Kennedy
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Ambassador to Britain
In 1938, Roosevelt appointed Kennedy as the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's (Britain). Kennedy's Irish and Catholic status did not bother the British; indeed he hugely enjoyed his leadership position in London society, which stood in stark contrast to his outsider status in Boston. His daughter Kathleen married the heir to the Duke of Devonshire, the head of one of England's grandest aristocratic families. Kennedy rejected the warnings of Winston Churchill that compromise with Nazi Germany was impossible; instead he supported Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement in order to stave off a second world war that would be a more horrible "armageddon" than the first. Throughout 1938, as the Nazi persecution of Jews intensified, Kennedy attempted to obtain an audience with Adolf Hitler.[4] Shortly before the Nazi aerial bombing of British cities began in September 1940, Kennedy sought a personal meeting with Hitler, again without State Department approval, "to bring about a better understanding between the United States and Germany."[5]
As Roosevelt shifted away from neutrality toward a more aggressive anti-German policy, Kennedy had to resign in November 1940. Relations were tense between Kennedy and Roosevelt (especially when Joe Kennedy, Jr., vocally opposed FDR's renomination). Regardless, Kennedy was active in rallying Irish and Roman Catholic Democrats to vote for Roosevelt's reelection. He sat out the war on the sidelines, like Al Smith, eager to help the war effort but never invited.[6]
Kennedy was a strong supporter of offering aid to Britain and testified before Congress in January 1941, supporting the Roosevelt administration's Lend Lease proposal, and gave a well received radio address supporting the same legislation. |
