The Poison Patriarch: How the Betrayals of Joseph P. Kennedy Caused the Assassination of JFK

by Mark Shaw

Focusing for the first time on why attorney general Robert F. Kennedy wasn’t killed in 1963 instead of on why President John F. Kennedy was, Mark Shaw offers a stunning and provocative assassination theory that leads directly to the family patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy. Mining fresh information and more than forty new interviews, Shaw weaves a spellbinding narrative involving Mafia don Carlos Marcello; Jack Ruby (Lee Harvey Oswald’s killer); Ruby’s attorney, Melvin Belli; and, ultimately, the Kennedy brothers and their father.

Shaw addresses these tantalizing questions: Why, shortly after his brother’s death, did a grief-stricken RFK tell a colleague, “I thought they would get one of us . . . I thought it would be me”? Why was Belli, an attorney with almost no defense experience (but proven ties to the Mafia), chosen as Jack Ruby’s attorney? How does Belli’s Mafia connection call into question his legal strategy, which ultimately led to the Ruby’s first-degree murder conviction and death sentence? What was Joseph Kennedy’s relationship to organized crime? And how was his insistence that JFK appoint RFK as attorney general tantamount to signing the president’s death warrant?

For fifty years, Shaw maintains, researchers investigating the president’s murder in Dallas have been looking at the wrong motives and actors. The Poison Patriarch offers a shocking reassessment—one that is sure to alter the course of future assassination debates.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, American History, Politics

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

A former criminal defense attorney and legal analyst for USA Today, CNN and ESPN, Mark Shaw is the author of 25 books and counting. His most recent is "The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: The Mysterious Death of What's My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen." Additional books include "The Poison Patriarch," Miscarriage of Justice," "Stations Along the Way," "Down for the Count," "Beneath the Mask of Holiness," "Larry Legend," "Bury Me In Pot Bunker," and "How to Become a Published Author: Idea to Publication."

Mr. Shaw has written for USA Today, Huffington Post, and the Aspen Daily News. He formally was a host or correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's People, The World of People, Disney's The Scheme of Things and also hosted a three hour radio program in the Midwest. He is married to librarian Wen-ying Lu and lives in the San Francisco area.

More about Mr. Shaw may be learned at markshawbooks.com and on Wikipedia.

Reviews

[HR-ML · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kindle edition. Not my cup of tea. A let-down, w/o
enough evidence to support the author's theory.

This book mostly dealt with the US Mob in the 1960s
as they related to President John F. Kennedy's
murder.

According to the author, President Kennedy (JFK) felt
pressured by his wealthy father Joseph, to name his
brother Bobby as US Attorney General.

The author covered the sins of Joseph Kennedy from
73-80% mark. So the book title gave a false impression.
Reportedly Joseph had the Mob use labor union members
(via bribes) to vote for JFK in select cities of Illinois and
West Virginia in the 1960 POTUS election. Allegedly with
Bobby as AG there would be no voting irregularities in-
vestigated for that election. Once elected JFK and Bobby
leaned heavily to get Mob members prosecuted. The Mob
felt betrayed by Joseph so they had JFK killed, then Oswald
killed, then Ruby killed. All this per the author.

I was not looking for gore or dirt on Joseph, but I thought
the author would present a more detailed explanation of
his theory. Did Joseph 'buy votes' for JFK in his Presidential
election?

The author repeated himself too much on accountings
of how Jack Ruby was chums w/ policemen, how Ruby had
access to kill Oswald, how Ruby chose his defense attorney
(reportedly connected to the Mob). And why/ how his atty
used the insanity defense, known as "psychomotor epilepsy"
for Ruby. Eventually a 'sanity hearing' proved Ruby was
'sane' but that was after his murder conviction for Oswald's
death.

[Tami Quiring · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't as informative as I'd thought it would be. The author tended to repeat much of the same information and didn't really get into the meat of the matter until the last couple of chapters in the book. The research is good, and a few new plausible theories were covered, I just wish that more time had been spent revealing what the title of the book implies. Another book that I heard about through an interview done on Coast To Coast AM when George Noory was interviewing the author about this book and another he'd written, which I am currently reading.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was I thinking to spend my time reading a Kennedy assassination book? Some of it is plausible, but there is little hard evidence here. Tying together a pile of seemingly related facts and then asking, "How could this be a coincidence?" is a classic argument of conspiracy theorists. Certainly there are a lot of questions about the Kennedy assassination that have never been satisfactorily answered, but don't look for those answers here. Mr. Shaw gives us lots of theory about what might have happened, but is weak on the supporting evidence. At the core of Mr. Shaw's argument that the Kennedy assassination was a mob hit is Melvin Belli's incompetent representation of Jack Ruby. That's a slender reed that is being used to support a big structure. Everything presented here has a simpler explanation that is at least equally plausible. Occam's razor suggests that that other theories may be better.

