When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

[Historico]

When Irish eyes are smiling
What If Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. survived WWII?
An Alternate History
Written By
Austin Ross

*********************


   It was a sight only the saint’s could have bestowed upon such a historical moment. Standing at the Capitol’s east portico in front of a crowd of 1.3 Million, Kennedy received a pure white blanket of snow for the inauguration. Much as a War Hero of his caliber and youth should, the first born son of the ambassador, stood proudly without an overcoat in the stinging cold. The magnificent image would remain forever present in the memories of many Americans of the young, stalwart and brave man who become the nation’s 1st Irish-American Roman Catholic President.

The silver hair and wrinkled face of Chief Justice [Redacted] contrasted deeply with the almost too handsome Kennedy. He was just under six feet tall, clad in a black single breasted suit, broad shouldered; with his dark chestnut hair heightened by the morning sun’s soft rays. He held one hand placed on the Fitzgerald family bible, which was held by his darling wife even though it was immense in size. The Bible was an 1850 Edition of the Douay English translation containing a handwritten chronicle of the Fitzgerald family from 1857 and including a record of the birth of Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. marked August 25th, 1915. His sapphire eyes, which he shared with his family, stared directly in to the Chief Justice eyes in a face of resolve and reverence for the moment.

“Are you’re prepared to take the Oath, [Redacted]…I Joseph Patrick Kennedy Junior…Do solemnly swear” The Chief Justice stated before, as he was surprisingly interrupted by Joe Junior with his right hand still placed on the Bible.

“I Joseph Patrick Kennedy Junior do solemnly swear.” Kennedy smiled, with his remarkable lopsided grin that was so devastating to women, when he realized that he had jumped the Oath.

“That I will execute the office of President to the United States faithfully.” The Chief Justice said, as the jump seemed to catch him off track. Kennedy only smiled, and allowed for him to correct himself.

“That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.” The Chief Justice said correctly

“That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.” Joseph Kennedy replied.

“And will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The Chief Justice said.

“And will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. replied.

“So Help Me God.” The Chief Justice said, as he completed his portion of the Oath

“So Help Me God.” Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. solemnly shook his head in reverence of the Occasion.

“Thank You Mr. President”

[Historico]

“Someday, I’m going to be President.”

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr at Harvard Crimson University

NBC Studios in DC, 07/25/2010
“You know when I think back to how much the world has changed since Joe was born and how much that change directly happened because of him…I just get somewhat overwhelmed. On this very day, my brother would have been 95 years old, outliving John Adams as the nations longest living President. Yet it was not God’s will, and although it’s been over [Redacted]-five years after his death, I still miss him very much.”

Meet the Press Interview of Robert F. Kennedy Sr. to Anchor James Carville



Decades after Joe’s administration, I think we as American’s tend to look back at that small chapter of our history with Rose tinted glasses and a strange sense of inevitability. In our minds, we view our nation’s first Catholic President as some sort of valiant Mystic Knight of Tír na nÓg, the famous imaginary Celtic land of youth. Before the Kennedy years, the white House had previously been seen as a place of silver hair and cold reason. But during the time that Joe and his family occupied the Presidential Mansion, Tír na nÓg became a household name. Joe growing up Irish Catholic as he did, had this profound sense of the importance of ritual, that the American people want pomp and circumstance when their president is in office. When you add to that his father’s experience in Hollywood, you have the sophisticated, modern-day techniques, combined with this old-world Catholic ritualism and it’s an incredible combination. Thus, the belief in Tír na nÓg as equitable to the Kennedy years, a mythical land place where sickness and death do not exist. It was a place of eternal youth and beauty. Here, music, strength, life, and all pleasurable pursuits came together in a single place. Yet we also tend to forget that Tír na nÓg was not predestined, and that were it not for a warm August day in 1944 over the English channel, It’s myth could have been destroyed.

From: The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga by Doris Kearns Goodwin

[Historico]

Lt Joseph Kennedy was eager to get going, to end the mounting suspense of the long checkout. Normally, he slept well enough before flying a mission, but this morning, August 12, 1944, he tossed restlessly in his bunk, thinking of the ordeal ahead.

