How Caroline Kennedy and RFK Jr. Fit Into the Kennedy Family Tree
The quarreling cousins are part of the famous American political family, which has been devoted to civil service for more than a century.
With their wealth and power, the Kennedy family has been touted as the closest thing to royalty in America. Having left their homeland of Ireland in the 1840s to escape the potato famine, the Kennedys—starting with Boston-born Patrick Joseph “P.J.” Kennedy—built their future from the ground up and became heavily involved in the Democratic Party in Boston.
Three generations later, the Kennedy name has expanded its political reach to both the national and world stage, producing a U.S. president, a U.S. attorney general, five members of the U.S. House and Senate, and a number of publicly appointed and elected government officials. Now, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in line to lead the Health and Human Services Department as part of President Donald Trump’s cabinet. His nomination has elicited opposition, including from his cousin Caroline Kennedy.
As senate hearings for RFK Jr.’s nomination continue, here’s a look at a dozen notable Kennedy family members who’ve helped shape the American political landscape and contributed to their family’s legacy of public service.
Joseph P. Kennedy
1888–1969
The patriarch of the Kennedy political dynasty, American businessman Joseph Patrick Kennedy was a prominent Irish-Catholic Democrat whose political ambitions were ultimately lived out through his sons John, Robert, and Ted.
Outside of being a wealthy investor in real estate, alcohol, and entertainment, Joseph briefly served as a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and an American ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was a testament to public service, though he did leave a controversial legacy behind over his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi leanings.
Rose Kennedy
1890–1995
A staunch Catholic, matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy grew up in a wealthy and political Irish-American household. Her father, John F. Fitzgerald, was the mayor of Boston.
After a lengthy courtship with Joseph Kennedy Sr., which was partially due to her father’s disdain for him, the couple married in 1914 and went on to have nine children.
Before Rose died at the age of 104, she was honored with the rank of Papal countess by Pope Pius XII for her exemplary religious life and devotion to Catholicism.
John F. Kennedy
1917—1963
After the tragic death of his older brother, Joseph Kennedy Jr., John F. Kennedy took up the political mantle for the next generation of Kennedys. The Harvard graduate became a decorated Naval officer in World War II. After serving as a U.S. representative and senator for Massachusetts, JFK reached the highest office of the land in 1961. At 43, John became America’s youngest elected president.
John launched his administration at the bleakest point of the Cold War. He later authorized the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and led the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis, which almost brought the United States and the Soviet Union to nuclear war. After JFK’s assassination in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took over the administration and brought forth many of the late presidents’s civil rights and tax proposals.
Read More About John F. Kennedy
Related: Inside John F. Kennedy’s Lifelong Admiration of Winston Churchill
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
1929—1994
As wife to John F. Kennedy and the youngest first lady of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis became an international fashion icon and transformed the White House through her various restoration projects. A graduate of George Washington University, Jackie and then-Congressman JFK met in 1952 and were married the following year. The couple had three children, two of whom survived.
When JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Jackie’s blood-stained pink dress and pillbox hat became a symbol of the tragedy. Known for her love for the arts and culture, she helped shaped the “Camelot Era” mythology. Jackie later married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis (to much controversy) and became a book editor in New York City.
Robert F. Kennedy
1925—1968
As the seventh child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy went on to follow in his big brother JFK’s footsteps, serving in the Navy and graduating from Harvard. After receiving his law degree from the University of Virginia, Bobby briefly worked at the Justice Department but left his post to help John win a U.S. Senate seat in 1952.
Under JFK’s presidential administration, Bobby became the 64th U.S. Attorney General and built his reputation on fighting organized crime, advocating for civil rights, and shaping America’s foreign policy with Cuba.
After John’s assassination, Bobby became a U.S. Senator in 1964 and ran as a presidential candidate of the Democratic Party in 1968. While campaigning in California that year, he was gunned down by a young Palestinian man, Sirhan Sirhan, who said he killed the senator for being a supporter of Israel.
Ted Kennedy
1932—2009
The ninth and last child born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy, Edward “Ted” Kennedy spent more time in American politics than any Kennedy family member to date.
