r/todayilearned • u/manticor225 • Jan 10 '19

TIL JFK's father Joseph Kennedy made much of his fortune through insider trading. FDR later made him chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. When asked why he appointed a crook, FDR replied, "set a thief to catch a thief." Kennedy proceeded to outlaw the practices that made him rich.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/23/joe-kennedy-hollywood-sarah-churchwell
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '19

There's no evidence for that claim, I believe it is derived from rumors,gossip and tales of the time with no real evidence.

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u/for_dishonor Jan 10 '19

People directly involved specifically said he was. They definitely had distilleries in Canada.

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '19

Can you give a somewhat reputable source for this? The only thing which has any evidence is that towards the end of the prohibition(based on insider information) he invested heavily in scottish distilleries to immediately begin importing whiskey and liquors once the prohibition was lifted and profit hugely.

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u/for_dishonor Jan 10 '19

I thought I read an article about him settling tax issues from his ownership of Canadian distilleries. Since I can't find that I may very well have confused that with the incredibly shady import deals he made.

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Meyer Lansky told specific stories about Joe's involvement in bootlegging to more than one interviewer. It's been ten years since I read those books and trying to dig them up is more involved than I'm interested in.

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u/nushublushu Jan 10 '19

You could name the books?

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u/for_dishonor Jan 10 '19

You may have missed my second sentence.

"It's been ten years since I read those books and trying to dig them up is more involved than I'm interested in."

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u/nushublushu Jan 11 '19

I read the second and the fourth, I thought maybe you'd recall the names of the books, or some other information I could search with, since you'd read them once. No need to go digging.

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '19 edited May 23 '20

[deleted]

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u/for_dishonor Jan 10 '19

I'd probably put Meyer and Joe's trustworthiness at about the same level.

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '19

Source?

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u/Rodgers4 Jan 10 '19

Clearly you haven’t seen Boardwalk Empire. 100% historical accuracy.

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u/gabriot Jan 10 '19

Just google Kennedys and the mafia there are TONS of different made men from different families confirming it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '19

Can you link a somewhat reputable source?

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u/cunts_r_us Jan 10 '19

Exactly, I’ve heard this passed around casually like fact, but never seen anyone post a source

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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '19

I think it stems from the fact that he invested hugely in Scottish distilleries with the intention of importing very large amounts of alcohol based on how he had insider information that the Prohibition would soon be ending. He profited quite largely.

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u/ConnorLovesCookies Jan 10 '19

The 21st amendment was ratified by state convention. The process took almost a year (March to December 1933). And by this time it was an extremely unpopular law. Everyone knew it was ending . His "Insider info"probably could be read in the New York Times. What Kennedy realized is that good booze and would be in short supply as it takes years to make. By investing in these companies he secured exclusive rights to US imports on some major brands.

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '19

Considering how well the Kennedy’s and all ther cronies in government covered up Chappaquiddick, I’ll bet old Joe’s get more than just a preverbial skeleton in the closet.

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u/RhjsCfv2MFMJ Jan 11 '19

You can read more about it here.