[Brenda Ricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very in-depth look into the assassinations of President Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald and the trial of Jack Ruby, and the conspiracy theories that have swirled around the incidents since 1963.
Mark Shaw has spent a great deal of time researching other written materials, as well as interviewing those involved or having first-hand knowledge.
Even though the writing is a bit dry and repetitive, I think it is as good an explanation for what really happened as any I have ever read.

[Michael Naughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the few books to ask, and answer, the right questions. If you read Bill Moyers "The Secret Government" you will understand where Mark Shaw is coming from. Joseph P. Kennedy bit the hand that fed him.

[noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another piece of a sad puzzle

[Barbara Wellnitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very insightful

[Rita · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was highly disappointed in this book since I enjoyed the other 2 books I had read by this author. To start with, the title is absolutely misleading. I was expecting to hear more about "dirty deeds" committed by Joe Kennedy and instead it is a book about the "Belli Factor". The book is repetitive and goes no where at times but ruminating the same thing over and over. I got so sick and tired of the Belli Factor and that no one, ever, ever, ever caught on or wrote anything about how if they just would have seen this one tiny detail the entire case would have been solved. I'm sorry but nothing ever got published because Dorothy Kilgallen was murdered and all of her investigation information was stolen before she could write about it. And you, Mark Shaw, are the one who wrote so brilliantly about her and now you are claiming sole ownership to this idea? Mark Shaw's books "The Reporter Who Knew Too Much" and "Denial of Justice" are so much better than this book so I encourage you to read those. This book does bring more evidence of the mob's involvement and enlightened me to another book, "Mob Lawyer" by Frank Ragano which I just ordered and can't wait to read.

[rains · Rating 2 out of 5]

A let-down and here's why; I love a good far-fetched theory but without actual insight or hard-hitting evidence, it stays a theory. When the author was gathering 'facts' for this book, I assume he may have seen that some stories 'fit together' and made the leap of faith without proving it.

The evidence given in the book is weak at best, but a decent story. There is much repetition throughout the book, without truly getting to the point except saying that JPK is essentially a narcissist which I don't think anyone is disputing. It's essentially a shameful rendition of "JPK was a bad father and raised bad kids so they got what they deserved because JPK was their father".

I love a good JFK/RFK/1960s book but this was a let down at best.

[Dwight Koslowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title is misleading. This is just another assassination conspiracy book, only this time the conspiracy is Melvin Belli, Ruby's lawyer, setting up Ruby for the electric chair, to silence him. Belli works for "The Mob" who has ordered Ruby silenced. The only discussion about Joseph Kennedy, the "Poison Patriarch" is in the last 25 of the 250 pages. Basically, Jos. Kennedy is a bad man, so that caused his son's problems. I not only would not recommend this book, I would caution those that thought of reading it.

[Patrick Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

A terrible book that has nothing to do with Joe Kennedy. This author relies on hearsay, plays fast and loose with the facts and this book is very redundant. It is actually a book about Melvin Belli representing jack Ruby and because he did a terrible job of defending Ruby and he knew many mobsters he was all part of the "Conspiracy". I do not recommend this book. I only finished it because I not want to cheat on my Goodreads pledge. Save your money! Just another poorly written conspiracy book. I have no interest in reading any of this authors other books.

[Elisabeth Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew what I was getting to with this author. It is repetitive and the premise of the book is constantly dangled before you for no apparent reason. I still enjoyed reading it and I think Shaw's theory is plausible and the information is also interesting. I think Joe's influence as the Kennedy patriarch is unquestionable and along with that went plenty of exploitation and morally reprehensible dealings, so the book really could've been about him, but it wasn't. Thankfully, I didn't read the book for the premise.

[R.F.Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kennedy killing mystery unwinds.

Many books on this subject of a real life murder mystery mix fact and theory leaving more questions than answers. The accredited facts in this book, are carefully woven together and present a credible and believable account. Thanks are due to this author for this and his other writings on the subject which must have been a lifetime dedication.

[John Mace · Rating 3 out of 5]

For such an interesting title it sure didn’t get talked about much in the book. I think the Ruby trial stuff should have been tidied up a lot - there were several times where the same thing was repeated several times. The conclusion felt rushed and it was hard at times to follow the connecting thread between the premise and the story that was being belabored.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book raises several interesting questions involving the mob and their potential involvement. While the title is a bit misleading as JPK ‘betrayal’ is only mentioned in the final pages, things do tie together with fingers pointed back to him. A good read and stands out from other JFK books.

[F. Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

New angle, I had no ides

I never really thought about Jack Ruby's attorney. I know his defence was shoddy at best. I knew of Belli, and am not surprised he had mob connections, seems everyone did back then. I
I agree that J P Kennedy probably knew that the people he screwed over when he didn't tell RFK to back off were people who didn't have qualms about bumping someone off. Look at what happens with Johnny Roselli, not to mention where is Jimmy Hoffa.
Good read, but it takes almost to the end of the book for him to get to the point.

