam was
paid for their silence? A yr later Mike died in a skiing acci-
dent. M.S. was eventually convicted of murder of a teen
female neigh. Martha Moxley, going back to his teen years.
Author JO implied some hidden gay relationships (around
oral sex). A preoccupation of JO to implicate w/o proof?
What irritated me the most: the attitude of entitled Robt. Jr
or that of the entitled author?
Robt. + some sibs+ some cousins felt entitled, but would
they ever be real adults and 'own' responsibility for their
actions? This reviewer quickly became disillusioned w/
Robt.
Revised again.
What was the source of author JO's material? Fresh
interviews? Or quotes of other author's interviews?
Ethel Skakel Kennedy & her late spouse Senator Robert
Kennedy Sr. had 11 offspring. In 1968, Robert Sr., shot
3 times, was removed from life support by his family,
after being declared "brain dead." Robert Jr., (hereafter
Robt.) eventually a famous environmental attorney, had
3 wives and fought drug addiction. This included alleged
trips to Harlem to buy heroin.
How accurate was this info ? If Ethel's behavior was as
erratic as the book indicated, she should have been
investigated for child abuse and neglect. The Kennedys
may have been taught to be stoic & deny their feelings,
but at minimum, Ethel should have linked her kids to
counseling after the violent death of their Dad. Ethel's
BIL Ted should have insisted. Ethel+ her brood displayed
poor personal boundaries. They wanted what they wanted
(right or wrong) when they wanted it. The 3rd generation
Kennedy males (including cousins), w/ some exceptions,
disrespected females. Some 3rd gen males tended to view
women as replaceable chess pieces.
Robt. came across as a liar & philanderer. And a boy-man.
Allegedly he lied to/ emotionally mistreated his 1st spouse
Emily Black Kennedy (he got his mistress pregnant while
still wed to Emily. Tacky!) & stole Riverkeeper environ-
mental grp from founder Robert Boyle. And had a symbiotic
relationship w/ closeted gay mentor (former JFK chum)
"Lem" Lemoyne Billings? Also Robt didn't link his v sad/
estranged 2nd wife Mary to mental health treatment & she
hung herself. They were in process of a divorce. Now he
must live w/ his poor judgment.
The thing that bothered me the most: Robert Jr's younger
bro Michael (I'll call Mike) lived in NY with his wife Vicki
& kids. JO recounted a discussion of sibs Robt., Joe and
Mike & cousin Michael Skakel (Ethel's neph. hereafter M.S.)
where Mike admitted he'd go to jail for statutory rape of his
13 yr old babysitter Marisa (these 2 had a 5 yr affair). NY law
protected children under age 16 who had sex w/ a perp.
Reportedly M.S. & wife found these 2 in a compromising
position. My anger? Would any of these 4 men react calmly
if he knew his daughter had been a victim of statutory rape?
And perp Mike being under the influence of alcohol/ cocaine
when the rape(s) occurred? No excuse. M.S. got: Marisa to a
counselor +convinced her to inform her parents of the rape
& cous Mike to rehab. Marisa turned 18 when the scandal
broke (after her 5 yr affair w/ Mike). Her family declined
to press charges & later she refused to testify. The fam was
paid for their silence? A yr later Mike died in a skiing acci-
dent. M.S. was eventually convicted of murder of a teen
female neigh. Martha Moxley, going back to his teen years.
Author JO implied some hidden gay relationships (around
oral sex). A preoccupation of JO to implicate w/o proof?
What irritated me the most: the attitude of entitled Robt. Jr
or that of the entitled author?
Robt. + some sibs+ some cousins felt entitled, but would
they ever be real adults and 'own' responsibility for their
actions? This reviewer quickly became disillusioned w/
Robt.
Revised again.
