Lillian Carter, mother of James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, was secretary to Joseph P. Kennedy (other accounts say she was a maid--I'm betting secretary). At a time when she'd begin to show, she left her job with Mr. Kennedy and went home to Plains, Georgia and gave birth to President Carter October 21, 1924. If you gather photos of the Kennedy brothers and put Jimmy Carter's photo in there with them, you will see a strong family resemblance, especially of the upper eyelids, which slope from the nose downwardly, which is an English Irish inherited feature. I believe that Jimmy Carter is well aware of who his biological father is, and I think he has a strong resentment about the whole thing, and perhaps that is why he's chosen (this week <9/17/10> on CBS' 60 Minutes) to expose his half brother Teddy as having destroyed his attempt to give Americans a national health care system, as a slam against his illegitimate brother. Carter alleges that Kennedy didn't want Carter to have any successes. I was 1st made aware of Jimmy's paternity when an obscure article appeared many years ago in the Wall St. Journal with this claim. I asked my late father-in-law about it and he confirmed the story. It was that dad's family had been working in the Congress for over 100 years as administrative employees. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

One more thought on why it's not an open book: oftentimes (and I know this from people I know who are....) illegitimate children are looked at as unwelcome interlopers by their legitimate siblings. The rejected child (often angry also about rejection by his/her adulterous, philandering father) develop a very strong resentment for this. It could be why Carter went over the edge and made his accusations against brother Teddy Kennedy when one who did not contain great anger might have left the topic alone.

I must say here that according to wikipedia, Lillian Carter married her husband immediately after her graduation. This would let the air out of the above. Frankly I just don't know for sure.