On 50th anniversary of JFK speech, a great-nephew (Joseph P. Kennedy III) makes his mark [View All]

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On 50th anniversary of JFK speech, a great-nephew makes his mark
E-mail | Print | Comments (0) Posted by Andrew Ryan, Globe Metro Desk January 11, 2011 03:56 PM

David L. Ryan / Globe Staff


Joseph P. Kennedy III, the great-nephew of the late President John F Kennedy, speaks to a joint session of the Legislature on the 50th anniversary of JFK's ''City on the Hill'' speech. Behind him on the left is Senate President Therese Murray, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Victoria Kennedy, US Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's widow.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

On the 50th anniversary of one of President Kennedy’s most famous speeches, his great nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy III, stood in the same spot in the Massachusetts House today and delivered his own address, decrying the vituperative political rhetoric that he said is tearing at the nation's fabric.

In a moment that was seen by many in the chamber as a political coming-out party, Joseph Kennedy, a 30-year-old prosecutor from Cape Cod, deplored both liberal protesters crying “death to Cheney” and Tea Party activists shouting racist and anti-gay slurs at members of Congress.

“This rhetoric creates an atmosphere of hate,” he said to a joint session of the Legislature that had gathered to commemorate President Kennedy’s “City on a Hill” speech in 1961.

The younger Kennedy’s expansive speech, delivered immediately after the Legislature had listened in rapt silence to an audio recording of the “City on a Hill” speech, set the chamber abuzz with speculation about Joseph Kennedy’s future.

Joseph Kennedy had flirted with a run for Congress in the 10th Congressional District last year, and is often mentioned by Democrats as star in the wings.

“Pretty amazing,” said a beaming Senate President Therese Murray. “I think we have a new Kennedy. He hit it out of the park.”

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/01/on_50th_anniver.html?tdc