July 15, 2018
I was interested in learning more about RFK, Jr., especially with the discussions of Trump naming him to a vaccine commission when he is a vaccine denier. I picked up this book in a used bookstore, so I gave it a read. It was probably the most salacious book I've ever read, with not even a People magazine feel, but more of a National Enquirer feel to it. It was, in a sense, fun to read, and I did get some more information on Bobby Kennedy and the rest of the family. But this book was so repetitive and poorly written (with sentences like "he would not be the last of his druggie friends to die young." The author didn't need the extra descriptor "druggie," to convey what happened), and the author has such extreme contempt for the Kennedy family as a whole, that everything has to be taken with a grain of salt. There was quite a bit of extraneous, irrelevant information about people who were sometimes only tangentially connected to RFK, Jr., that it just felt like the author was unloading every possible unflattering portrayal of anyone connected to the Kennedys in order to make them appear horrid. Much of what was included may very well be true, but there must be much more to the stories.
November 20, 2015
With the legacy of the Kennedy name associated with American royalty the legend of Camelot, notable journalist and biographer Jerry Oppenheimer presents "RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream" (2015). Oppenheimer has written several bestselling unauthorized biographies covering the lives of Anna Wintour, Martha Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Barbara Walters and others.
With the large volumes of books covering the extraordinary Kennedy family and legacy, there has been much speculation and many books written* concerning a curse- due to the numerous tragic occurrences within this family. Bad things happen to good people, but the Kennedy's seem to have more than their fair share of misfortune, scandal, and disaster leading to tremendous loss. RFK Jr. (1954-) was 14 years old when his father RFK (1928-1968) was assassinated on June 5, in Los Angeles, CA.
Ethel Kennedy (1928-) had seemingly idolized her famous husband, and was expecting their 11th child when he was killed. Grief stricken, mourning, and at loss to manage her children who were observed to be unruly, undisciplined and out of control; Ethel depended on paid and volunteer help for assistance. Kirk Lemoyne "Lem" Billings (1916-1981) was a Kennedy insider and had been a close personal friend of President JFK (1917-1963), was appointed by her to supervise and mentor RFK Jr. Before finishing his bachelors degree at Harvard University (1976), RFK Jr. had been expelled from Millbrook, Pomfret, and Palfrey, completing his formal education with law degree from Pace University.
In a 2007 interview with Oprah, RFK Jr. revealed the surprising and unexpected reasons for his drug use, (related to his 1983 charges of Heroin possession). By 1884 he had successfully completed rehab in a Summit, NJ hospital known for advanced alcohol substance and psychiatric treatments for the rich and famous. Oppenheim pointed out the genetic tendency towards addiction were from the Kennedy and Skakel family line; also that ordinary citizens during that time either died from lack of treatment or served time on Riker's Island.
Emily Black was viewed as a perfect bride for RFK Jr. (m.1982-1994), a beautiful, dignified, intelligent attorney, the couple had two children, Black seemed relieved without bitterness when the couple divorced. Mary Richardson (m.1994-2012) had been affiliated with the Kennedy's since her teens, a natural beauty, educated at Putney, very smart with an eye for art and decorating; the couple had 4 children. Mary's tragic death sent waves of shock and speculation throughout the nation, and raised a greater awareness of mental illness. In 2014 Cheryl Hines became RFK Jr's. third wife.
Vanity Fair would publish a 1997 article: "Bobby's Kids" after the skiing mishap that claimed the life of Michael Kennedy, his wife Vicki Gifford had taken the children and left their conflicted 16 year marriage following his affair with a teenage babysitter.
On April 24, 1984 David Kennedy died at the ocean front family Palm Beach, CA. mansion of a drug overdose while visiting his 94 year old grandmother, Rose.
"Shattered Faith" (1997) a memoir released by Shelia Rauch Kennedy detailed her opposition to the Catholic Church annulment of her 12 year marriage to Joseph Kennedy as a betrayal of trust following their 1991 divorce. The couple had twin boys.
William Kennedy Smith was charged with a March 31, 1991 rape, that captivated national attention. Smith was found innocent, Patricia Bowman was victimized twice after her name and reputation were attacked and scandalized by news media.
