The Kennedy Curse Strikes the Family Once Again

The Kennedy family is facing yet another tragedy. Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the US President assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, has announced she is suffering from terminal cancer at just 35 years old. 'A Battle with My Blood' is the title of the piece she used to communicate the grim diagnosis in 'The New Yorker'.

A devastating piece of news that feeds into the so-called Kennedy curse, which accumulates a series of premature deaths and accidents pointing towards a tragic destiny for the clan. Before JFK's assassination, his elder brother, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., died at 29 during World War II when his plane exploded on a secret mission. He was the son destined to start the political dynasty, and his death placed all expectations on John Fitzgerald.

His sister Kathleen also died in a plane crash in France at the age of 28, with the added tragedy that her husband had died in the war earlier.

The second daughter of the Kennedy marriage, Rosemary, was diagnosed with mild cognitive difficulties at birth. She grew up with behavioral problems due to uncontrollable fits of rage, leading the family to subject her to a treatment for psychiatric disorders considered revolutionary at the time: an experimental lobotomy that left her incapacitated for life. She was then 23 years old.

In 1961, John Fitzgerald became the 35th President of the United States. Years earlier, he had been the commander of the PT-109 torpedo boat in the South Pacific area during World War II. The vessel was attacked by a Japanese destroyer that split it in two, and the crew was rescued after managing to reach the shore by swimming.

It seemed JFK had managed to dodge the curse when at 12:30 on November 22, 1963, he was shot dead during a parade on Elm Street in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a Ford Lincoln Continental Convertible. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested 80 minutes later as the shooter who ended the President's life.

Married to Jackie Kennedy, they had four children: Arabella, who died before birth; Caroline; John F. Jr.; and Patrick Bouvier, who died two days after birth due to respiratory problems a few months before his father's assassination. In adulthood, in 1999, John F. Jr. had a plane crash in which he died alongside his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and his sister-in-law Lauren. They were 39, 33, and 34 years old, respectively. The son of Jackie Kennedy and his wife were one of the most well-known couples in American society, and he had just begun his political career. His accident only reinforced the theory of the family curse.

Before him, his uncle Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles while running for President. An advisor to his brother during his presidency, his assassin, Sirhan Bishara, was sentenced to life imprisonment after confessing to shooting because he opposed Robert's support for Israel.

Another brother, Edward Moore, known as Ted Kennedy, had a plane crash in 1964 in which he broke his back. Surgery saved his life, and he was able to walk again, continuing his political career. Years later, in 1969, he had a severe car accident in Chappaquiddick in which his companion, Mary Jo Kopechne, died. He survived but pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the collision, for which he was sentenced to two months in jail, thwarting all his presidential aspirations.

David Anthony Kennedy, son of Senator Robert F. and nephew of President JFK, was 13 when he witnessed his father's assassination on television, an event that marked him for life. Drug use brought him to the brink of death several times due to overdoses and illnesses derived from his addiction. In 1984, he was found dead in a hotel room from a drug and medication overdose.

His brother Michael LeMoyne Kennedy also met a tragic end: he crashed into a tree at 39 while skiing in Aspen.

The third generation also seems unable to escape the curse. In August 2019, one of Robert F. Kennedy's granddaughters, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, died at 22. The autopsy revealed she had a mix of methadone, anxiolytics, and antidepressants in her blood, along with alcohol. The young woman had depression and had attempted suicide years earlier.

A string of misfortunes to which Tatiana Schlossberg's has been added, who in May 2024 was found to have an alarmingly high white blood cell count after the birth of her second daughter. After ruling out a connection to the birth, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia with a rare mutation uncommon in young people. After chemotherapy cycles, two bone marrow transplants, and two clinical trials, she revealed her diagnosis with a heart-wrenching account in which she clings to life with the fear that her daughters might grow up without her memory.