JFK's letter of recommendation to Harvard from his father

[rpannier]

was rather uninspiring and included the following bit about Jack

"Jack is careless and lacks application."

source: Presidential facts on Huffpost

[Enthusiast]

1. Jack appears to have overcome those little deficiencies.....nt

[No Elephants]

2. It's so hard to believe that anyone's father would undermine his kid's college applicatio that way.

Especially someone like Jack Kennedy.


He didn't lack application either. He had Addison's disease. That he accomplished what he accomplished before people knew how to treat it was astounding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addison%27s_disease

Rose Kennedy was a pretty tough parent, too. Still, those kids grew up with a sense of duty tand family hat is remarkable.

[Enthusiast]

3. I didn't know about the Addison's disease.

Is that where you just say whatever pops into your head? :rofl:

[No Elephants]

4. No, I think you're conflating Addison's and DU.

Kennedy's medical problems http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g35.htm

(Addison's was not his only health issue.)


Symptoms of Addison's Disease:

Understanding Addison's Disease -- Symptoms
What Are the Symptoms of Addison's Disease?

Over time, Addison's disease leads to these symptoms:

Chronic fatigue and muscle weakness
Loss of appetite, inability to digest food, and weight loss
Low blood pressure (hypotension) that falls further when standing. This makes a person dizzy, sometimes to the point of fainting
Blotchy, dark tanning and freckling of the skin. This is most noticeable on parts of the body exposed to the sun, but also occurs in unexposed areas like the gums. Darkened skin is particularly likely to occur on the forehead, knees, and elbows or along scars, skin folds, and creases (such as on the palms)
Blood sugar abnormalities, including dangerously low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
Inability to cope with stress
Moodiness, irritability, and depression
Intolerance to heat or cold
Craving of salty foods

Some of these symptoms may indicate conditions other than Addison's disease.
Understanding Addison's Disease

Find out more about Addison's disease:

Basics

Symptoms

Diagnosis and Treatment

Because symptoms of Addison's disease progress slowly, they may go unrecognized until a physically stressful event, such as another illness, surgery, or an accident, worsen symptoms quickly. When this happens, it's called an Addisonian crisis. For one in four people with Addison's disease, this is the first time they realize they are ill. An Addisonian crisis is considered a medical emergency, because it can be fatal.

Symptoms of an Addisonian crisis include:

Sudden penetrating pain in the lower back, abdomen, or legs
Severe vomiting and diarrhea, followed by dehydration
Low blood pressure
Loss of consciousness

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/understanding-addisons-disease-symptoms

[Enthusiast]

5. That doesn't sound very pleasant....nt

[No Elephants]

6. It was why he was so very skinny as a younger man.

Have to say, it makes the beloved PT 109 story seem a little implausible.

When I first started working, I met a man who had been in Harvard with RFK. Apparently, they gave out PT 109 tie clips like chiclets. He wore one every day and I would bet my home that he was not the type that RFK would choose as a friend.

Joe was a genius. When Jack first ran for Congress, Joe somehow "convinced" a man with the same name as Jack's primary opponent to get himself on the ballot. The opponent had been the frontrunner, but, faced with two identical names on the ballot, voters obviously split his vote and Jack won the primary.

Things like that make it all the harder to believe that Joe would have tried to sabotage Jack's chances of getting into Harvard.

[Divine Discontent]

7. maybe he thought it was a bad idea for him? or he didn't want him leaving?

or perhaps he knew people would go after him because of who his dad was? but yeah, wow, not the most supportive comments from your own dad.

[No Elephants]

8. Being me and not you, I would be more inclined to say that the letter is a fake.

Which college, let alone Harvard, which has had money up the yin yang and more applicants than most admissions offices could dream of since Paul Revere was a lad, would count a recommendation from an applicant's father in considering whether to admit a student anyway?

To me, the whole story doesn't ring true. This is a man who could have afforded all the care in the world for his daughter, but institutionalized her, rather than have her embarrassing the family with her odd statements and behavior. By then, Joe had more than made his own way in the world and Rose Kennedy wanted to keep Rosemarie home.

The only reason I can think of that Joe institutionalized her was that he feared she would embarrass his kids as they tried to make their way in the world. And, he was nothing if not ambitious for his kids, for the males to achieve, which included marrying a "well bred" woman who could help their careers," and the females to marry "suitably." Just doesn't seem to fit that he would sabotage his son's chances of getting into Harvard, the most respected college in the U.S.

And, as I said, it does not ring true from the admissions process anyway. JFK was never a fool. He was the son of a very wealthy man who had worked with FDR on securities laws and FDR liked him enough to give him the plum and prestigious U.S. ambassadorship to the Court of King James. (An Irish Catholic rum runner as ambassador to the King of England, no less, while British royalty were not exactly buddy buddy with Irish Catholics, let alone rum runners.) JFK was also the grandson of a Boston mayor and Democratic Party political boss. (Joe had married "suitably," himself, after all.

JFK could have gotten recommendations from any politician in Massachusetts, maybe any in the U.S., as well as a slew of clergy and fellow millionaire businessmen. Maybe even one from the POTUS, if he tried. Why would he have sought a relatively useless recommendation, from an admissions office perspective, from his own father?


I just checked JFK's wiki to see exactly when he applied to Harvard. I happened to see that his high school classmates (at Choate, no less) voted him most likely to succeed, despite all his hospitalizations while in high school.

And this: {div class=excerpt] He was then hospitalized for observation at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He convalesced further at the Kennedy winter home in Palm Beach, then spent the spring of 1936 (along with his older brother Joe) working as a ranch hand on the 40,000 acres (160 km2) "Jay Six" cattle ranch outside Benson, Arizona.<10> It is reported that ranchman Jack Speiden worked both brothers "very hard,"

So, all in all, how lazy and careless could young, frail JFK possibly have been?

All around, my conclusion would be that the letter is a fake.

But, what do I know? I've never seen the letter and I am not a handwriting expert anyway. Maybe Jack was so sickly that Joe did think he should skip college. Dad's biggest ambitions were for Joe, Jr. at that time.