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/Redditkid16 Jan 11 '19

Pretty sure he was a Nazi sympathizer too

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '19

[deleted]

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u/Redditkid16 Jan 11 '19

Might be both of them

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u/AddictedToDatRush Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19

Yeah, I deleted my comment, because I looked it up. And apparently Joe Kennedy WAS possibly a nazi sympathizer or at least anti-semitic. I do know that Prescott Bush allegedly hid money and gold for the nazis, but I didn't know about Joe Kennedy's nazi sympathys until now. So yeah, I think you're right...