With his 1984 introduction to the Hudson River environmental cause by his one time mentor Robert Boyle, (who was 86 in his 2014 interview for this book) he had absolutely no positive comments about RFK Jr. Critics blasted many of RFK's actions and views. Still, he has raised awareness of many important environmental issues, including the use of Thimersol in childhood vaccines linked to autism. In 2010 Time Magazine named RFK Jr. in "Hero's For The Planet", he was also named as notable alumni of Harvard University in 2015. There are pages of excellent photos included.
Many thanks to the Seattle Public Library.
* The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years... Edward Klein
* The Kennedy Curse... Richard Marvin
With the large volumes of books covering the extraordinary Kennedy family and legacy, there has been much speculation and many books written* concerning a curse- due to the numerous tragic occurrences within this family. Bad things happen to good people, but the Kennedy's seem to have more than their fair share of misfortune, scandal, and disaster leading to tremendous loss. RFK Jr. (1954-) was 14 years old when his father RFK (1928-1968) was assassinated on June 5, in Los Angeles, CA.
Ethel Kennedy (1928-) had seemingly idolized her famous husband, and was expecting their 11th child when he was killed. Grief stricken, mourning, and at loss to manage her children who were observed to be unruly, undisciplined and out of control; Ethel depended on paid and volunteer help for assistance. Kirk Lemoyne "Lem" Billings (1916-1981) was a Kennedy insider and had been a close personal friend of President JFK (1917-1963), was appointed by her to supervise and mentor RFK Jr. Before finishing his bachelors degree at Harvard University (1976), RFK Jr. had been expelled from Millbrook, Pomfret, and Palfrey, completing his formal education with law degree from Pace University.
In a 2007 interview with Oprah, RFK Jr. revealed the surprising and unexpected reasons for his drug use, (related to his 1983 charges of Heroin possession). By 1884 he had successfully completed rehab in a Summit, NJ hospital known for advanced alcohol substance and psychiatric treatments for the rich and famous. Oppenheim pointed out the genetic tendency towards addiction were from the Kennedy and Skakel family line; also that ordinary citizens during that time either died from lack of treatment or served time on Riker's Island.
Emily Black was viewed as a perfect bride for RFK Jr. (m.1982-1994), a beautiful, dignified, intelligent attorney, the couple had two children, Black seemed relieved without bitterness when the couple divorced. Mary Richardson (m.1994-2012) had been affiliated with the Kennedy's since her teens, a natural beauty, educated at Putney, very smart with an eye for art and decorating; the couple had 4 children. Mary's tragic death sent waves of shock and speculation throughout the nation, and raised a greater awareness of mental illness. In 2014 Cheryl Hines became RFK Jr's. third wife.
Vanity Fair would publish a 1997 article: "Bobby's Kids" after the skiing mishap that claimed the life of Michael Kennedy, his wife Vicki Gifford had taken the children and left their conflicted 16 year marriage following his affair with a teenage babysitter.
On April 24, 1984 David Kennedy died at the ocean front family Palm Beach, CA. mansion of a drug overdose while visiting his 94 year old grandmother, Rose.
"Shattered Faith" (1997) a memoir released by Shelia Rauch Kennedy detailed her opposition to the Catholic Church annulment of her 12 year marriage to Joseph Kennedy as a betrayal of trust following their 1991 divorce. The couple had twin boys.
William Kennedy Smith was charged with a March 31, 1991 rape, that captivated national attention. Smith was found innocent, Patricia Bowman was victimized twice after her name and reputation were attacked and scandalized by news media.
With his 1984 introduction to the Hudson River environmental cause by his one time mentor Robert Boyle, (who was 86 in his 2014 interview for this book) he had absolutely no positive comments about RFK Jr. Critics blasted many of RFK's actions and views. Still, he has raised awareness of many important environmental issues, including the use of Thimersol in childhood vaccines linked to autism. In 2010 Time Magazine named RFK Jr. in "Hero's For The Planet", he was also named as notable alumni of Harvard University in 2015. There are pages of excellent photos included.
