Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
In response to her condition, Rosemary's parents separated her from her family. Rose Kennedy did not visit her for 20 years. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. did not visit his daughter at the institution. In "Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter," author Kate Clifford Larson stated that Rosemary's lobotomy was hidden from the family for twenty years; none of her siblings knew of her whereabouts. While her older brother John was campaigning for re-election for the Senate in 1958, the Kennedy family explained away her absence by claiming she was reclusive. The Kennedy family did not publicly explain her absence until 1961, after John had been elected president. The Kennedys did not reveal that she was institutionalized because of a failed lobotomy, but instead said that she was deemed "mentally retarded". In 1961, after Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak, Rosemary's siblings were made aware of her location. Her lobotomy did not become public knowledge until 1987.