He was up early, carefully running a final check of the PB4Y Liberator, the big four-engine bomber that was stripped of all unnecessary paraphernalia and loaded for death with Torpex.

At noon he took a sack of eggs from his foot locker and invited Willy and Simpson to join him at the mess hall for a special treat - a Kennedy omelette.

He'd brought the eggs from London the day before, on his last visit with his sister Kathleen, who had met parental disapproval of her engagement to marry the Marquess of Hartington because of religious differences.


"So you're a Catholic and he's a Protestant," Joe had laughed. "It shouldn't make any difference. Some day you're going to see a Catholic named Kennedy in the White House!"

He could not have known how prophetic his words were, though Kathleen would not live to see them come true. Kathleen, working as a Red Cross nurse, did marry the Marquess, who died in action leading an infantry patrol ahead of a tank column. And she was to die in 1948, in the crash of a private plane in the mountains of Southern France.

At 1700 hours Kennedy and Willy climbed into their flight gear, chuted up and rode a jeep to the hardstand. Ensign Simpson, inside the cockpit double-checking the intricate electronic gear, got up as Kennedy crawled in. The two men shook hands.


"So long and good luck, Joe," Simpson said. "I sure wish I were going with you!"

Kennedy shoved him playfully. "Maybe next trip, Jim."

He sat down in the right hand seat and adjusted his parachute straps. "Jim," he called as Simpson turned to go, "if I don't come back, you fellows can have the rest of my eggs."

Quickly and efficiently Kennedy and Willy went through the ritual of the cockpit checkout, calling out each item on the preflight list preparatory to starting engines. Joe switched the selector valve to the left tank. It was going to be a one-way trip - to Helgoland, and the Nazi submarine pens this time. Only Kennedy and Willy planned to parachute out before they crossed the coastline.

Joe moved his right index finger, in a circle and grinned at the ground crew outside. Number one engine belched to life. When all four propellers were turning, he waved to the plane captain to pull the chocks.

"We'll be right down!" he yelled above the roar of the engines. Then he released the brakes and the giant Liberator lumbered slowly forward, gingerly carrying its load of 10 tons of death.

Neither he nor Willy spoke now. They were too busy. Both men were perspiring, feeling every jolt as the flying bomb rolled down the taxi strip and turned into the runway. Willy shoved all four throttle levers forward smoothly.

The Liberator picked up speed.

"One hundred!" Joe yelled, watching the air speed indicator. "110...120..."

Trees at the end of the runway loomed ahead. He eased back on the yoke with Willy, as if together they were lifting the ship from the runway as gently as possible. He felt the rushing air grip the controls and saw the ground drop away. He hit the brakes to stop the spinning of the landing gear wheels.

"Gear coming up! he called.

So far everything was running smoothly. They were off the ground, above the trees, climbing in a slow turn into the west, toward the setting sun.
Kennedy looked down on the landscape, the neat pattern of hedgerows and farms of the English countryside. The same pattern he'd seen on the television monitor the day the first Aphrodite B-17 spun in. It must have brought fear into sharp focus. Not the paralyzing fear of the coward, but the fear that puts a competitive edge on a hero, primes him for the big play.

Kennedy picked up the mike and called the mother ship.

"Baby to mother," he said. "Climbing through 2000 on a heading of two-seven-zero. How do you read?"

Twenty miles away, in the nose of a PV-1 Ventura, the mother controller heard Kennedy's voice, saw the televised image of the landscape below the Liberator.

"Mother to baby, you're loud and clear. Picture return a bit snowy, but we're getting a workable image."

"Ah, Roger, mother," Kennedy said laconically. "We're turning to one-eight-zero..."

Inside the plane, the two men functioned like the well-drilled team they were. Their hands manipulated the necessary controls, their mouths recorded vital information to the mother ship. But even as they sped toward the enemy, their thoughts at this crucial time had to be of home, family, future...

Willy...The Texan's lean, tanned face screwed up as he squinted into the late sun. Let me live, he must have prayed to his Maker. Let me live to go home to Edna. She was his wife, and he'd talked often of their plans for after the war, when he hoped to go into ranching in a big way.