Many thanks to the Seattle Public Library.
* The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years... Edward Klein
* The Kennedy Curse... Richard Marvin
March 16, 2016
Better title for this book:
RFK JR Kennedy Scion: NOT SORRY &
Surrogate Father Figure, Lem Billings: KNOWN Homosexual.
I enjoyed reading Oppenheimer's book about Ethel Kennedy, even though it was clear that the author dislikes this family. It was first time I'd read a Kennedy book that wasn't fawning and reverent. Hickory Hill came off as a free-for-all, and it is hard not to feel sorry for those kids. Glad some of them are still alive and leading productive lives, against the odds. In the RFK JR. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream, I skimmed a bit after the first few chapters, looking for actual events, rather than descriptions of his dirty hair, drug use (just tell us he used drugs, no need to paint a picture. Over and Over). We believe you. And petty criticisms. Every time Oppenheimer brings up Teddy Kennedy, he says, "Failed Presidential Candidate, Uncle Ted", or something like that. This cousin, who dropped out of school. That brother, who crashed a car. I think it was a terrible childhood, but author is heavily into the tabloid style and repeats same facts again and again. While I do not read everything Kennedy, I pay attention, there was really nothing in this book I didn't already know about RFK Jr. or any of the other family members mentioned. My recommendation would be that, if you can't resist, borrow, don't buy. And no pictures that can't be found on the internet.
RFK JR Kennedy Scion: NOT SORRY &
Surrogate Father Figure, Lem Billings: KNOWN Homosexual.
I enjoyed reading Oppenheimer's book about Ethel Kennedy, even though it was clear that the author dislikes this family. It was first time I'd read a Kennedy book that wasn't fawning and reverent. Hickory Hill came off as a free-for-all, and it is hard not to feel sorry for those kids. Glad some of them are still alive and leading productive lives, against the odds. In the RFK JR. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream, I skimmed a bit after the first few chapters, looking for actual events, rather than descriptions of his dirty hair, drug use (just tell us he used drugs, no need to paint a picture. Over and Over). We believe you. And petty criticisms. Every time Oppenheimer brings up Teddy Kennedy, he says, "Failed Presidential Candidate, Uncle Ted", or something like that. This cousin, who dropped out of school. That brother, who crashed a car. I think it was a terrible childhood, but author is heavily into the tabloid style and repeats same facts again and again. While I do not read everything Kennedy, I pay attention, there was really nothing in this book I didn't already know about RFK Jr. or any of the other family members mentioned. My recommendation would be that, if you can't resist, borrow, don't buy. And no pictures that can't be found on the internet.
August 13, 2016
The book was interesting to read but not more. It's not the sort of biography in which the author succeeds to go in depth. Unfortunately! It's more like "This person said this - this person said that!" and now let's write a book about the subject. To be honest it would even surprise me if it would have been different. It's finally a book about a Kennedy person. So the essence of it somewhere is between truth and gossip.
Much more annoyed me the writing style of Oppenheimer. Apparently he has no high opinion of the efficiency of the reader's memory. Unnecessary repetitions and trivialities everywhere. - And still I feel troubled when I get confrated with private entries of a living person's diary without his permission. It's a poor journalism to satisfy the mass with sensation.
Much more annoyed me the writing style of Oppenheimer. Apparently he has no high opinion of the efficiency of the reader's memory. Unnecessary repetitions and trivialities everywhere. - And still I feel troubled when I get confrated with private entries of a living person's diary without his permission. It's a poor journalism to satisfy the mass with sensation.
January 29, 2016
I am not a Kennedy apologist by any means, but I felt that Oppenheimer went way out of his way to portray Bobbie in the most negative light possible. He spends far more time than necessary digging up dirt on Bobbie's prep school and college druggie days, information that at this point - well, who gives a s*&t! And while Ethel is hardly a sympathetic figure and deservedly so, he really went after her, exploiting her spendthrift ways (which was actually kind of humorous in a National Enquirer sort of way).
