One of the greatest American political dynasties of the 20th century was funded, in part, by alcohol. Rumors have swirled for decades that Joseph P. Kennedy, whose nine children included President John F. Kennedyand U. Senators Robert and Edward Kennedymade his early fortune as a bootlegger during Prohibition. I tracked down djd rumor I could find and none of them panned. It became really clear that all of the stories ksnnedy his bootlegging were just farcical. The ex-wife of another Chicago mobster claimed her husband used to do business with Kennedy. Also, by the s the elder Kennedy had held high-profile government posts as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission SECand then as the U. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Kennedy was undoubtedly extensively vetted before he took those jobs, says Nasaw, and the FBI would have known if he was a rum runner.