Ted prepared himself to live up to the Kennedy name by boasting the same Ivy League pedigree as his brothers before him. He then earned his way into the vacant U.S. Senate seat representing Massachusetts that his brother John left behind when he was elected president. Ted’s political career was in deep peril after the infamous Chappaquiddick incident in 1969 that resulted in the accidental drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne, though the senator persevered.
After a failed attempt to win the 1980 presidential nomination, Ted continued his life of public service and became known as “The Lion of the Senate.” He was a symbol of American liberalism and one of the longest-serving senators in the country’s history, winning nine elections to the chamber. His legislative record is remembered for its advocacy for social and economic justice and, toward the end of his life, universal health care.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
1921—2009
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the fifth child born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy, was deeply affected by her sister Rosemary’s psychiatric institutionalization. Rosemary had undergone a disastrous lobotomy for an intellectual disability before being sent away. Decades later, Shriver became a champion for children with disabilities.
In 1968, she established the Special Olympics and, later that year, hosted the First International Special Olympics Summer Games in Chicago. The Games provided children with physical and intellectual disabilities an opportunity to compete in athletics on a larger, organized scale. In 1984, the Stanford-trained social worker was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work.
From 1953 until her death in 2009, Eunice was married to Sargent Shriver, a former U.S. Ambassador to France and U.S. vice presidential candidate. The couple went on to have five children.
Caroline Kennedy
1957—present
The only daughter of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Caroline Kennedy has lived her life under the radar despite the scrutiny and fame surrounding her family. She attended Harvard as an undergraduate like her father and went on to graduate from Columbia Law School. In 1986, she married artist Edwin Schlossberg, with whom she has three children.
Caroline has continued the Kennedys’ legacy of public service in various ways, including by establishing the Profile in Courage Awards to honor elected officials who have demonstrated political courage. She also has represented the United States abroad, serving as the ambassador to Japan and later to Australia.
John F. Kennedy Jr.
1960–1999
While the Kennedy name had produced many Harvard alums, John F. Kennedy Jr. paved his own way and attended Brown University for his undergraduate studies. After earning his law degree from New York University School of Law, he briefly served as a Manhattan assistant district attorney and dabbled in acting before ultimately becoming co-founder of George, a magazine fusing the world of politics and entertainment, in 1995.
After marrying fashion publicist Carolyn Bessette in 1996, JFK Jr.’s life was cut short three years later when the plane he was flying crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. He, Carolyn, and her older sister Lauren all died in the accident.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
1954—present
As the first-born son of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was 9 years old when his uncle John was assassinated and 14 when he lost his own father.
In honor of his dad, RFK Jr. attended Harvard and got his law degree at the University of Virginia. He also earned his masters of Law degree at Pace University, where he would later teach. As an environmental lawyer and activist, Robert Jr. worked at the Natural Resources Defense Council as a senior attorney from 1986 until 2017 and the Hudson, New York waterways nonprofit called Riverkeeper as its chief prosecuting attorney from 1984 until 2017. He has also authored multiple books and published essays regarding environmental issues.
RFK Jr. has come under fire from both the public and his family in recent years for his anti-vaccine stance and past behavior. He ran for president in 2024 but eventually dropped out and backed Donald Trump, who prevailed in the race.
Maria Shriver
1955—present
The second child of Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Maria Shriver has built a successful career as an award-winning broadcast journalist, philanthropist, and children’s book author.
After graduating from Georgetown University in 1977, Shriver embarked on her broadcast career, working at both CBS and NBC. She later met and married actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who like his famous in-laws had political ambitions of his own.
After Schwarzenegger won the governorship of California, Shriver served as its first lady from 2003 to 2011. The couple, who has four children together, divorced in 2011.
Related: Meet Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Children
Patrick Kennedy
1967—present
As the youngest child of Ted and Joan Bennett Kennedy, Patrick Joseph Kennedy hadn’t even completed his undergraduate degree at Providence College in Rhode Island when he beat a longstanding incumbent for a seat in the state’s House of Representatives in 1988. At 21, he became the youngest Kennedy elected to office.
In 1995, he took to the national stage as a House Representative for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District and continued to serve in seven additional terms, finishing his tenure in 2011. An advocate for mental health, Patrick—who has publicly discussed his own struggles with addiction and bipolar disorder—has founded and continues to work with various organizations to bring attention to drug addiction and promoting research for brain diseases.
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