[Charlene McGrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes sense

This was a different perspective of looking at JFK's assassination and Oswald's also. It makes a lot of sense by the end of the book.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took a while to get to the very good point!

[Mel Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought it would be a bit more informative, still enjoyed listening to it.

Ol Joe. The beginning of the the end of his family. A man who wouldn’t do anything for power, glory...and to rule hidden from view.

[Kinsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well researched account of what really happened to JFK and how the actions of his father lead to his death.

[Katherine Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t really discuss the betrayals of Joseph Kennedy until the last 1/2 hour and then I didn’t think it was really specific. Just ok for me.

[Gil Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening - when you finish, you know exactly who killed JFK.

[John Waldrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another powerful and persuasive piece of investigative writing by Mark Shaw. I am convinced!

[Estelle Jefcoat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only the last chapter of this book mentions The Poison Patriarch, Joe Kennedy. I thought there would be more background information on him.

[Bob Engeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative

[Kipi (the academic stitcher) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on the JFK assassination

[Michelle N · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel the author spent too much time on the mafia business, as opposed to his main premise/theory about Joe Kennedy being ultimately responsible for JFK's assassination.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of Shaw's is not nearly as good as his Dorothy Kilgallen book. His premise is probably somewhat true in the broadest sense but he did not make the case he set out to.

[Diane Clayton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only for hardcore JFK assassination conspiracy theorists, I find the title & supposed premise of this book deceitful, just as the author suggests Joseph P. Kennedy was. In a 250 page book, it takes author Mark Shaw a full 226 pages before *introducing* his theory of why Papa Joe is ultimately "complicit" (Shaw's word, a repeated misuse of the term, not mine) & deserving of the eponymous "poison patriarch" insult. The book is full of rehashed, twice told tales from other JFK books with a few new bits & pieces mixed in. The new stories are mostly about Jack Ruby's colorful defense attorney, Melvin Belli, a subject Shaw has written about previously and has particular insight and first-hand knowledge about. Belli's well-known admiration for and relationships with mobsters Mickey Cohen, Carlos Marcello, SantoTrafficante & Jimmy Hoffa are featured, as well as the mobs' notorious hatred for & blood feuds with JFK's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Shaw details Ruby's ties to Marcello's New Orleans/Dallas syndicate & the Dallas PD. Shaw very reasonably points out that since Papa Joe, JFK, & Bobby enlisted the mobs help in buying votes in key districts to secure the Presidency, Bobby's prosecutorial zeal against them as AG was a double-cross & was the primary motive behind the assassination. This makes sense as far as it goes, but a lot more could have been done to tie in all the other national security pieces rather than repeating the Belli material & restating other authors work. For instance, why did J. Edgar Hoover declare within 72 hours that Oswald was a lone assassin? What was LBJ's involvement especially since it happened on his turf? How did Dallas PD find Oswald in a movie theater of all places? How about the CIA/Oswald connections? In the next printing, I suggest the book be retitled "The Belli Factor" -- Shaw's term for why Ruby chose the well-known personal injury attorney instead of an experienced criminal defense lawyer -- in order to avoid false advertising and libel claims. If not, it could be edited down to 100 pages with "Poison Patriarch" as Chapter 1 so the title makes sense, telling the story chronologically, explaining how the Kennedys made their fortune, bought the election with the mobs help, what led to the blood feuds, etc. Then the title makes more sense. Also by telling the story chronologically you might be able to prevent repeating the same quotes, which happens several times & could be footnoted. (Ibid)

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shaw strings together hearsay and circumstantial evidence to link organized crime figures to the murder of Lee Oswald by Jack Ruby, and from there to the assassination of JFK. Then he concludes that the assassination was retribution because the crime figures thought they had been double-crossed when RFK was appointed Attorney General after they had delivered Joseph Kennedy the 1960 election.
Shaw's account offers no new evidence, and doesn't adequately address Posner's defense of the Warren Commission's single bullet theory. Moreover, as Shaw builds his case regarding RFK and Joseph Kennedy, there's a sense that he's actually sympathetic with the crime bosses. In the end, all we know is that Joseph Kennedy was extremely ambitious, RFK may have been over zealous and disrespectful, and the criminals he pursued really didn't like him. To bring all this together, Shaw must make us believe that Ruby executed Oswald on orders because Oswald could reveal his bosses; and that Ruby's attorney was hired by the same folks to make sure Ruby appeared to be insane in case he talked. The attorney, however, was apparently more reliable than the two hired guns and don't need to be silenced.
It's a reach, though not impossible, and Shaw does provide a fair amount of summary information in a very readable argument. Those familiar with many of the conspiracy theories will find this an interesting restatement. But if you're going to read just one account of the assassination, pick a different book.