the womanly machinations of a kennedypilled novelist: enter at your own heed!

• demanding tones
• right-wingers
• republican kennedy fans
• rfk jr

Bobby probably knew less about his father’s indiscretions. But in his eagerness to please, he was keenly attuned to the moods of his parents. Like many sensitive children, he may have in some way blamed himself and tried even harder not to disappoint. His behavior in these months displays classic signs of teenage depression: withdrawal, overcompensation, then a self-destructive outburst to get attention.  His shyness became reclusiveness. Bobby is “very unsociable and should step out a little more,” Rose wrote Joe just after New Year’s 1942. A week later, Bob’s dismal grades from school arrived. “I was so disappointed in your report,” Rose wrote her “favorite.” “Please get on your toes,” she instructed. “I do not expect my own little pet to let me down.” It is doubtful that she realized how anxious he was to please her – and even more so, his indifferent father. He longed to correspond with his father about world events – he knew that Joe Jr. and Jack had routinely received missives from the ambassador. To prepare himself, Bob made his roommates quiz him every Sunday night on current affairs. But his father did not write. In Rose’s chatty, newsy missives to her children, Bobby is mentioned only in passing, usually after the exploits of the older children.       - excerpt from Robert Kennedy: His Life by Evan Thomas