February 2, 2016
Interesting, but a little salacious for my taste. The premise seemed to be to tear down RFK Jr. (and demonize the Kennedys) with no room for compassion or objectivity.
Read
June 10, 2020Shocking, bothersome and very telling. Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. was/is a despicable person. The sense of entitlement was his hallmark lifestyle. Three marriages, and the second wife killed herself. Suffering from depression, when she left him because of his serial sex partners, he harassed her, leading to her death.
He blatantly cheated on each and every relationship he ever had.
Kicked out of three prep schools as a teen, primarily because of his ugly personality and severe use of drugs, including, but not limited to heroin, he continued this lifestyle throughout adulthood. Taking copious amounts of drugs from the time of a teen through adulthood, at one time he overdosed on a airplane. Every single bad behavior was covered up, thus there was no punishment for his deeds.
His mother, Ethel, also was quite a peace of work!!! Never visiting her children when they were placed away from her, she had 11 kids, and very much like her son, took no responsibility in raising them. Known for wearing expensive clothing, then returning it used, finally upscale stores banned her from their stores. Jackie Kennedy refused to allow her two children to be with the large, unruly brood.
I confess to being very upset while reading this book. As an adult, RFK, Jr, decided to become involved (marginally) forcing others to do the work that he took credit for, in the environmental cause. His claim to fame was writing about the polluted Hudson River. The head of this organization called him the most despicable human being ever known.
Known for hosting large parties at upscale establishments, he and his lovely mother never paid the bills, thus leading to bankruptcy for those who owned the restaurants, the owners were told they should be honored to have the Kennedy's in their midst.
As sex, and drug addictions plagued both he and other members of his family, various times trying to kick the habit, only to return back to their vises time and time again. He kept a book noting all the women he had sex with. Proud of his accomplishments, he thought women should be honored to be with him.
What an ugly, shocking man!
He blatantly cheated on each and every relationship he ever had.
Kicked out of three prep schools as a teen, primarily because of his ugly personality and severe use of drugs, including, but not limited to heroin, he continued this lifestyle throughout adulthood. Taking copious amounts of drugs from the time of a teen through adulthood, at one time he overdosed on a airplane. Every single bad behavior was covered up, thus there was no punishment for his deeds.
His mother, Ethel, also was quite a peace of work!!! Never visiting her children when they were placed away from her, she had 11 kids, and very much like her son, took no responsibility in raising them. Known for wearing expensive clothing, then returning it used, finally upscale stores banned her from their stores. Jackie Kennedy refused to allow her two children to be with the large, unruly brood.
I confess to being very upset while reading this book. As an adult, RFK, Jr, decided to become involved (marginally) forcing others to do the work that he took credit for, in the environmental cause. His claim to fame was writing about the polluted Hudson River. The head of this organization called him the most despicable human being ever known.
Known for hosting large parties at upscale establishments, he and his lovely mother never paid the bills, thus leading to bankruptcy for those who owned the restaurants, the owners were told they should be honored to have the Kennedy's in their midst.
As sex, and drug addictions plagued both he and other members of his family, various times trying to kick the habit, only to return back to their vises time and time again. He kept a book noting all the women he had sex with. Proud of his accomplishments, he thought women should be honored to be with him.
What an ugly, shocking man!