Kennedy...The Bostonian worried abut Kathleen, hoped she'd be happy with her British husband. Then their was his kid brother Jack. He'd thrown his life on war's dice table just one year before in the Solomons, when his PT boat was rammed by a Jap destroyer.


And now, he, too, was facing death.

A glance over his shoulder into the bomb bay was enough to jolt both men out of any reveries and back to the grim business at hand. For in the bomb bay, both men could readily see, lay stacked can upon can of deadly Torpex. It was hot cargo, all right - first payment for the havoc and screaming-meemies inflicted by the V-1's and V-2's.

Collect on delivery, Mr Schickelgruber.

Kennedy had little doubt that the Liberator would succeed in its mission. He was not mentally geared to accept failure. His job, and Willy's was to set the drone on its course, carefully trimmed to cruise, and turn the controls over to the mother ship, miles behind them. And then bail out.


Still higher in the afternoon sky circled another aircraft, the Project Batty Glide Bomb control plane. At 15,000 feet, Lt Katz adjusted his radio controls and then brought in the dramatic television image from the distant drone.

"Good picture!" he yelled to his pilot. "This one looks like a winner!"

In the Ventura mother ship, the controller came on. "Mother to baby, what is your position?"

"Coming up on the coastline," Kennedy radioed back. "Still getting a good picture?"

Both Katz and the Navy controller watched the white line of the Dover cliffs moving into view, the same breathtaking sight they knew Kennedy and Willy were watching from their cockpit.

On the ground, at the Fersfield hangar, others were watching the same bizarre sight, relayed from the drone. Pomykata nervously clasped and unclasped his fingers, almost as if praying they'd make it this time. Other technicians watched silently, chain-smoking to quiet their nerves.

"Okay, mother," Kennedy's voice came on now. "We're switching to remote radio control. Take over, mother..."

Kennedy, his mouth cottony, reached out and flipped the toggle switch that locked the autopilot control onto the AN/ARW-2 and AN/ARW-3 remote radio control links. He and Willy let go of the controls, and in a second the Liberator's wings slowly rocked left and right.

"Okay, baby...we've got you," the controller's voice called from the Ventura. "Arm your fuses!"

"Roger, arming fuses," Kennedy called back. He slipped off his headset, unbuckled the seat belt and moved around behind the co-pilot seat, where the fuse panel was located.

For a brief moment, he paused to make a final check of the instrument panel, then to glance down at the Channel coast. There was a choice: to parachute into the water or try, as per plan, to bail out over the beach.

"Joe," Willy said. "Need any help?"

"No sweat. You ready to go?"

In the Ventura, in the Batty bomber, in the hangar at Fersfield, men were saying silent prayers now as they watched the drama in the sky unfolding. It was time now, time for the pilots to set the triggers and leap for their lives.
Kennedy moved into the navigator's compartment and reached his hand toward the switches that would arm the detonators. For a fleeting second he hesitated, thinking of all that Torpex in back, 10 tons of death that would go up in one mighty blast at the slightest impact, once the G-load fuses were triggered. He swallowed, moved his gloved hand to the switch.

In his seat, Willy was watching, waiting for the signal to open the escape hatch so they could bail out together.

On the ground, Pomykata nervously checked his watch. Unconsciously he tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. He said a silent prayer for the two men facing death in the high sky, carrying out one of the war's most frightening missions.

In was 1720. On the ground, in the two control planes, men frowned, held their breaths. The Liberator was over the coast. This was the moment. Another second dragged. Impatiently, the Navy controller's voice broke the silence.

"Mother to baby! Mother to baby! Bail out! Bail out!"

In the Liberator, Lt Kennedy's finger closed on the switch.


From: The Kennedy Courage by Don Dwiggins

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Awesome story, Historico

[hcallega]

Fantastic! It's about time we have some more of these quality TLs on the forum.

[Junkie]

I haven't checked timelines out for awhile.  This one makes me glad I came back.

[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]

Damn, my TL (which now involves a living Joe Kennedy Jr.) just got owned.

LOL this is really great! Keep it coming Historico!

