What Is The Kennedy Curse?
American History Hit
History Hit
4.3 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Their name is synonymous with power, influence ... and tragedy. And with so much of the latter, many have taken to speculating - are the Kennedy family cursed?
To find out more, Don is joined by Professor Barbara Perry, co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.
What is the Kennedy Curse? How far back does it go? And how do the family interpret it?
Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Want to explore even more history? Sign up to History Hit, where you will discover history from around the world. |
| 0:07.1 | From the American Revolution to prehistoric Scotland, there is plenty to discover. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries, with a brand new release every week, exploring everything from the ancient |
| 0:22.4 | world to World War II. Just visit history hit.com slash subscribe to bring the past alive. |
| 0:34.1 | It seems almost inconceivable, the sheer weight of misfortune, sadness, loss, even murderous violence that has over time been visited upon a single American family. |
| 0:46.6 | And yet, this is no ordinary family. It is among the most powerful, most influential, and most famous in the nation, known, |
| 0:55.1 | respected, even loved the world over, which makes what has happened to them all the more unsettling, |
| 1:01.5 | because a pattern to it all seems hard to dismiss. |
| 1:06.3 | Across generations, through triumph and prosperity, an eerie gloom seems to fall again and again, |
| 1:12.1 | as if there is some dark design woven amidst the branches of this remarkable family tree. |
| 1:18.2 | They are the Kennedys of Massachusetts. |
| 1:20.7 | In this design, this pattern has a name, the Kennedy Curse. |
| 1:35.3 | Music The Kennedy Curse. Hey folks, welcome. This is American History Hit. I'm Don Wildman. |
| 1:38.9 | Extraordinary family, the Kennedys, no matter your politics or point of view, they are a dynasty, |
| 1:44.1 | an undeniable presence looming large to this day. Yet with the Kennedys, no matter your politics or point of view, they are a dynasty, an undeniable presence |
| 1:45.4 | looming large to this day. Yet with the Kennedys, for all the time in the dazzling sun, |
| 1:50.7 | a dark shadow never seems far away. Calling it a curse may be magical thinking, but tracing the |
| 1:56.6 | events as we'll do today certainly gives one pause. Joining us for this conversation is Barbara A. Perry, professor of presidential studies |
| 2:04.8 | at the University of Virginia, Miller Center, an institution I heartily endorse, consulted |
| 2:09.5 | their website many times in our presidential series. |
| 2:12.2 | Professor Perry has authored major works on the Kennedy family, including Rose Kennedy, |
| 2:17.0 | the life in times of a political |
| 2:18.4 | matriarch, and Jacqueline Kennedy, First Lady of the New Frontier. Professor Perry, Barbara, |
... |
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