Joe McCarthy was the godfather to Kathleen Kennedy, RFK's first child. McCarthy also dated Patricia and Eunice Kennedy. Why do you insist on being so stubborn about the Joe McCarthy-Robert Kennedy connection? It is a historical fact. Assuming that the restraining order has been lifted, you can ask Caroline Kennedy the next time you see her.
Support from Catholics and Kennedy family
One of the strongest bases of anti-Communist sentiment in the United States was the Catholic community, which composed over 20% of the national vote. McCarthy identified himself as Catholic, and although the great majority of Catholics were Democrats, as his fame as a leading anti-Communist grew, he became popular in Catholic communities across the country, with strong support from many leading Catholics, diocesan newspapers and Catholic journals.[41] At the same time, some Catholics did oppose McCarthy, notably the anti-Communist author Father John Francis Cronin and the influential journal Commonweal.[42]
McCarthy established a bond with the powerful Kennedy family, which had high visibility among Catholics. McCarthy became a close friend of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., himself a fervent anti-Communist, and was a frequent guest at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port. He dated two of Kennedy's daughters, Patricia and Eunice,[43][44] and was godfather to Robert F. Kennedy's first child, Kathleen Kennedy. Joseph Kennedy had a national network of contacts and became a vocal supporter, building McCarthy's popularity among Catholics and making sizable contributions to McCarthy's campaigns.[45]
Unlike many Democrats, John F. Kennedy, who served in the Senate with McCarthy from 1953 until the latter's death in 1957, never attacked McCarthy. Asked once by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. why he avoided criticism of McCarthy, Kennedy said, "Hell, half my voters in Massachusetts look on McCarthy as a hero."[46]
bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy |
