The Kennedy family is a prominent Irish-American 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. The best known Kennedy is the late President of the United States John F. Kennedy.

The Kennedys are often compared to the Adams, Bush, and Taft families as among the most influential American political families. The Kennedy, Bush, and Adams families all have strong roots in the New England region of the United States of America. The Kennedy Compound is located in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

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.

The Kennedy family has had a long history of tragic, untimely deaths. Most famously, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Previously, his older brother Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. was shot down and killed over occupied Europe in World War II. Furthermore, his brother Robert F. Kennedy was also later assassinated.

Prior to that, the late president's sister, Kathleen, was killed in a plane crash. Much later, in the 80s and 90s, Robert Kennedy's children Michael Kennedy and David Kennedy, as well as JFK's son John F. Kennedy Jr., would each pass away.

Family tree

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• List of descendants of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

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 United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's (United Kingdom) in the years leading up to World War II.

Third generation

Together Rose and Joe Sr. had nine children:

• Joseph Patrick 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 Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963)
  • He was a U.S. representative, 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., that was intended to cure her increasing mood swings and make her more manageable. The operation instead reduced her to an infantile state. She lived in a residential care facility in Wisconsin until her death on the 7th of January 2005.
• Kathleen Agnes Kennedy (1920–1948)
  • Known as Kick, she married a Protestant, the son and heir to the Duke of Devonshire, 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 Mary 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 Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., later a 1972 vice-presidential candidate, and they had five children.
• Patricia Kennedy (born 1924)
  • She married Rat Pack actor Peter Lawford and had four children.
• Robert Francis Kennedy (1925–1968)
  • He was U.S. attorney general in his brother's administration, later served as senator from New York, and was assassinated while running for president in June 1968. He married Ethel S. Skakel and had 11 children.
• Jean Ann 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 Moore Kennedy (born 1932)
  • Known as "Teddy" or "Ted", 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.

Fourth generation

• Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr., had no children

• John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier had four children:

1. Arabella Kennedy 1956 - stillborn
2. Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (b. 1957) - a lawyer, the co-founder of the Profiles in Courage Award, the president of the Kennedy Library foundation, and the chairwoman of the American Ballet Theatre.
3. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. (1960-1999) - a lawyer and publisher of George magazine, who was killed in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.
4. Patrick Bouvier Kennedy (b. and d. 1963), who was born prematurely and died from infant respiratory distress syndrome two days after his birth

• Rosemary Kennedy had no children

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

• Eunice Kennedy and Sargent Shriver have five children:

1. Robert Sargent Shriver III (b.1954) - an attorney and President of RSS Inc., a Beverly Hills music, film and philanthrophic company. Currently, he is also a Santa Monica city councilman.
2. Maria Owings Shriver (b.1955) - Former TV newsanchor and current First Lady of California and wife of Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
3. Timothy Perry Shriver- (b.1959) chairman of Special Olympics
4. Mark Kennedy Shriver (b.1964) - a delegate in the Maryland state legislature for two consecutive terms.
5. Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver (b.1965) activist for mental retardation. Founded the "Best Buddies" movement in Miami where he currently lives.

• Patricia Kennedy and Peter Lawford had four children:

1. Christopher Kennedy Lawford
2. Sydney Maleia Lawford
3. Victoria Francis Lawford
4. Robin Elizabeth Lawford

• Robert Francis Kennedy and Ethel Skakel had 11 children:

1. Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend - former lieutenant governor of Maryland, unsuccessful candidate for Maryland governor in 2002.
2. Joseph Patrick Kennedy II - former U.S. representative from Massachusetts.
3. Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. - environmentalist and political commentator, attorney and law professor at Pace University School of Law. He is best known for his many successful litigations to prevent water pollution, primarily in the New York area.
4. David Anthony Kennedy
5. Mary Courtney Kennedy
6. Michael LeMoyne Kennedy
7. Mary Kerry Kennedy - ex-wife of Andrew Cuomo, who is the son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo
8. Christopher George Kennedy - president of Merchandise Mart commercial properties based in Chicago
9. Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy
10. Douglas Harriman Kennedy
11. Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy

• Jean Ann Kennedy and Stephen Edward Smith had four children:

1. Stephen Edward Smith, Jr.
2. William Kennedy Smith - 1991 rape acquittal, physician, activist against land mines
3. Amanda Mary Smith
4. Kym Maria Smith

• Edward Moore Kennedy and Virginia Joan Bennett had three children:

1. Kara Anne Kennedy
2. Edward Moore Kennedy, Jr.
3. Patrick Joseph Kennedy - current U.S. Representative from Rhode Island

See also

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• "The Kennedy Curse"
• List of U.S. political families

External links

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• America's Kennedys - An American Dynasty
• "The Kennedys: A Family Tree", St. Petersburg Times Online
• Kennedy Family Tree, The American Experience (PBS)
• Kennedy Family Tree, Ancestry.com
• The Kennedy family at Political Graveyard
• http://www.kennedy-web.com/

Political families of the United States | Kennedy family

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