American greats and great Americana To say that the United States have received a lot of criticism in the past few years, is putting it mildly. America's reputation has crashed in the public opinion. American politicians have turned from liberators into warmongers, American society from a shining example into a cradle of violence, and American culture from cool to commercial. Still the “greatest country on earth” has a lot to offer: wonderful national parks, great music, entertaining movies, cutting-edge science and technology, etc. Here's a selection by the students and teacher of the 6th year of English at the CVO Waregem Anzegem Tielt of Waregem, Belgium. The texts have been written or compiled by the students between April and June 2008.
15-06-2008
The Kennedy Curse
Countless tragedies have haunted America's First Family.
It all began in 1914, when the patriarch Joe Kennedy, son of an Irish immigrant, married Rose Fitzgerald, daughter of a Boston Irish aristocracy. Joe was ambitious and unscrupulous and made a fortune selling strong spirits in the saloons of Boston. His dream was to become president of the U.S. but he only made it to ambassador in London.
Rose gave birth to nine children and from the beginning the clan alternated between success and tragedy. The eldest son, Joseph P. Kennedy, was killed in a plane crash in 1944 during World War II, at the age of 29.
In the fifties, the family fortunes rose as John F. Kennedy became president of the U.S.A., thanks to the shadow connections of the pater familias. Military officers and the American right wing didn't take kindly to Kennedy's attempts to retrain the military-industrial conglomerate. His brother Bobby understood this and warned John of going into negotiations with Kruchev. Despite these warnings, JFK was shot during a parade in Dallas, at the age of 42.
Five years later, his brother Bobby, who aspired to the same office of President, was killed in a hail of bullets on the campaign trail. Too much to be a coincidence: the right wing vendetta had knocked out America's First Family.
In 1999, John F. Kennedy, JFK's only son was killed in a plane crash.
Many other family relatives died in obscure circumstances or suffered from serious misfortunes. It's an incredible string of tragedies that have stalked the Kennedy Clan.
