In order to understand a dynasty, one must sometimes go back to the beginning. That is what historian David Nasaw does successfully in his latest book, looking at the remarkable yet turbulent life of Joseph P. Kennedy.
Nasaw is best known for penning biographies on captains of industry Andrew Carnegie and William Randolph Hearst. In “The Patriarch,” he was given unlimited access to the Joseph Kennedy papers at the John F. Kennedy Library and to the Kennedy family. In this unprecedented biography, Nasaw delves deep into the many careers and ultra ambitious life of the Kennedy patriarch.
The book chronicles Joseph Kennedy’s path from his beginnings in East Boston, to becoming one of the wealthiest and most powerful Americans in the twentieth century, to his final years, enduring the pain and suffering that comes with great tragedies.
Guest:
David Nasaw, author of “The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy” (Penguin Press HC) and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York