Everything about John F Fitzgerald totally explained
» For the American author John Fitzgerald, see John D. Fitzgerald. For others, see John Fitzgerald
John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (
February 11,
1863 –
October 2,
1950) was an
Irish-American politician and the maternal grandfather of
US President John F. Kennedy.
Early life and family
Fitzgerald was born in
Boston,
Massachusetts, the son of
Irish immigrants, Thomas Fitzgerald and
Rosanna Cox. He was the fourth of twelve children; of his siblings, both sisters died in infancy, as did his eldest brother; three were totally wasted by alcoholism with a further two (Michael and Edward) having severe alcohol problems as well; Joseph, the ninth brother, had severe brain damage from
malaria and barely functioned. Thus only three survived in good health and after John's mother died when he was sixteen, his father wished for him to become a doctor to help prevent future tragedies of the sort that had marred the Fitzgerald family. Accordingly, after being educated at
Boston Latin School, he enrolled at
Harvard Medical School for one year, but withdrew following the death of his father in 1885. Fitzgerald later became a clerk at the Customs House in Boston and was active in the local
Democratic Party.
Marriage
In
September 18,
1889, Fitzgerald married
Mary Josephine Hannon.
Children
Political life
He was elected to Boston's Common Council in 1891. In 1892, he became a member of the
Massachusetts Senate, and in 1894, he was elected to
Congress for the 9th district, serving from 1895 to 1901. In 1906, Fitzgerald was elected
Mayor of Boston, becoming the first American-born
Irish-Catholic to be elected to that office. Fitzgerald served as mayor of Boston from 1906 to 1908, was defeated for re-election, but returned to the office again from 1910 to 1914.
Of his stylish manner, Robert Dallek wrote: "He was a natural politician—a charming, impish, affable lover of people... . His warmth of character earned him yet another nickname, "Honey Fitz," and he gained a reputation as the only politician who could sing "
Sweet Adeline" sober and get away with it. A pixie-like character with florid face, bright eyes, and sandy hair, he was a showman who could have had a career in vaudeville. But politics, with all the brokering that went into arranging alliances and the hoopla that went into campaigning, was his calling. A verse of the day ran: 'Honey Fitz can talk you blind / on any subject you can find / Fish and fishing, motor boats / Railroads, streetcars, getting votes.' His gift of gab became known as Fitzblarney, and his followers as "dearos," a shortened version of his description of his district as 'the dear old North End.'"
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He was for years the most prominent political figure in the city of Boston, where
Patrick J. Kennedy was a more behind-the-scenes Democratic Party figure. P.J. Kennedy opposed Fitzgerald when the latter first ran for mayor, but they later became allies. In 1914, these two powerful political families (
Kennedy and Fitzgerald) were united when Patrick Kennedy's son
Joe married Fitzgerald's daughter
Rose.
From
March 4,
1919 to
October 23,
1919, he again served in Congress, now for the 10th district, until
Peter F. Tague successfully contested the election. Fitzgerald was an unsuccessful candidate for the offices of
Senate in 1916 and
Governor in 1922. His opponent was
Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. Interestingly, in 1952, Fitzgerald's grandson
John F. Kennedy defeated Lodge's grandson
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for the same seat. Furthermore, in 1960 Lodge, Jr. was the unsuccessful U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate in the ticket in which Kennedy was elected President.
Further Information
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