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For other uses, see Kennedy

In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that is prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the Democratic Party. Harvard University educations have been common among them, and they have contributed heavily to that university's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The wealth, glamour and photogenic quality of the family members, as well as their extensive and continuing commitment to public service, has elevated them to iconic status over the past half-century. They were known as America's Royal Family.^[1][2][3]

With the 1960 election of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, he and his two younger brothers, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, all held prominent positions in the federal government, and received intensive publicity, often emphasizing their youth (relative to comparably influential politicians), allure, education and collective future in politics.

The family has suffered a series of tragedies, sometimes called "the Kennedy curse", including the assassination of brothers John and Robert, the controversial Chappaquiddick incident, and four airplane crashes (Joe, Jr., Kathleen, Ted and John, Jr., three of them fatal).

Family tree

First generation

The family patriarch was Patrick J. Kennedy (1858–1929), a first-generation American who married Mary Augusta Hickey (1857-1923). He was a politician involved in the local Democratic Party.

Second generation

In 1914, their son, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (1888–1969) married Rose Fitzgerald (1890–1995), the daughter of Boston (Massachusetts) Mayor John F. Fitzgerald. Joseph served as the first chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom in the years leading up to World War II.

Third generation

The Irish Catholic political dynasty, John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy, July 1960.

Together Joseph and Rose Kennedy had nine children:

• Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. (1915–1944)
  • Died during World War II when taking part in Operation Aphrodite as a pilot of a modified B-24 Liberator drone bomber which accidentally exploded and crashed over Blyth Estuary near Suffolk, England. For this act, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. His body was never recovered.
• John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963)
  • Known to his family as "Jack" and sometimes referred to as "JFK", he was a U.S. Representative (1947-1953), a U.S. Senator (1953-1960) and the 35th U.S. President (1961-1963). In 1953, he married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (1929-1994) and they had four children, one of whom was stillborn, one died soon after birth, and two survived to adulthood. He was assassinated on November 22, 1963 while riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
• Rose Marie Kennedy (1918–2005)
  • Known as "Rosemary" or "Rosie", she was dyslexic and considered to be slightly brain-damaged from birth. At age 23, she was rendered incapable of intelligible speech or caring for herself by a prefrontal lobotomy — a popular neurosurgical technique of the time and requested by her father — that was intended to cure her increasing mood swings and make her more manageable. The operation instead reduced her to an infantile state. From 1949, she lived in a residential-care facility in Jefferson, Wisconsin, until her death.
• Kathleen Agnes Kennedy (1920–1948)
  • Known as "Kick", in 1944 she married a Protestant, William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1917-1944) — the son and heir to the Duke of Devonshire — over her mother's strenuous religious objections. After being widowed when her husband was killed in action during World War II, she was killed in an airplane crash in France along with her lover, Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam (1910-1948).
• Eunice Mary Kennedy (1921–2009)
  • She was a co-founder of the Special Olympics in 1968, an organization she began in honor of her sister Rosemary. In 1953, she married Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. (b. 1915), who was later the U.S. Ambassador to France in the late 1960s-early 1970s and a 1972 vice-presidential candidate; they had five children.
• Patricia Kennedy (1924–2006)
  • Married actor Peter Lawford (1923–1984) in 1954. They had four children and divorced in 1966.
• Robert Francis Kennedy (1925–1968)
  • Known as "Bob" or "Bobby", he was U.S. Attorney General (1961-1964) in his brother John's administration and later served as the junior U.S. Senator from New York (1965-his death). In 1950, he married Ethel Skakel (b. 1928) and they had eleven children. He was assassinated in Los Angeles, California during his 1968 campaign for U.S. president.
• Jean Kennedy Smith (b. 1928)
  • In 1956, she married Stephen Edward Smith (1927–1990) and they had two sons and adopted two daughters. She later served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland (1993-1998).
• Edward Moore Kennedy (1932–2009)
  • Known as "Teddy" or "Ted", he served as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1962-2009). In 1958, he married Virginia Joan Bennett (b. 1936) and they had three children; they divorced in 1981. In 1992, he married Victoria Anne Reggie (b. 1954) and had two stepchildren from this marriage. On May 20, 2008, it was announced that he had a malignant brain tumor. In the next year, brain cancer severely limited his U.S. Senate appearances. He died on August 25, 2009.

