Years ago, in my younger more innocent days, when I thought the Kennedys was a family to emulate, I went through a phase where I read every Kennedy book I could get my hands on. Not the puff-piece paperbacks that the housewives would pickup with their tabloids at the CVS but the in-depth books that left no stone unturned. Most of them buried in the stacks at the public libraries. I came away from that reading session with a whole different view about the Kennedys. What a dysfunctional and messed up family that was - even back to the early days when JFK and his siblings were young.
One thing that always stuck with me was when Joe Kennedy Sr. had his daughter Rosemary lobotomized because she was a little slow and thus not up to the "social graces" that was expected of a Kennedy. Joe Sr. was concerned that she might embarrass the family and adversely affect the political fortunes of her male siblings.
The lobotomy went badly and Rosemary spent the rest of her life in an institution with the mental capacity of a two year old.
That callous and even criminal act always stuck with me.