[Historico]

Thanks for the reply guys...The next installment should be up in the next few days...

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

This is awesome! Keep it coming!

[Historico]

[COLOR="Red"][SIZE="4"]The Interregnum: 1944-1945[/SIZE][/COLOR]

…The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job 1: 20-21 (King James Version)

[FONT="Impact"][SIZE="4"]The New York Times

August 12, 1944

President Roosevelt Is Dead;

Wallace Sworn In as Successor[/SIZE][/FONT]

********

He had been a ghost of himself for a majority of the year, the massive weight loss, the deep black saucers around his eyes, the faintness of his voice all gave the impression to most voters (as well as the party bosses) that they were looking at a grave man. It was largely believed that FDR may not be even able to live through his fourth and final term in office. This was the large reason behind Wallace’s dumping off the ticket at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and replacement by Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri who was seen as the safer and more moderate choice. In order to quell those concerns, Roosevelt insisted on showing that he was fit to serve, and vigorously campaigned across the nation. However, pushing his frail body to the extreme limits finally did catch up with him on that day on the campaign trail in Miami, Florida.

While ranting against Tom Dewy and the Republicans from an open car in Tropical storm conditions, Roosevelt reached up to his forehead and said, “I have a terrible headache” and fell unconscious. Seconds later, The Presidential motorcade raced of to a nearby hospital in an attempt to save his life. Doctors tried using artificial respiration to revive Roosevelt but he never regained consciousness. At 3:35pm, I declared Franklin Delano Roosevelt dead, and later autopsy reports would show that he had indeed suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage…He was Sixty-Three years old

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor on his last campaign

From: My time with the President by Dr. Howard G. Bruenn

The Flattery, was not “meaningless” at all, had a purpose. Hannegan’s note and the visits of Truman and Welker represented a political reality. Underestimating Wallace’s strength going into the convention, they had done nothing to endear themselves to progressives while there. They would need the support of Wallace and the liberals in order to win in November

As Harold Ickes put it (belatedly but with apparent sincerity) in his letter to Wallace, “There isn’t any doubt, and I have so written to the President, that you came out of the convention stronger than the man who was nominated your place…Neither is there any doubt, as I have also tried to make clear, the next only to the President you are the strongest man in the Democratic Party.”

What would Wallace do with his strength? He repeatedly pledged to support Roosevelt in the general election and promised to campaign personally. But he would be his own man. He would not speak at the bidding of the Democratic National Committee, Wallace told friends. He would pay his own expenses. And he would say little until he had a chance to see Roosevelt and determine the president’s post-war plans.

Due to August 12th, that day never came

At home in Des Moines, Wallace was in his private study when his wife Ilo rushed in to deliver the unexpected news. In the severity of the moment, Wallace held back his emotions, and resolved to be on the next flight to Washington. When he arrived later that evening; Wallace was surrounded by Roosevelt’s cabinet members, his wife and Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone in the Oval Office. After reciting the oath, Henry Agard Wallace of Iowa became the 33rd President of the United States of America. The only question was however, what was he supposed to do next?

Henry Agrad Wallace, The 33rd President of the United States

From: American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. Wallace by John C. Culver and John Hyde

“Well it looks like the old man didn’t quite make it to the next round. Putting all these boys in harms way for nothing, he deserved what came to him. With that being said I’ll wait till a couple a weeks after the funeral, to try to see if I can get an appointment for me or Junior by the Farmer-in-chief!”

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. privately speaking to Rose Kennedy on August 26th 1944

[Historico]

The Liberator never made it to its target in Pas-de-Calais, France, yet by the grace of god, Lt. Joe Kennedy was able to successfully parachute out of the plane before it exploded. His co-pilot Willy was not so fortunate, largely due to the tight squeeze past the nose wheel, and had to crawl forward after Kennedy…There was simply not enough time to get both men out alive. Those who watched the explosion from the ground feared that both men had been disintegrated in the blast and that “nothing big enough to pick up would be found-not even a button.”