Third-generation in-laws

• Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (1929–1994), wife of John
• William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1917–1944), husband of Kathleen
• Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. (b. 1915), husband of Eunice
• Peter Lawford (1923–1984), former husband of Patricia
• Ethel Skakel (b. 1928), wife of Robert
• Stephen Edward Smith, Sr (1927–1990), husband of Jean
• Virginia Joan Bennett (b. 1936), first wife of Edward
• Victoria Anne Reggie (b. 1954), second wife of Edward

Fourth generation

• Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. neither married nor had children.

• John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier had four children:
  1. Arabella Kennedy (1956) — stillborn.^[4]
  2. Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (b. 1957) — a lawyer, a co-founder of the Profile in Courage Award, the president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the chairwoman of the American Ballet Theatre. Married Edwin Schlossberg; has three children.
  3. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. (1960–1999) — killed in an airplane crash on July 16, 1999. His wife, Carolyn Jeanne Bessette; and sister-in-law Lauren Gail Bessette were also killed.
  4. Patrick Bouvier Kennedy (1963–1963) — was born prematurely and died from infant respiratory-distress syndrome two days after his birth.

• Rose Marie "Rosemary" Kennedy neither married nor had children.

• Kathleen Agnes Kennedy and William John Robert Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington had no children.

• Eunice Mary Kennedy and Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. had five children:
  1. Robert Sargent Shriver III (b. 1954) — an attorney and the president of RSS Inc., a Beverly Hills, California, music, film and philanthropic company; a Santa Monica, California, city councilman. Married Malissa Ferzuzzi; has two daughters.
  2. Maria Owings Shriver (b. 1955) — a former television news anchor; First Lady of California as wife of Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; has four children.
  3. Timothy Perry Shriver (b. 1959) — former New Haven, Connecticut educator, since 1997 the chairman of the Special Olympics. Married Linda S. Potter; has five children.
  4. Mark Kennedy Shriver (b. 1964) — a former Delegate in the Maryland General Assembly currently Vice President and Managing Director of US Programs for the charity Save the Children. Married Jeannie Ripp; has three children.
  5. Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver (b. 1965) — an activist for mental retardation and founded Best Buddies International. Married Alina Mojica; has five children.

• Patricia Kennedy and Peter Lawford had four children:
  1. Christopher Kennedy Lawford (b. 1955) — a professional actor. Divorced from Jeannie Olsson; has three children.
  2. Sydney Maleia Kennedy Lawford (b. 1956) — married (James) Peter McKevley; has four sons.
  3. Victoria Francis Lawford (b. 1958) — married lawyer Robert Pender; has three daughters.
  4. Robin Elizabeth Lawford (b. 1961) — an environmentalist and marine biologist.

• Robert Francis Kennedy and Ethel Skakel had eleven children:
  1. Kathleen Hartington Kennedy (b. 1951) — former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Maryland. Married David Lee Townsend; has four daughters.
  2. Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (b. 1952) — former U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Runs the non-profit Citizens Energy Corp. in Boston. Divorced from Sheila Rauch; two sons. Married to Anne Elizabeth ("Beth") Kelly; no children.
  3. Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. (b. 1954) — an environmentalist and political commentator, attorney and law professor at Pace University School of Law; best known for his many successful litigations to prevent water pollution, primarily in the New York area. Divorced from Emily Ruth Black; two children. Married Mary Richardson; four children.
  4. David Anthony Kennedy (1955–1984) — died of a drug overdose in a Palm Beach, Florida hotel room on April 25, 1984. He was neither married nor had children.
  5. Mary Courtney Kennedy (b. 1956) — divorced from Jeffrey Robert Ruhe. Separated from Paul Michael Hill; has one daughter.
  6. Michael LeMoyne Kennedy (1958–1997) — killed in an Aspen, Colorado skiing accident on December 31, 1997. Separated from Victoria Gifford, a daughter of Frank Gifford; had three children.
  7. Mary Kerry Kennedy (b. 1959) — human rights activist with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Divorced from Andrew Cuomo; has three daughters.
  8. Christopher George Kennedy (b. 1963) — the president of Merchandise Mart commercial properties based in Chicago, Illinois. Married Sheila Sinclair Berner; has four children.
  9. Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy (b. 1965) — an author and lawyer. Married Victoria Anne Stauss, has three children.
  10. Douglas Harriman Kennedy (b. 1967) — a journalist, news reporter for FOX News. Married Mary Elizabeth Stark; has three daughters.
  11. Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy (b. 1968) — an award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer. Married Mark Bailey; has three children.

