In case you missed the last quarter of the twentieth-century generations of Kennedys made their mark serving this country in war and politics, were assassinated, suffered debilitating illnesses, succumbed to a “tradition of controlled recklessness,” to drugs, alcohol hushed up affairs, dominating the headlines for years. Now comes journalist Kate Storey with a sympathetic account of their lives on Cape Cod over the last hundred years since patriarch Joe Kennedy built the first mansion at Hyannis Port. She provides a concentrated, compassionate account of how America’s first dynasty may have changed the popular summertime destination, and how IT may have changed the Kennedys. For those who know the overall stories, however, there will be questions: why this book White House by the Sea, and why now? What does Storey bring to the already crowded field of Kennedy histories, biographies, and analyses that have not already been raked over by partisan and nonpartisan researchers?
Yes, some details from the mainly JFK summers that extended through Thanksgiving have remained unnoted until now, but did the mayhem of security, local and federal, repeated trespasses, and photographic invasions basically change community attitudes? Did Republican Hyannis Port go Democratic? Did neighbors resent deeply the newcomers? To judge from Storey’s book No. Still, of what value to history are some of the details she notes, often unrelated and pressed into an inconclusive paragraph? Did 50-year-old Frank Sinatra pulling up in a 168-foot yacht with 20-year-old Mia Farrow in tow in blonde pigtails mean anything?
Kudos, though, to Storey’s three-year pursuit during the pandemic of interviews with celebs and locals, all thanked profusely in an Author’s Note. Twenty-seven pages of index names also testify to her gratitude at being made to feel welcome by so many new friends whom she quotes, creating a kind of pseudo-intimacy that makes its way into “you-are-there” private scenes.
Clearly, the attractive cover photo of Jack and Jackie with little Caroline on their patio signals Storey’s take: admiring, with just slight acknowledgment of the aggressive competitiveness that Joe Kennedy instilled in his children – “Kennedys don’t cry,” he would say. Kennedys fight to win. Needless to say, there is no mention of Marilyn Monroe or of JFK’s mob-connected mistress, Judith Exner, or any delving into the dubious business practices of Joe Sr.’s amassing a fortune as the rest of the nation descended into The Depression. If there is an unsung stoic heroine Storey would like to emerge in these pages, it’s matriarch Rose Kennedy, daughter of a former mayor of Boston, though readers never really get to see her beyond her overseeing the clan on the lawn, going to daily mass and silently watching her husband’s visiting lovers come and go. Obviously, JFK’s peccadillos were a matter for the White House on the Potomac but surely lessons must have been gleaned.
In one sense, though, the book is timely: White Hou.se by the Sea is a true beach read. It’s summer now when the tourist season heats up on Cape Cod with all manner of visitors trying to get to see and tour the old Kennedy Compound, particularly patriarch Joe Sr.’s The Big House and the villages of Hyannis and Hyannis Port. The beach is where the Kennedys loved to play – intensely and competitively with other family members and their kids, sailing, swimming, skirmishing, and in troubled times – when not! - seeking refuge and solitude in a stroll at water’s edge. Why Storey would choose to recall such as basically innocent is a mystery but the book IS well-written and the photos are lovely.
