#4 The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy

**David Senra** (0:00)
I want to tell you about a one-time only limited event that I don't think you're going to want to miss. I am doing a live show with Patrick O'Shaughnessy from the Invest Like the Best podcast in New York City on October 19th. Patrick has interviewed over 300 of the world's best investors and founders for his podcast. I've read over 300 biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs for my podcast. We'll be talking about what we learned from seven years of podcasting, sharing our favorite ideas and stories, and doing a live Q&A. There will also be special event-only swag. If you live in New York City, I think it's a no-brainer. But if not, I think it's a great excuse to fly in. I've already heard from a bunch of people that bought tickets, they're flying in from other cities. Some people are flying in from other countries. That's setting the bar really high, so I will have at least four shots of espresso or four energy drinks before or during the show so we can make it a night that you'll never forget. If you're interested in attending this unique live event, I will leave a link down below. I highly recommend you get your tickets today, and I hope I get to see you in New York on October 19th. So the source material for most of what I will talk to you about today comes from the book, The Patriarch, The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy. This book was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and it is a monster. It's almost 800 pages long, and it took me about 20 hours to read the book. So I'm not gonna cover everything. For today, I wanna focus on Kennedy's life from approximately age 20 to 40 years old for when he was just starting out to when he actually achieved his life goal. Most of the people that listen to this podcast are aspiring to do something with their lives, and I think learning how other people were able to start in similar circumstances to your own and then achieve their life's work can be motivating. I know it is for me and I hope it will be for you. So I don't wanna waste any of your time. Let's get right into the book. Here's the intro that I wanna highlight.
Joseph P. Kennedy was a man of boundless talents, magnetic charm, relentless energy, and unbridled ambition. His life was punctuated by meteoric rises, catastrophic falls, and numerous rebirths. By cascading joys and blinding sorrows, and by a tragic ending near Shakespearean in its pathos.
As an Irish Catholic from East Boston, he was proud of his heritage, but refused to be defined by it. He fought to open doors that were closed to him, then having forced his way inside, he refused to play by the rules. He spoke his mind when he should not have. Too often, he let his fears speak for him. He was distrustful, often contemptuous, of those in power, and did not disguise it. Had Joseph P. Kennedy not been the patriarch of America's first family, his story would be worth telling. That he was only adds to its drama and historical significance. His primary goal, and this is a really important part, his primary goal as a younger man was to make so much money, his children would not have to make any, and then they could devote their lives to public service. He accomplished that before he was 40
So we're going to jump into a head in his life. He's around 20 years old. He's studying, he's in college at Harvard, and like many of the people that we talk about on this podcast, they don't start out, like their first business idea is not what usually makes them famous or historical figures. They have, like most people, like Thomas Edison started his first business at 12, and it was just a printing press. So you're going to see Joseph Kennedy, we're going to talk about his first college job or his first college business that he created himself. So Joe bought a decrepit looking bus for $600 to be paid on the installment plan. He painted it cream and blue with Mayflower written in bold black letters on the side, and then he went into the sightseeing business. His partner Donovan drove the bus while Joe handled the megaphone. This is a quote from Kennedy. Passengers didn't take the ride just for fresh air or for the thrill of motor driving. They were interested in history, and I let them have it. I made special studies of Paul Revere and dug up every record I could find in the Boston libraries.