 1925 - 1968 (42 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has more than 100 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Robert Francis Kennedy |
| Nickname |
Bobby |
| Birth |
20 Nov 1925 |
Brookline, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States  |
| Gender |
Male |
| FamilySearch ID |
LZNR-GRZ |
| Death |
6 Jun 1968 |
Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Burial |
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States |
| Person ID |
I168344 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, b. 6 Sep 1888, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States d. 18 Nov 1969, Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States (Age 81 years) |
| Mother |
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, b. 22 Jul 1890, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States d. 22 Jan 1995, Hyannis Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States (Age 104 years) |
| Marriage |
7 Oct 1914 |
Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States |
| Family ID |
F42361 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), sometimes ref e rred to by the initials RFK and occasionally Bobby, was an American pol it ician and lawyer who served as the 64th United States Attorney Genera l fr om January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. Senator from New Yo rk fr om January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968. He was, lik e his br others John and Edward, a prominent member of the Democratic Par ty and ha s come to be viewed by some historians as an icon of modern Ame rican libe ralism.
Kennedy was born into a wealthy, political family in Brookline, Massachu s etts. After serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a seaman apprentice fr o m 1944 to 1946, Kennedy returned to his studies at Harvard University , gr aduating in 1948. He received his law degree from the University o f Virgi nia, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1951. He bega n his care er as a correspondent for The Boston Post and as a lawyer at t he Justic e Department, but later resigned to manage his brother John's s uccessfu l campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1952. The following year, he w orked a s an assistant counsel to the Senate committee chaired by Senato r Josep h McCarthy. He gained national attention as the chief counsel o f the Sena te Labor Rackets Committee from 1957 to 1959, where he publicl y challenge d Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa over the corrupt practice s of the union . Kennedy resigned from the committee to conduct his broth er's campaign i n the 1960 presidential election. He was appointed Unite d States Attorne y General after the successful election and served as hi s brother's close st advisor until his 1963 assassination.
His tenure is best known for its advocacy for the civil rights movemen t , the fight against organized crime and the Mafia, and involvement in U .S . foreign policy related to Cuba. He authored his account of the Cuba n Mi ssile Crisis in a book titled Thirteen Days. After his brother's ass assin ation, he remained in office in the Johnson Administration for seve ral mo nths. He left to run for the United States Senate from New York i n 1964 a nd defeated Republican incumbent Kenneth Keating. In office, Ken nedy oppo sed racial discrimination and U.S. involvement in the Vietnam W ar. He wa s an advocate for issues related to human rights and social jus tice and f ormed working relationships with Martin Luther King Jr., Cesa r Chavez, an d Walter Reuther.
In 1968, Kennedy became a leading candidate for the Democratic nominati o n for the presidency by appealing to poor, African American, Hispanic , Ca tholic, and young voters. His main challenger in the race was Senato r Eug ene McCarthy. Shortly after winning the California primary around m idnigh t on June 5, 1968, Kennedy was mortally wounded when shot with a p istol b y Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian, allegedly in retaliat ion fo r his support of Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War. Kennedy di ed th e following morning.
Robert Francis Kennedy was born outside Boston in Brookline, Massachuset t s, on November 20, 1925. He was the seventh of nine children to busines sm an/politician Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and philanthropist/socialite Ros e Fit zgerald Kennedy. His parents were members of two prominent Irish-Am erica n families in Boston. His eight siblings were Joseph Jr., John, Ros emary , Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Jean, and Ted. All four of his grandp arent s were children of Irish immigrants.
His father was a wealthy businessman and a leading figure in the Democra t ic Party. After he stepped down as ambassador to the United Kingdom i n 19 40, Joe Sr. focused his attention on his oldest son, Joseph Jr., exp ectin g that he would enter politics and be elected president. He also ur ged th e younger children to examine and discuss current events in orde r to prop el them to public service. After Joseph Jr. was killed during W orld War I I, the senior Kennedy's hopes fell on his second son, John, t o become pre sident. Joseph Sr. had the money and connections to play a c entral role i n the family's political ambitions.
Kennedy's older brother John was often bedridden by illness and, as a re s ult, became a voracious reader. Although he made little effort to ge t t o know his younger brother during his childhood, John took him on wal ks a nd regaled him with the stories of heroes and adventures he had read . On e of their favorite authors was John Buchan, who wrote The Thirty-Ni ne St eps, which influenced both Robert and John. John sometimes called R ober t "Black Robert" due to his prudishness and disposition.