• Jean Ann Kennedy and Stephen Edward Smith, Sr. had four children:
  1. Stephen Edward Smith, Jr. (b. 1957) — attorney, crisis counselor and real estate developer.
  2. William Kennedy Smith (b. 1960) — a physician and activist against land mines. He has neither married nor had children. Found innocent in 1991 of rape charges.
  3. Amanda Mary Smith (b. 1967; adopted). Married attorney (Harmon) Carter Hood; has two children.
  4. Kym Maria Smith (b. 1972; adopted) — photographer. Divorced from Alfie Tucker; married to John Morgan.

• Edward "Ted" Moore Kennedy (1932–2009) and Virginia Joan Bennett had three children:
  1. Kara Anne Kennedy (b. 1960) — board member, television producer. Married Michael Allen; has two children.
  2. Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy, Jr. (b. 1961) — a co-founder and the president of the Marwood Group, a Wall Street investment firm. Married Katharine ("Kiki") Anne Gershman; has two children.
  3. Patrick Joseph Kennedy II (b. 1967) — U.S. Representative from Rhode Island. He has neither married nor had children.

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy also had two stepchildren from his marriage to Victoria Anne Reggie — Curran Raclin (b. 1982) and Caroline Raclin (b. 1985).

Coat of arms

In 1961, Kennedy was presented with a grant of arms for all the descendants of Patrick Kennedy from the Chief Herald of Ireland. The arms of the Kennedy family are black with three gold helmets depicted upon it, within a border that is divided into red and ermine segments, and strongly alludes to the symbols in the coats of arms of the O'Kennedys of Ormonde and the FitzGerald dynasty of Desmond from whom the family is believed to be descended. The crest is an armored hand holding four arrows between two olive branches, elements taken from the coat of arms of the United States of America and also symbolic of Kennedy and his brothers. The coat of arms is described in heraldic terms as, Sable three helmets in profile Or within a bordure per saltire gules and ermine, and the crest is, Between two olive branches a cubit sinister arm in armor erect the hand holding a sheaf of four arrows points upward all proper on a torse Or and sable, while the mantling is gules doubled argent.

While no head of the family was proclaimed in the grant, traditional rules of heraldic inheritance would make the early line of succession begin with Patrick Kennedy, then pass to his eldest son Patrick Joseph Kennedy and then to his eldest Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. Because the three eldest of Joseph Kennedy's four sons died before their father, but still had children of their own, the line next becomes debatable. The opinion that follows Irish practices would be that the line next followed John F. Kennedy, Jr., who was then succeed by Joseph Patrick Kennedy II as the current head of the family. Other opinions followed succession to Ted Kennedy as the only surviving son after the death of his father Joseph Kennedy, and then either to Ted's son Ted Kennedy, Jr. or back to Joseph Kennedy II depending upon the practice cited.

See also

• Irish nobility
• Tanistry

References

External links

• "The Kennedys: A Family Tree", St. Petersburg Times Online
• Interactive Kennedy Family Tree, Family Tree Online, a project from GiGaSoft Software GmbH
• Kennedy Family Tree, New York Times
• Kennedy Family Tree, The American Experience (Public Broadcasting Service (PBS))
• Kennedy Family Tree, Ancestry.com
• Kennedy Family, The Political Graveyard
• kennedy-web.com (unknown host)

John F. Kennedy Life Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 · Motor Torpedo Boat PT-59 · Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana Politics Electoral history · Presidential election, 1960 · New Frontier · Inaugural address · Kennedy Doctrine · Alliance for Progress · Bay of Pigs Invasion · Cuban Missile Crisis · Partial Test Ban Treaty · Kennedy and Latin America Events Happy Birthday, Mr. President · Assassination · Reaction · State funeral · Presidential timeline Legacy Memorial · Aircraft carrier · Library · In popular culture · Ich bin ein Berliner · Profile in Courage Award Books authored Why England Slept · Profiles in Courage · A Nation of Immigrants Family Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis · Caroline Bouvier Kennedy · John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. (airplane crash) · Patrick Bouvier Kennedy · Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. · Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy · Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. · Robert Francis Kennedy (assassination) · Edward Moore Kennedy (Chappaquiddick incident)