A Common Good: The Friendship of Robert F. Kennedy and Kenneth P. O'Donnell
Oct 2013 · Open Road Media
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438
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About this ebook
An illuminating account of the history-making friendship between RFK and the chief of staff to JFK—a bond built on shared ideals, but severed by tragedy.
When they first met at Harvard in 1946, young Bobby Kennedy and Kenny O’Donnell could not have imagined where their lives would take them. Teammates on both the football and debate teams, they formed a partnership that would sustain them through the years, from Robert Kennedy’s tenure as attorney general to O’Donnell’s years as John F. Kennedy’s chief of staff. Together they lived, worked, and struggled through some of the most pivotal moments of the twentieth century, including the assassination of JFK in Dallas. Their harmonious relationship was cut short only by Bobby’s own tragic death.
With full access to the Kennedy family archives, Helen O’Donnell brings an inspiring personal and political alliance to life. With A Common Good, she amply fulfills the promise she made to her late father to honor and preserve his memories of Robert F. Kennedy for future generations.
Kirkus Reviews hails A Common Good as “a moving and intimate study of a unique friendship but also of the time and place, now long ago, in which this friendship formed and blossomed.” O’Donnell “set out to write ‘a good book about two good men.’ In this she has succeeded.”
When they first met at Harvard in 1946, young Bobby Kennedy and Kenny O’Donnell could not have imagined where their lives would take them. Teammates on both the football and debate teams, they formed a partnership that would sustain them through the years, from Robert Kennedy’s tenure as attorney general to O’Donnell’s years as John F. Kennedy’s chief of staff. Together they lived, worked, and struggled through some of the most pivotal moments of the twentieth century, including the assassination of JFK in Dallas. Their harmonious relationship was cut short only by Bobby’s own tragic death.
With full access to the Kennedy family archives, Helen O’Donnell brings an inspiring personal and political alliance to life. With A Common Good, she amply fulfills the promise she made to her late father to honor and preserve his memories of Robert F. Kennedy for future generations.
Kirkus Reviews hails A Common Good as “a moving and intimate study of a unique friendship but also of the time and place, now long ago, in which this friendship formed and blossomed.” O’Donnell “set out to write ‘a good book about two good men.’ In this she has succeeded.”
About the author
DIVHelen O’Donnell is the daughter of John F. Kennedy’s top-gun political aide, Kenneth P. O’Donnell. Ms. O’Donnell is the author of A Common Good: The Friendship of Robert F. Kennedy and Kenneth P. O’Donnell. She also worked with Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s Hardball on his 2012 book Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero./div
A writer and producer, O’Donnell has written for publications including Town & Country, Cape Cod Magazine,and the Wrap. She also narrated the BBC Radio 4 program “JFK, Bobby and Dad,” which includes interviews by famed journalist Sander Vanocur of NBC and Christopher Kennedy Lawford.
She began her career working for the late senator Edward M. Kennedy before leaving for his Labor and Human Resources Committee as an assistant to Walter Sheridan, a longtime aide to Robert F. Kennedy, close friend to Kenneth O’Donnell, and head of the “get-Hoffa squad” during the John Kennedy administration. The experience served to further pique her interest in the topic of her father, the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe, and the Rat Pack.
Recently, O’Donnell was featured in a KTLA documentary on Thirteen Days, a film about the Cuban Missile Crisis starring Kevin Costner as Kenny O’Donnell. She is currently writing a new book entitled The Washington Rat Pack about Frank Sinatra, Jack Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and the heyday of the Rat Pack. She is also developing a film by the same name, one of several forthcoming works to be co-produced by her production company, Helen O’Donnell Media, of which she is CEO. O’Donnell also serves as president of the Kenneth P. O’Donnell Political Leadership Foundation, based in Burbank, California.
A writer and producer, O’Donnell has written for publications including Town & Country, Cape Cod Magazine,and the Wrap. She also narrated the BBC Radio 4 program “JFK, Bobby and Dad,” which includes interviews by famed journalist Sander Vanocur of NBC and Christopher Kennedy Lawford.
She began her career working for the late senator Edward M. Kennedy before leaving for his Labor and Human Resources Committee as an assistant to Walter Sheridan, a longtime aide to Robert F. Kennedy, close friend to Kenneth O’Donnell, and head of the “get-Hoffa squad” during the John Kennedy administration. The experience served to further pique her interest in the topic of her father, the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe, and the Rat Pack.
Recently, O’Donnell was featured in a KTLA documentary on Thirteen Days, a film about the Cuban Missile Crisis starring Kevin Costner as Kenny O’Donnell. She is currently writing a new book entitled The Washington Rat Pack about Frank Sinatra, Jack Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and the heyday of the Rat Pack. She is also developing a film by the same name, one of several forthcoming works to be co-produced by her production company, Helen O’Donnell Media, of which she is CEO. O’Donnell also serves as president of the Kenneth P. O’Donnell Political Leadership Foundation, based in Burbank, California.
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