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The Kennedy family is a prominent family in American politics and government descending from the marriage of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. The predominantly Democratic family is known for its political liberalism. Perhaps the best known Kennedy is the late President of the United States John F. Kennedy.
The Kennedy family is often compared to the Adams and the Bush families as among the great American political families. All three families have strong roots in the New England area of the United States.
Some commentators in the early 1960s made predictions that President John F. Kennedy would be first of a dynasty in the White House, but these predictions were not borne out, and the idea largely dropped off the public's radar after Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 and Senator Edward Kennedy was involved in a possible drunk-driving incident (in which a passenger in his car was killed) in 1969. However, a number of Kennedy family members have held high office since then.
Family tree
First generation
The family patriarch was Patrick J. Kennedy (1858–1929) who married Mary Augusta Hickey. Patrick Kennedy 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 Mayor John F. Fitzgerald. Joe Sr. served as ambassador to the United Kingdom in the years leading up to World War II.
Third generation
Together Rose and Joe Sr. had nine children:
- Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (1915–1944)
- He was killed in action in WWII while flying a bombing mission over Europe. He was single at the time of his death and had no children, though he had been romantically linked to Edith Bouvier Beale, a cousin of his future sister-in-law Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, as well as Katharine Mortimer. (The latter reportedly rebuffed any more-serious involvement with Joe Jr., claiming that his family was too loud for her to contemplate marrying into.)
- John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)
- He was a U.S. represenative, a U.S. senator and later president. He was assassinated. He married New York socialite Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and had four children, of which one was stillborn, one died soon after birth, and two survived to adulthood.
- Rosemary Kennedy (1918–2005)
- Likely dyslexic and considered to be slightly brain-damaged from birth, Rose Marie Kennedy (her christening name) was rendered incapable of intelligible speech or caring for herself by a lobotomy requested by her father, Joe Sr. Intended to cure her increasing mood swings and make her more managable, the operation instead reduced her to an infantile state. She lived in a residental care facility in Wisconsin until her death of the 7th of January 2005.
- Kathleen A. Kennedy (1920–1948)
- Known as Kick, she married the Protestant heir to the British dukedom over her mother's strenuous religious objections. After being widowed when her husband, the Marquess of Hartington, was killed in action in World War II, she was killed in a plane crash in France with her lover, a British earl.
- Eunice M. Kennedy (born 1921)
- She is best known as the founder of the Special Olympics, an organization she began in honor of her sister Rosemary. She married Sargent Shriver, later a 1972 vice-presidential candidate, and they had five children.
- Patricia Kennedy (born 1924)
- Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968)
- Jean A. Kennedy (born 1928)
- She married Stephen Edward Smith and had two sons and adopted two daughters. She later served as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
- Edward M. Kennedy (born 1932)
- Known as "Teddy," "Ted," or the "Liberal Lion," he has served as a senator from Massachusetts since 1962. He has been twice married with three children from his first marriage and two stepchildren from his second marriage. His detractors associate him primarily with the death of Mary Jo Kopechne on Chappaquiddick Island
Fourth generation
The most famous Kennedy of the current generation is the late John F. Kennedy Jr., a lawyer and publisher of George magazine, who was killed in a plane crash in 1999.
Several of the current generation are involved in public affiars:
Fourth Generation kids include Jean Smith's Kids, Stephen Jr., William, Amanda and Kim. Patricia Lawford's Kids, Christopher, Sydney, Robin and Victoria. Robert Kennedy's kids are Kathleen, Joseph II, Robert Jr., David, Mary Courtney, Michael, Mary Kerry, Christopher, Maxwell, Douglas, and Rory. Edward Kennedy's kids are Kara, Edward Jr., and Patrick. Eunice Shriver's kids include Robert, Maria, Timothy, Mark and Anthony.
See also
External links
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