The Kennedy family over a series of generation dominated Irish-
American politics for most of the 20th century, and played a
central role in the history of the Democratic Party into the
21st century. The first prominent representative was John
Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (1863-1950). A well-educated
banker, he could not resist the lure of Boston ward politics. He
served two terms as mayor of Boston but failed in comeback races
for Congress, the Senate and the governorship. Nevertheless his
high visibility in the Irish community guaranteed fast political
tracks for his grandsons. In 1914 Fitzgerald's daughter Rose
Kennedy (1890-1995) married Joseph P. Kennedy (1888-1969), the
Harvard-educated son of wealthy liquor dealer. Joe built the
family fortune with brilliant forays into banking, shipbuilding,
motion pictures, real estate and (just before prohibition
ended), a heavy investment in upscale imported liquor. He moved
the family base from Boston to New York in 1927, where it
remained until his son John F.