The Kennedys: An American Drama (1984)

This is definitely a worthy "sequel" to a book like "The FitzGeralds and the Kennedys". FotK chronicles the classic immigrant story, while KaAD chronicles the same family as it falls into chaos in the 70s.

It's well documented and pulls no punches, but remains sympathetic to the "third generation" of Kennedy children, providing a point of view that seems as if the authors were actually there for all of it. It really follows Robert Kennedy's children, who did not have the good luck that Caroline and John did in having a sensible mother and the whole world adoring them.

Ethel Kennedy couldn't handle raising eleven children alone. She either behaved cruelly towards them or she ignored them completely, and they sort of went feral. The book focusses the most on Robert Junior, the wild one who carried around a pet falcon and once rode the rails like a hobo, and beautiful, fragile David, the only one of the children to witness his father being shot. David descends into drug abuse and dies, while Robert works through his issues in his own time and grows up to become an environmental activist.

In spite of the shocking events of the book, the Kennedy children who survived grew up to be passionate liberal political activists and leaders (except the late Michael, but nobody seems to know what happened there). They're a great example of how people can overcome the past to go on to do great things, and a great example of the priviledged giving more than they take. ( )