'Madness, suicide, alcoholism, rape and murder': New book details Kennedy women's plight

Former President Donald Trump is not an outlier when it comes to his legally actionable treatment of women who enter into his inner circle — such treatment cost women who knew the Kennedys their lives.

That's the thesis of the new book “Ask Not," written by journalist Maureen Callahan and dissected Wednesday by Washington Post reviewer Nina Burleigh.

"Madness, suicide, alcoholism, heartache, trauma, rape and … murder," writes Burleigh. "Callahan strings them together in a way that makes the House of Kennedy look like Bluebeard’s castle of horrors."

Callahan's book delves into three generations of the Kennedy dynasty — from Irish Catholic patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. to current presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and finds horror stories in each, writes Burleigh.

Burleigh notes that some anecdotes come from questionable sources and others have no source whatsoever. The Washington Post reviewer also notes the many stories detailed in "Ask Not" that cannot be refuted.

"Anyone born after 1970 does need reminding about the horrific story of Ted Kennedy leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to die a slow death in his submerged car while he walked away," she writes.

"The ghastly details are damning, and the fact that Teddy spent another five decades in the public eye is a testament to the normalized misogyny of the culture."

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The current presidential candidate is not spared coverage in Callahan's expansive book which includes reminders of his reported sex addiction and complaints that he was helplessly 'mugged” by horny women,'" Burleigh writes.

"Callahan recounts the story of the suicide of his wife, Mary Richardson, much of it from previously reported details in the New York Post," writes Burleigh, "including quotes from other mothers who recalled Mary begging for $20 to buy gas or food as her husband prepared to divorce her."

Readers are also reminded that his older brother Joseph Kennedy II veered into oncoming traffic and left Nantucket resident Pam Kelley paraplegic for the rest of her life.

The murder in question concerns Michael Skakel, related by the marriage of his aunt Ethel to Robert. F. Kennedy, who was convicted of killing Martha Moxley in 2002, Burleigh writes.

But special attention is paid to the "golden boy who died too young;" John F. Kennedy Jr.

"The eyes of JFK Jr.’s wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, are among the three pairs on the cover of the book (Jackie’s and Marilyn Monroe’s the other two)," writes Burleigh. "Callahan portrays Bessette Kennedy as having come to regret snaring the ultimate Kennedy prince."

Burleigh concludes with context that is as disturbing as the subject of her review.

"The multigenerational abuse cycle chronicled in 'Ask Not' is certainly not confined to the Kennedys," she writes. "Entitled male predators, protection by a retinue of enablers, and silencing by payoff or litigation are still foundational to our national power structure."