American Experience

Economics

Activity 1
Read about the Kennedy fortune. Unlike many wealthy families, the Kennedys were not wiped out by the stock market crash of 1929. Legend has it that not long before the crash, Joseph P. Kennedy decided to sell his considerable stock holdings after hearing an investment tip from a shoe-shiner. Kennedy reasoned that if shoe-shiners were peddling stock tips, the stock market boom had gotten out of hand and would lead to a bust, which in fact soon happened. The stock market boom of the 1990s likewise led to a crash, from which only a fortunate few investors were spared.

Divide the class into two groups, one responsible for the Crash of 1929 and the other responsible for the recent “dot com” crash. Each group should prepare a series of graphics — line or bar graphs, pie charts, tables, and so on — that dramatize the rapid changes of the period. (Examples include the changing level of the stock market, the changing value of selected individual stocks, the number of business bankruptcies, and unemployment.) Groups should present their graphics to the class (using Powerpoint or other presentation software if available) and should explain to the class the findings and significance of each graphic.

Activity 2
Read about the Kennedy fortune and about the family’s involvement in American politics. As these essays and the film show, family wealth and the personal connections that flowed from it played an important role in the Kennedys’ political success, both by freeing them from the need to earn a living and by helping support their political campaigns. Family worth and connections also have been important for today’s most prominent political family, the Bushes. Using both John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush as examples, write a newspaper editorial of about 750 words arguing either that a family’s ability to use its wealth and power to promote the political ambitions of one of its members is good for the nation, or bad for the nation. Be sure to explain the reasons for your opinion.