Unlike his older brothers, Kennedy took to heart their mother Rose's age n da for everything to have "a purpose," which included visiting histori c s ites during family outings, visits to the church during morning walks , an d games used to expand vocabulary and math skills. He described hi s posit ion in the family hierarchy by saying, "When you come from that f ar down , you have to struggle to survive." As the boys were growing up , he trie d frequently to get his older brothers' attention, but was seld om success ful.
As his father's business success expanded, the family kept homes aroun d B oston and New York City; the Cape Cod peninsula; and Palm Beach. Kenn ed y later said that during childhood he was "going to different schools , al ways having to make new friends, and that I was very awkward... [a]n d I w as pretty quiet most of the time. And I didn't mind being alone." H e ha d to repeat third grade. A teacher at Bronxville public school refle cte d that he was "a regular boy", adding, "It seemed hard for him to fin is h his work sometimes. But he was only ten after all." He developed a n int erest in American history, decorating his bedroom with pictures o f U.S. p residents and filling his bookshelves with volumes on the Americ an Civi l War. He became an avid stamp collector and once received a hand writte n letter from Franklin Roosevelt, also a philatelist.
In March 1938, Kennedy sailed to London with his mother and four younge s t siblings to join his father, who had begun serving as Ambassador to t h e United Kingdom. He attended the private Gibbs School for Boys for sev en th grade. In April 1939, he gave his first public speech at the placin g o f a cornerstone for a youth club in England. According to embassy an d new spaper reports, his statements were penciled in his own hand and de livere d in a "calm and confident" manner. Bobby returned to the United S tates j ust before the outbreak of World War II in Europe.
In Kennedy's younger years, his father dubbed him the "runt" of the fami l y and wrote him off. Close family friend Lem Billings once remarked t o Jo e Sr. that he was "the most generous little boy", and Joe Sr. replie d tha t he did not know where his son "got that". Billings commented tha t the o nly similarity between Robert and Joe Sr. was their eye color. A s Kenned y grew, his father worried that he was soft on others, conflicti ng with h is ideology. In response, Kennedy developed a tough persona tha t masked h is gentle personality, attempting to appease his father. Biogr apher Judi e Mills wrote that Joe Sr.'s lack of interest in Robert was ev ident by th e length of time it took for him to decide to transfer him t o Milton Acad emy. Both Joe Jr. and John attended the exclusive Protestan t prep schoo l Choate from their first year, while Robert was already a j unior by th e time he was enrolled at Milton. Despite his father's disdai n, Kennedy c ontinued to seek his approval, requesting that Joe Sr. writ e him a lette r about his opinions on different political events and Worl d War II.
As a child, Kennedy also strove to meet his mother's expectations to bec o me the most dutiful, religious, affectionate, and obedient of the Kenne d y children, but the father and son grew distant. Rose found his gentl e pe rsonality endearing, though this was noted as having made him "invis ibl e to his father". She influenced him heavily and, like her, he becam e a d evout Catholic, throughout his lifetime practicing his religion mor e seri ously than the other boys in the family. He impressed his parent s as a ch ild by taking on a newspaper route, seeking their approval an d wishing t o distinguish himself. However, he had the family chauffeur d riving him m aking deliveries.
Joe Sr. was satisfied with Kennedy as an adult, believing him to have be c ome "hard as nails" like he
US Senator, Presidential Cabinet Secretary. He was the third son of Jose p h Kennedy, Sr. and the brother of both US President John F. Kennedy an d S enator Edward Kennedy. Known as 'Bobby,' he started his career as a n atto rney in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in 1951 . Whil e there he served in several legal capacities, culminating as th e chief c ounsel of Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in th e Labor o r Management Field from 1957 to 1960. It was here that he mad e a nationa l name for himself as he waged war on racketeering in the lab or movement , and had several public confrontations with Teamsters Leade r Jimmy Hoffa . He left that position to serve as Campaign Manager for th e Presidentia l election of his brother in 1960. Upon John Kennedy’s elec tion (and afte r much personal and family debating) Bobby, only 36, accep ted the positio n of Attorney General in his brother's administration, ma king him the you ngest person ever to hold that office. He stayed on as A ttorney General a fter the assassination of John Kennedy until Septembe r 3rd, 1964 when h e finally resigned. Later that year he moved his famil y to New York. He r an a successful campaign and was elected as a Democra tic Senator from Ne w York to the United States Senate, taking office i n early 1965. In 196 8 he was a late entry into the Presidential campaign . However, he was gai ning momentum and on June 4th, 1968, he won the Cal ifornia Primary and se emed posed to win the Democratic Presidential nomi nation. While at a vict ory party that evening at the Ambassador Hotel i n Los Angeles, he was sho t by assassin Sirhan Sirhan, and later died a t Good Samaritan Hospital i n Los Angeles, California. Bio by John Sheets
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