Know Your Enemy

The Kennedy Imprisonment (w/ Jeet Heer)

Nov 17, 2023

Jeet Heer, contributor at The Nation, joins the hosts to discuss Gary Wills's book 'The Kennedy Imprisonment' which debunks the myths surrounding the Kennedys. They explore the Kennedys' pursuit of power, Joseph Kennedy's creation of myths around his sons, and the family's treatment of women. The chapter also touches on the similarities between the Kennedys and Trump and their use of charisma in governance.

01:41:30

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Jeet Heer

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Quick takeaways

The Kennedy Imprisonment by Gary Wills exposes the dark realities behind the Kennedy myth, unravelling the patriarchal control of Joe Kennedy and his creation of a world defined by sex, power, and achievement.

Sex played a central role in the Kennedy myth, with Joseph Kennedy's licentiousness and the subsequent sexual exploits of his sons shaping their personal lives, political careers, and public image.

The theme of entrapment in the Kennedy family is explored, highlighting Joseph Kennedy's control over his children and the vulnerability of the brothers to external forces, such as J. Edgar Hoover and the potential exposure of their sexual indiscretions.

The legacy of the Kennedy family reveals a sense of imprisonment, while emphasizing the alternative of mass movements for meaningful change and the dangers of seeking a charismatic outsider to solve societal problems.

Deep dives

The Kennedy Imprisonment: Unraveling the Kennedy Myth

The Kennedy Imprisonment by Gary Wills is a thought-provoking book that delves into the dark realities behind the Kennedy myth. Wills unveils the patriarchal figure of Joe Kennedy, who created a world for his children defined by sex, power, and achievement. The book explores how the Kennedy brothers, particularly John and Ted, embraced this distorted masculinity and engaged in numerous sexual conquests to compensate for their physical shortcomings. Wills examines the trap of the Kennedy legacy, where personal indiscretions and entrapment by figures like J. Edgar Hoover became tools of control. He poses the paradox that the Kennedy with the worst public image, Teddy, might actually be the best Kennedy, as his flaws were a result of lack of control rather than deliberate malice. In the Kennedy Imprisonment, Wills dissects the intricate web of power, sexuality, and ambition that shaped the Kennedy family, ultimately challenging the widely accepted Kennedy myth.

Continuity of Political Ideals and Vicarious Thrill in Supporting Power

02:28

Learning from the Kennedys' Myth

02:12

The Intersection of Catholicism, Democracy, and Journalism in the 1960s

02:39

Reconciling Conservatism with Modernism

01:31

Introduction

2min

Debunking the Kennedy Myth with Gary Wills and Jeet Heer

3min

Introducing a Long-Awaited Guest and Discussing Past Interests

2min

Hugh Kenner, Gary Will's, and the Themes of Tradition and Modernity

24min

The Power of Myth and Theater in Politics

5min

Exploring the Kennedy Imprisonment

27min

Exploring Chester 10's Ideology and Influence on Gary Wells

2min

Charismatic Leadership and the Kennedys

20min

The Kennedy Era: Power, Scandal, and Legacy

17min

In this episode, Matt and Sam welcome the Nation's Jeet Heer to the podcast to continue their journey into the work of Garry Wills—in particular, Wills's under-appreciated 1982 masterpiece, The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power. The book might be thought of as a sequel to his earlier Nixon Agonistes (1970). As Wills puts it in his introduction to the most recent edition of The Kennedy Imprisonment, "I had written a book about Nixon, and it was not a biography, but an attempt to see what could be learned about America from the way Nixon attracted or repelled his fellow countrymen. Why not do the same thing for the Kennedys?"

The result of Wills's efforts is a devastating portrait of an Irish-Catholic family who strove to be accepted at the most rarified heights of American society—and then, when they weren't, relentlessly pursued political power. Along the way, the family patriarch, Joseph Kennedy, used his money and influence to create a series of myths surrounding his sons, most of all the son who would become president, John F. Kennedy. It is these myths at which Wills takes aim, showing how Joseph Kennedy bought his second son good press, a heroic war record, and even a Pulitzer Prize. And it was Joseph Kennedy who taught his sons what was expected of them as men: to use and dominate women (many, many women), to valorize virility and daring and risk, and to understand power as enlightened leadership by the best and brightest (most of all, the Kennedys), not as harnessing the popular energy of mass movements. What begins as a book exposing the Kennedy men as wannabe aristocrats bent on conquest, both sexual and political, ends as an indictment of the liberalism they came to represent.

Sources:

Garry Wills, The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power (1982)

Garry Wills, Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man (1970)

Garry Wills, Bare Ruined Choirs: Doubt, Prophecy, and Radical Religion (1972)

Joan Didion, "Wayne at the Alamo," National Review, Dec 31, 1960

Hugh Kenner, The Mechanic Muse (1988)

Hugh Kenner, The Pound Era (1971)

Richard E. Neustadt, Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan (1960)

John Leonard, "Camelot's Failure," New York Times, Feb 25, 1982

Norman Mailer, "Superman Comes to the Supermarket," Esquire, Nov 1960

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