A deeply researched and unflinching portrait of one of America’s most influential and controversial political patriarchs.

David Nasaw’s The Patriarch traces the sweeping life of Joseph P. Kennedy, exploring his rise from ambitious Boston outsider to Wall Street powerhouse, Hollywood mogul, diplomat, and the force behind one of the country’s most famous political dynasties. Through extensive archival research, Nasaw examines Kennedy’s complicated legacy, including his business brilliance, political missteps, family ambitions, and the turbulent historical moments he helped shape. The biography offers a nuanced look at a man driven by power and opportunity, revealing both his towering achievements and the controversies that shadowed him throughout his long and varied public life.