PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy

by William Doyle

In the 1920s and 1930s, Kennedy was well on his way toward amassing a personal fortune that the New York Times valued at $500 million at the time of his death in 1969. He earned his money through banking, real estate, corporate takeovers and consulting, liquor importing, and movie production, displaying a Machiavellian flair that left a trail of broken companies and smashed careers in his wake. Movie superstar Gloria Swanson, who was Kennedy’s mistress and management client before he double-crossed and abandoned her, recalled that Kennedy “operated just like Joe Stalin”; “their system was to write a letter to the files and then order the exact reverse on the phone.” When she met Kennedy, Frances Marion, America’s highest-paid screenwriter at the time, thought, “He’s a charmer. A typical Irish charmer. But he’s a rascal.” In a stunning four-year raid on Hollywood, Kennedy took over three movie studios and ran them each simultaneously, launched the talking-picture revolution, established the prototype of the modern motion-picture conglomerate, and cashed out with millions of dollars in his pocket. Betty Lasky, daughter of Paramount founder Jesse Lasky, observed, “Kennedy was the first and only outsider to fleece Hollywood.”