60 years ago today, the two-day old Patrick Bouvier Kennedy

^ died

First news story I remember was the Dunblane massacre (a mass shooting at a Scottish school).

I read a biography of Jackie Kennedy that really brought home how harsh people were in those days. Her assistant wrote in her diary that Jackie was "finally starting to pull herself together" - two days after her son died.

I have a memory of Jack Paar walking off the Tonight Show. I was all of three.

I had no idea you were so young, R2.

I wonder who was the actual father of the Kennedy baby.

Sad.

[quote] I wonder who was the actual father of the Kennedy baby.

James Hewitt.

Jackie was a cheater just like her husband. She also chain smoked through her pregnancy and was taking speed shots right along with JFK.

The whole thing was a myth.

Sometimes dead is better.

A baby with Patrick's condition would survive today.

OP why link an article behind a paywall? If you can read it, please copy and paste.

what did the kid die from?

Jackie had poor nutrition, living on carrot sticks and cocktail sauce. And her hips were too small.

There are no photos because Patrick was a MONSTER.

I read it was due to JFK's STIs. Or maybe that was the stillborn one?

I type old, R4

I never realized just how close together the baby's death and JFK's were. That must have been devastating.

Um. I had no clue the Kennedys had a baby that died after two days. Seriously. First time I’ve ever heard that. I’m not an avid follower of the Kenedys or Jackie when she became Jackie O. and that’s not the sort of thing that was included in any American history class I ever took or something I’ve ever heard people talk about. And JFK died ten years before I was born, so it’s not like I only get my news from Tiktok.

How in the world did I not know this? I’ve seen plenty of iconic phots of her but never one where she was pregnant. I had even heard she was a smoker. But never that.

I feel like everyone’s been keeping a secret from me for 50 years.

I’ve Got a Secret: you ain’t very bright.

respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)…which in a few years was easily treatable / rarely killed an infant

R17 - Patrick wasn’t really talked about much - even into the 70s / 80s stillbirths and babies that died in infancy were considered very private affairs and also carried some stigma/shame. Patrick is buried next to JFK and has a marker at Arlington

The death of Marilyn Monroe.

I was born years after JFK's assassination but even the Scholastic bio of JFK/Jackie I got in4th grade mentioned Patrick, R17, so I have no idea why YOU didn't know.

[quote] I never realized just how close together the baby's death and JFK's were. That must have been devastating.

Jackie's trip to Dallas three months later was her first public appearance since Patrick's death. Patrick was buried in the family's plot in Boston. The plot that was originally thought to be his father's resting place after he was assassinated. But when the decision was made to bury JFK at Arlington, Patrick's body was exhumed & buried with his father.

The moon landing. I was 4 going on 5.

Oddly enough my first clear memory also involved a Kennedy. I was playing on the living room floor while my parents watched coverage of RFK's funeral. I was about to turn 4 a month later. I remember crossing myself a lot.

[quote]I was born years after JFK's assassination but even the Scholastic bio of JFK/Jackie I got in4th grade mentioned Patrick, [R17], so I have no idea why YOU didn't know.

Me either!

[quote] OP why link an article behind a paywall? If you can read it, please copy and paste.

Alas, unlike so many, if not most, NYT archived articles, this one does not have a transcribed version I can cut & paste. There is only a PDF version; that probably will also be behind the paywall.