There was much more than a button to be found. Sir R. B. M. Blois, a local landlord of the English Village of Blythburg on the Suffolk heritage coast, reported that three engines fell near his Hinton lodge. Blois also discovered the unconscious body of a young man in military fatigues and a parachute strapped to his back. The young man still was breathing, and Blois nursed him backed to health at his Hinton Lodge. Kennedy finally awoke later that evening, the powerful blast of the explosion was the cause of his concussion, and immediately asked Blois “Did Willy make it out?” Kennedy was later inconsolable, when he discovered that the Texan did not survive. After staying the night, and eating breakfast at the Inn, Kennedy left the Blythburg to return back to base to the surprise of a many of his comrades for his debriefing.


Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. recieving a physical after the mission

On Sunday, Joe made good on his promise to visit Sledmere, the country home of his dear friend the Lady Virginia Sykes, who was a pre-war flame of his. Upon reaching the home and feasting on a dinner befitting someone who had the most dramatic of near-death-experiences, Joe reached for the Telephone to call his father in Hyannis port. Lady Virginia Sykes would later recall, that Joe’s first words upon his father’s answering were, “Dad, I’m coming home.”

From: Joe: The Young Prince by Hank Searls


Associated Press, 1944

Second Democratic National Convention announced

On August 21st DNC Chairman Robert E. Hannegan of Missouri announced that an Emergency Democratic National Convention was to be form to decide on revisions to the Democratic Ticket due to the tragedy.

The Allies liberate Paris

Operation Overlord proved a roaring success as German General Dietrich von Choltitz, the commander of the Paris garrison and military governor of Paris, surrendered on 25 August at the Hôtel Meurice, the newly established headquarters of General Leclerc.

*******
   

[Historico]

Although most of them played nice, in the weeks following Roosevelt’s death, The Party Bosses were furious, that the man they tried so hard to remove from the ticket, was now the leader of the free world. Since it was technically still early enough to get new ballots off and approved. An emergency convention was scheduled in New York City for September 1st to September 3rd. The Bosses understood that they could not stop an Incumbent President, especially in a time of mourning from receiving his party’s nomination. Wallace’s poll numbers were through the roof, showing that he still had the support of the people as Ickes had told him all along.
   
President Wallace, on the day following Roosevelt’s death made his intention clear that he was to be a caretaker for his predecessor’s unfinished third term. Yet no one saw it coming, when before a Joint Session of Congress on August 25th 1944. In his widely appraised speech, Wallace spoke on largely continuing the legacy of Roosevelt and rallied support in the wake of the Liberation of Paris by the allies. Towards the ending lines of his speech, the President suddenly went of script and delivered one of the most infamous lines in American Political History. Wallace said, “I shall not seek, nor will I accept the nomination of my party, for a full term as your President.”

President Wallace giving his address to a Joint-session of Congress

From: Hannegan v. Wallace by James Chance

*********

[Historico]

   
A week after the demise of his Liberator, Joe Jr. was honorably discharged from the Navy for his bravery in what some of have called a suicide mission. By September 1944, He was back in Massachusetts, and was a bit dismayed that no ticker tape parade was indeed waiting for him at Boston Harbor. He would attend along with his father and Brother Jack at the Emergency Democratic National Convention in September in New York City as a mere observer. This is in contrast to only four years earlier when, Joe was elected in his own right as a Delegate for Postmaster General James Farley. Both Joe and Jack supported their father’s decision to elevate Vice Presidential Nominee Harry S. Truman for the Presidential Nod. Since the convention in July, was largely a show against who could be billed as a great compromise against the other heavy weights of the party (Wallace, Byrnes, Douglas etc), it made since to elevate Roosevelt “chosen” successor.


Ambassador Kennedy and his eldest sons at the Emergency Democratic National Convention
   
The Vote for Vice President was a little bit more interesting, Joe sr. was still adamant about supporting his dear friend Supreme Court Justice William Douglas(If he couldn’t have it himself. The Justice own campaign for the Vice Presidency at the July Convention had faltered due to the fear of Southern Delegates rejecting him because of his anti-segregation record. Douglas also wasn’t very fond of Harry Truman, and is rumored to have told Kennedy that “I have no wish to be the number two man to a number two man.” Jack favored Ambassador to the Soviet Union Averell Harriman, as a man whose consummate business contacts, foreign relations expertise, as well as hailing from Dewey’s home state of New York much better rounded out the ticket. Junior, always eager to support Northeastern Irish Roman Catholics when available, threw his support behind the young Rhode Island Governor James Howard McGrath. In the end, after several rounds of balloting, Jack’s man won out and the Truman/Harriam Ticket was confirmed.

