The Kennedy family had close ties with the mafia as a result of prohibition and the Kennedy families liquor import and distribution business based out of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, which they owned.
Accusations of mafia-related corrupted in the 1960 election and mafia involvement in the assassination of John Kennedy have long been touted but what is definitively known is that Joseph Kennedy, the Patriarch of the Kennedy family, was an active bootlegger and used the mafia towards that end.