Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:29, 13 August 2005

Revision as of 15:41, 14 August 2005

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Like his father, Joseph was a businessman, but was even more successful, becoming a millionaire. Joseph started to build his fortune during [[World War I]]. He worked at a shipyard in [[Quincy, Massachusetts]] where he oversaw the production of submarines and battleships. He also supervised the construction of housing for shipyard workers and even the onsite cafeteria. In the early [[1920s]], Joseph acquired two movie studios and personally produced several [[film]]s, he then sold the companies to the [[Radio Corporation of America]].

Joseph multiplied his fortune through stock speculation; he was a master of the stock pool, a then-legal arrangement in which a few traders conspired to inflate a stock's price, selling just before the bubble burst. Some Republicans attribute these market manipulations as being in part responsible for the Stock Market Crash of [[1929]] which triggered the [[Great Depression]]. During [[Prohibition]], Joseph was reputedly a [[bootlegging|bootleger]], selling for several British alcohol distillers. If true, Joseph did his customers a favor since the safety of drinking English alcohol could be assured. He had a large inventory that he sold for a profit of millions of dollars when [[Prohibition]] was repealed in [[1933]]. He invested this money in residential and commercial real estate, the Merchandise Emporium in Chicago and [[Hialeah Race Track]].

Joseph's first active involvement in a national political campaign occurred during [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s bid for the Presidency. He donated, loaned, and raised a substantial amount of money for FDR's presidential campaign. President Roosevelt rewarded him, with an appointment as the inaugural Chairman of [[Securities and Exchange Commission]]. Some attribute a quote to the then President that he had "sent a thief to catch a thief."