December 13, 2015
I believe the author missed one of Bobby’s stronger talents: he is the only speaker going out on stage to large audiences connecting the world of American fiction, art, and music to the world of American activism. I’ve seen him in packed auditoriums connecting the Hudson River School and Faulkner to conservation, environmental protection, stewardship, and activism. Activists are rarely educated enough to connect their audience to non-contemporary history to make a point let alone go as far as Bobby, to connect their audience to America’s high end non-commercial cultural history. Activists are the poorer for not knowing Edith Wharton, Elliot Carter, Upton Sinclair, Charles Ives, Theodore Dreiser, Thomas Hart Benton, Eudora Welty, Grant Wood, James Baldwin, and many others. To save America, it helps to know what you are saving. Sure, this book misses a lot of Bobby’s secrets, and lets Ethel off the hook for serious blame, but it reveals enough of his past that it still is very informative. I also went to Bobby’s Millbrook School and studied under the same teachers including the discussed twisted disciplinarian Jack Bower who made my life hell. It’s funny how Millbrook’s Chapel gets used by each class as a secret place to get away from school authority. During each official school Chapel function, I’d notice the patched ceiling, which was otherwise perfect, and I never knew until now that it was Bobby who made that very noticeable hole which was patched. At some point in the book, someone says Bobby doesn’t have a conscience. I disagree. When you have a seriously addictive personality and you give up Heroin, you still have a seriously addictive personality; if it wasn’t treated it will just transfer to something else. And people with unexamined addictive personalities traditionally make others pay for their unfixed problems. As long as Bobby concerns himself with life as usual rather than repairing his foundation, nothing will change and Bobby will remained sidelined by activists and American culture as another “Charlie Sheen style can’t control himself story” instead of as a serious political hopeful. Don’t discount that Bobby has had trauma in his life, seeing his murdered dad on a slab, etc. or that he is very charismatic, confident, tall, handsome, educated, intelligent and articulate. A pretty good book that still misses a lot of juicy stuff…
biography-memoir
November 18, 2016Please believe me I just grabbed this from the library thinking it was about his father. It's a tale cobbled together from "sources close to the family" "a friend" and "someone who was there."
May 16, 2020
Really did not care for the author..
May 28, 2025
The most batshit thing I’ve ever read; this humanizing portrait of the most alienating man alive covers RFKJ’s singular life and tells the tale of the black sheep before the two crusades that define him: vaccines and Trump.
November 15, 2017
This book is very gossipy and filled with life stories about RFK Jr, the namesake of RFK. The third born son of the slain Attorney General and Presidential candidate, RFK Jr was only fourteen when his father was killed. He had no healthy outlet to mourn the loss of his family's patriarch and instead was shipped off to several boarding schools, schools he was often expelled from. His descent into a life of drugs, reckless behavior and womanizing is clearly emphasized. The lack of his mother Ethel's support is described. She decided to put Lem Billings, a homosexual who was JFK's best friend, in charge of the young Robert is a fact that is disturbing in itself. Even worse, the fact she visited him once a year at his boarding school is troubling. He, like many of the other Kennedy children were emotionally abandoned and left on their own.
Although RFK Jr was considered the Kennedy's best bet for a presidential run, this all came to an end with his history of drugs and his second wife's suicide. RFK Jr, a very intelligent man has worked hard for the environment and tried to make a difference cleaning up waterways. I wonder what he is doing today and why he has stopped speaking out against environmental damage and corporate greed! It's sad to me that RFK Jr had so much potential to continue to make a difference and he like many of his Kennedy siblings and cousins have chosen to remain in the background, most likely concerned about their safety and well being. A very interesting and informative read!
Although RFK Jr was considered the Kennedy's best bet for a presidential run, this all came to an end with his history of drugs and his second wife's suicide. RFK Jr, a very intelligent man has worked hard for the environment and tried to make a difference cleaning up waterways. I wonder what he is doing today and why he has stopped speaking out against environmental damage and corporate greed! It's sad to me that RFK Jr had so much potential to continue to make a difference and he like many of his Kennedy siblings and cousins have chosen to remain in the background, most likely concerned about their safety and well being. A very interesting and informative read!
