Free Republic

Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy and a former ambassador to Ireland, died Wednesday, her daughter confirmed to The New York Times. She was 92. Smith died at her home in Manhattan, daughter Kym told the Times. Smith was the eighth of nine children born to Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy, and she tragically outlived several of them by decades. Her siblings included older brother Joseph Kennedy Jr., killed in action during World War II; Kathleen Kennedy, who died in a 1948 plane crash; the president, assassinated in 1963 and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy,...

This Thursday marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife, Rose. For many years, the story of JFK’s sister, who had an undiagnosed mental disability and was lobotomized at age 23, was shrouded in mystery. A vivacious young woman with a sweet disposition, Rosemary’s life was dramatically altered when her father decided to have her undergo a pre-frontal lobotomy in November 1941, a procedure that left her with the mental capacities of a toddler and requiring round-the-clock care