Senator Harry S. Truman and Ambassador W. Averell Harriman, The 1944 Revised Democratic Party Ticket
   
Both Joe Jr. and Jack campaigned openly for ticket, especially in Massachusetts, not being afraid to parlay their respective showings of heroism as a sign to stay the course. Truman himself embarked on a massive Whistle Stop tour, from the back of a train across the nation in order to increase his visibility. In the end of the October surprise of the US liberation of the Philippines is what resulted in Truman’s narrow win over Dewey. In the aftermath of the election, Joe finally received his consolation prize when on November 12th…Three months after the mission, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was awarded the Navy Cross by President Wallace. Till HLS opened up for Fall Registration in 1946, Joe audited classes as the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration, to try gain more knowledge into the career in which his father was setting up for him.

From: AN [REDACTED] LIFE: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. 1915-[REDACTED] by Robert Dallek

Associated Press, 1944



Wallace joins Churchill and Stalin in Moscow

President Wallace takes a break from campaigning for the Truman/Harriman Ticket to join with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin for a nine day conference to discuss the future of post war Europe.

The Boys take back the Philippines

In a stunning victory on October 20th in the Battle of Leyte, a combined American and Filipino Force led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur defeats the Japanese occupational force on the island.

Truman wins in a Squeaker

America decides to stay the course with the Democratic Party and narrow elected Senator Harry Truman over Republican Nominee Thomas Dewey. The Senator won 277 Electoral Votes to Dewey’s 254 and the popular vote on a 51% to 49% Margin. In the Congressional elections, Democrats in the House pick up 20 Seats from the GOP and the other minor parties. In the Senate, the Democratic Party suffered a net loss of one seat, to the Republicans dropping their majority to 57 to 38.

[COLOR="Red"]Harry S. Truman (D-MO)/W. Averell Harriman (D-NY): 277 Electoral Votes[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Blue"]Thomas E. Dewey (R-NY)/John W. Bricker (R-OH): 254 Electoral Votes[/COLOR]

George C. Marshall first 5-Star General

On December 16th, President Wallace promotes General George C. Marshall as the first man to achieve 5-Star Rank status of the newly created General of the Army.

Stettinius confirmed by Senate


On December 30th, Edward Stettinius Jr., has been confirmed resoundingly to fill the vacancy left by long time Secretary of State Cordell Hull back in November. It is being hailed as a final congressional victory made by the outgoing President Wallace.

**************


Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. recieving the Navy Cross from his father

For extraordinary heroism and courage in aerial flight as pilot of a United States Liberator bomber on August 12, 1944. Well knowing the extreme dangers involved and totally unconcerned for his own safety, Kennedy unhesitatingly volunteered to conduct an exceptionally hazardous and special operational mission. Intrepid and daring in his tactics and with unwavering confidence in the vital importance of his task, he willingly risked his life in the supreme measure of service and, by his great personal valor and fortitude in carrying out a perilous undertaking, sustained and enhanced the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service

The Navy Cross Citation of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.

Associated Press, 1945

Truman inaugurated

Harry S. Truman of Independence, Missouri became the nation’s 34th President on January 20th 1945. In his speech, Truman promised “a swift end to both fronts of the war.” Former President Henry A. Wallace leaves office with a 65% approval rating for the four months and eight days he served in the White House.

Truman at Yalta Conference

President Harry Truman meets with Churchill and Stalin for the first time in order to discuss the reestablishment of the nations of Post-War Europe. It is at the conference that the Soviets agree to assist the United States in the Pacific theater against Japan.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

On February 23rd, in the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mt. Suribachi on the island, and are photographed raising the American Flag.

