The Last Son

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy looked out the window of her suite in St. Margaret’s Hospital in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. sat in a dark corner near the door.

In a cradle across the room, the new baby slept, a boy whom they had named Edward Moore Kennedy after Joe’s longtime confidante and private secretary. He was their ninth child, four boys and five girls: Joseph Jr., John, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and now Teddy.

For a few minutes, Rose said nothing, preferring instead to watch the snow falling outside her window. It was...