November 1, 2015
Journalist, Investigative Reporter, Producer and Author Jerry Oppenheimer writes a compelling, well-researched portrait of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, son of the Ethel and Robert Kennedy who had eleven children. Oppenheimer also includes black and white photos, notes, index, acknowledgments and a selected bibliography. As someone who has listened to my parent's generation talk so impressively of their adulation for this family I'm happy to say I don't share any of their views. The Kennedy's are no camelot because there is no atmosphere of idyllic happiness in this family. The word which comes to mind throughout this book is the word comeuppance as many in this family have certainly gotten what they deserve. Their behaviors are the result of absent and ridiculous parenting, of others overlooking incidents which would have the rest of us paying the consequences and let's not forget the Kennedy attitude of superiority. It would be refreshing if one of the Kennedy's actually came out and took responsibility for their idiotic actions. RFK Jr. has nothing to be proud of but I hope his children can break the cycle of ignorance, entitlement and slimy morality.
December 27, 2020
I went down the Kennedy rathole of biographies when I read one that had Camelot in the title. I was surprised to learn what I read about RFK jr. Hopefully, most of it is false however, being that his reputation isn't good in his personal nor professional life, I'm inclined to believe what was written in this book. Oppenheimer does a good job of starting from his childhood into his adulthood and marriages. I believe the suicidal drug use is subsequent to the assassination of his father. The fact that jr started so young, it's only God who keeps him alive. But his dating history is troubling, to say the least. This biography reads like a lifetime movie. It is scandalous and vindictive. I would definitely recommend it. Whether it's true or not, is up to the reader to decide.
January 26, 2019
I enjoyed reading this book and it also gave me a suggestion of at least two or three other books mentioned that I'd like to read such as RFK Jr's book the riverkeepers and a tell all type of expose book by one of the Kennedy cousins is also mentioned here. True Compass by Ted Kennedy and other books are mentioned. I love to read bio's and I also made a youtube video where I talk about this book and others that I recommend. There's nothing like sitting down with a coffee and a biography or personal memoir book at the coffee shop and reading. Two complete strangers have actually approached me about this book that I was reading about RFK JR and struck up a nice conversation with me.
September 30, 2015
I liked this book, however, there were many chapters that weren't even about RFK, Jr. A lot about the other Kennedys of his generation got their own chapter. I was fine with that, as I am obsessed with anything Kennedy, but it just seems a little deceitful to say the book is specifically about RFK, Jr.
December 8, 2015
There is a thin line between Truth and a Little Bit Off! Since so much of this book points out lies in his previous book I read it with a lot of skepticism. I think the Kennedy Legacy died with JFK Jr. All the remaining ones are just out to make a buck. Caroline is a snob. Good that she gave up politics. She got none of JFK Jrs charisma and strikes me as a greedy person. Camelot is dead.
June 26, 2017
Whew! I needed a summer-y read like this, after my past half-dozen or so somber choices from my TBR pile. A salacious, slanted, soap opera of a book, and I loved every juicy page. Like a 350-page "National Enquirer" article, or a heaping bowl of word Cheetos--not good for you, but you just can't stop!
February 27, 2016
Well researched, somewhat repetitive biography of RFK Jr written by someone who is not his biggest fan. Which it appears includes most people. What a self-centered spoiled man. . The subject, not the author.
March 1, 2016
When my friend gave me this book to read, she warned me that it would be hard to put down. She was right! Very interesting, raw, and helps one to get a glimpse behind the façade of our 'American Royal Family.'
July 14, 2016
I felt that, especially in the later chapters, the author tries to pack in too much information; it didn't flow well. Still, this is worthwhile reading for anyone who wants the dirt on the Kennedy family!
February 16, 2016
I gave this book to my mom, who is a Kennedy era history junkie! She loved it. (I won my copy from First reads)
November 23, 2015
Informative. I enjoyed it.
October 24, 2015
This book is especially interesting if the reader is interested in alcohol and drug dependence in families. I thought it was a well-written book and will read more by this author.
October 2, 2015
Endless tittle tattle rehashing the Kennedy saga and focused on a highly dysfunctional man. I skimmed the book in less than one day.
October 7, 2015
Not too much new here. I read some of the book's information from tabloids and other published books about the Kennedy family.
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