The 17th annual Academy awards

On March 15th the 17th Academy Awards were held at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. It marks the first time the Awards are broadcast nationally on the ABC Radio network. Also the first year where the best picture category was limited to five films, in which Going My Way to home the much coveted prize.

Adolf Hitler Dead

In his bunker under the city of Berlin, The Fuehrer committed suicide along with his wife Eva Braun upon the encroaching Red Army. Karl Donitz succeeds Hitler as President of Germany, while Joseph Goebbels becomes Chancellor.

Victory in Europe!!!

On May 8th, The Allies accepts the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Within the following weeks, massive celebrations take place in Trafalgar Square in London and in New York’s Time Square. President Truman later declares that it’s one “hell of a way to spend your 61st Birthday”

[Historico]

[FONT="Courier New"]Dear Kit

   Yesterday, I had an amazing party at the compound celebrating my getting past the 30 yard line, no pun intended. Dad’s old friends from Hollywood showed up including Frank Sinatra (Who I think we’ll make fine friends) and we even the Negro Big Band sensation of Duke Ellington serenade us as we danced until Morn. But in all seriousness, it’s been one hell of a year, from me barely surviving the Aphrodite Mission, going through three Presidents, and the final surrender of the Nazi’s…we certainly do live in exciting times. I am looking forward to returning to my third and final year at HLS, so I can get on with me becoming President. I’m also working on having my journal entries of my time in Madrid during the Civil War published to raise my national standing a bit.I certainly do miss having you around, and maybe Mother will come to her senses…Until we meet again Dear Sister, be blessed.

Love always,[/FONT]



Associated Press, 1945

Churchill Defeated, Atlee to become PM

On July 26th, The British Labour Party won a resounding victory in the 1945 General Election over Churchill and the Conservatives. Deputy Prime Minister Clement Atlee succeeds Churchill for the top spot. All in all the Labour victory is thought to be the national perception of the Labour party being better able to handle the Post-War Economy.

Victory in Japan!!!

On August 15th, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on the radio. This is largely the effect of President Truman’s decision’s to unleash the power of the Atom Bomb down on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski after six intense months of strategic fire bombings of 67 Japanese Cities and the rejection of the Postadam Declaration.

****************


3L Joe Junior, returning to Harvard yard in the fall of 1945

So as Junior was preparing to become a 3L at HLS, Senior was laying the foundation for his son’s future career. In the spring and summer of 1945, Senior made a special effort to renew the Kennedy presence in Massachusetts, if memoires of his ambassadorship did not serve him in most parts of the country; his home state was more forgiving. In April, Senior made the front page of the Boston Globe when he lunched with Governor Maurice J. Tobin, gave a speech urging postwar reliance on the city’s air and sea ports to expand its economy, announced a half-million dollar investment in the state, and agreed to become the chairman of a commission planning the state’s economic future. The chairmanship assignment allowed Joe to speak with business, labor, and government leaders. “When he took the economic survey job for Tobin,” a Boston politician stated, “it was to scout the state politically for Junior.” In July, Senior added to the family’s public visibility with a massive Independence Day Parade in which veterans were paraded around on floats adorned with the stars and stripes. The biggest float was topped by the war heroes named Joe and Jack. There were also discussions with Tobin about Junior’s becoming his running mate in 1946 for lieutenant governor.


Ambassador Kennedy at the 1945 Independence Day Parade in Boston, Massachusetts

Although Junior had aspirations for the gubernatorial corner office of Massachusetts since before the war, in 1945 he rejected the offer to run on the bottom of Tobin’s ticket. Senior and Junior both preferred a congressional campaign that could send Joe Jr. to Washington, where he could have national visibility. There was one problem, however: Which district? To this end, Joe secretly persuaded James Michael Curley to leave his Eleventh Congressional District seat for another run as Boston’s mayor. A fraud conviction and additional legal actions had put Curley in substantial debt, and he welcomed Senior’s hush-hush proposal to help him pay off what he owed and to finance his mayoral campaign.


With the ultimate old Boston Pol, James Michael Curley, returning home to Massachusetts...Who will succeed him in the 11th District?

From: AN [REDACTED] LIFE: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. 1915-[REDACTED] by Robert Dallek