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 Helen O'Donnell is the daughter of Kenneth P. O'Donnell, who was President John F. Kennedy's Political Chief of Staff and friend. He was also a close friend to the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. She is the author of A Common Good: The Friendship of Robert F. Kennedy and Kenneth P. O'Donnell, which she wrote with Robert Kennedy's son Michael Kennedy. In this intimate memoir, the daughter of the former chief-of-staff to John F. Kennedy explores the life-long friendship between her father and Bobby Kennedy, which began at Harvard in 1947 and saw all of the ups and downs of the 1960s political scene.
Kenneth O'Donnell met Bobby Kennedy at Harvard right after World War II, and the men remained fast friends for the rest of their lives, playing football together, working side by side on political campaigns, and striving to change the world. O'Donnell was a masterful organizer and a forthright political operator, skills that came in handy on the campaign trail. He helped John F. Kennedy through several elections and finally served as his gatekeeper in the White House, the man who decided who got access to the president and when they got it. He came to be called "the Cobra" in the White House because of the fierce way he guarded the president's time. O'Donnell writes that her father was also involved in many policy decisions, and that despite their different socioeconomic backgrounds, the Kennedy and O'Donnell families were close. Because of O'Donnell's family connections and her access to the normally closed Kennedy archives, this book contains lots of behind-the-scenes information about the Kennedy campaigns and the intersecting lives of the two families.
O'Donnell is a writer and producer, and worked as a researcher for
Chris Matthews of MSNBC's "HARDBALL" on his forthcoming book on Jack Kennedy. She is a freelance writer for various publications including The Wrap. The Wrap was named one of the "100 Most Important Online Publishers" in 2010 by OMMA, the magazine of online media, marketing and advertising. You can read several of her articles here. O'Donnell is currently working on her next book about Frank Sinatra and THE RAT PACK. She also recently formed her own production company called Platinum Goddess Productions, Inc. O'Donnell currently lives in Los Angeles, developing a film based on her next book "FIVE O'CLOCK VEGAS BLUE." | 
