Ethel Kennedy

Ethel Skakel Kennedy (born April 11, 1928) is the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as Attorney General of the United States and a United States Senator for the state of New York.

Early life

Ethel Skakel was born in Chicago on April 11, 1928 to Ann Brannack, a Roman Catholic of Irish descent, and George Skakel, a Protestant of Dutch descent.^[1] Ethel was raised as a Catholic in Greenwich, Connecticut. Her father was the founder of the very successful Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, now a division of SGLCarbon.^[2] She attended the all-girls Greenwich Academy^[3][4] in Greenwich, as well as the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan. In September 1945, Ethel began her collegiate education at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart (then located in Manhattan), where she became friends and roommates with Jean Kennedy. Skakel later married Kennedy's brother, Robert F. Kennedy.

Kennedy family and marriage

Ethel met Robert F. Kennedy during a ski trip to Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec, Canada during the winter of 1945. At the time, Robert was dating Ethel's sister, Patricia. That relationship ended and Ethel and Robert started seeing each other. Ethel campaigned for his brother, John F. Kennedy, in his 1946 campaign for United States Congress, and wrote her college thesis on his book Why England Slept.

Bobby and Ethel became engaged in February 1950, and were married on June 17, 1950 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenwich. Ethel's wedding dress and bridal party gowns were created by noted New York City fashion designer Mamie Conti. As newlyweds, Ethel and Bobby moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they lived while Bobby finished his last year at the University of Virginia Law School. Their first child, Kathleen, was born on July 4, 1951. After Bobby graduated with his law degree, the family settled in the Washington, D.C. area and Bobby went to work for the Department of Justice. That path did not last long, as Bobby was asked by his family to manage John F. Kennedy's successful 1952 Senate campaign in Massachusetts.

Throughout the 1950s, Robert Kennedy worked for the federal government in investigatory roles for the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Operations with anti-Communist Senator Joe McCarthy, and as chief counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management.^[5] In 1956, the Kennedys purchased Hickory Hill from Bobby's brother John and his wife, Jackie. They needed a larger house, since Ethel was pregnant with their fifth child. This enormous 13 bedroom, 13 bath home was situated on 6 acres (24,000 m²) in McLean, Virginia.

In contrast to John and Jackie Kennedy, Robert and Ethel held many get-togethers at their home. Whether it was a pool party or a formal dinner party, the guest list was impressive and eclectic. Journalist Roger Mudd remembers meeting John Lennon at one such party. Other notable invitees included the Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, entertainer Judy Garland, dancer Rudolf Nureyev and historian Arthur Schlesinger, who found himself thrown into the pool fully clothed where Ethel was also already swimming fully clothed.^[6]

The Kennedy children added to the wild atmosphere at Hickory Hill. Notoriously, Robert Jr. had a zoo in the basement. It was not unusual to see reptiles, a seal, an anteater, miniature ponies and even an elephant on the grounds.^[7] Jackie found the children so wild that she did not allow Caroline and John Jr. to play with their cousins.^[6]

Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

Just after midnight on June 5, 1968, Ethel's husband was shot by Sirhan Sirhan; Kennedy died 26 hours later. Ethel and her children were devastated. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning. In 1969, Sirhan was convicted of Robert F. Kennedy's murder and sentenced to death. In 1972, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after the California Supreme Court invalidated that state's death penalty as it existed at that time.

After RFK's death

Following her husband's assassination in 1968, Kennedy stated publicly she would never marry again. For a time after RFK's death, she was escorted to dinners, parties and the theater by singer and family friend Andy Williams. After her husband's death, Kennedy continued to live at the family home, Hickory Hill, in McLean, Virginia until December 2009, when it was sold for $8.25 million.

Political involvement

During the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Ethel endorsed Barack Obama^[8] as did her children Max and Rory. Three of her children, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Kerry Kennedy, initially endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton, in mid-2007 before supporting Obama. Kennedy has publicly supported and held fundraisers at Hickory Hill for numerous politicians, including Virginia gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran.^[9] For Obama, Kennedy hosted a $6 million fundraising dinner at Hickory Hill in June, 2008. The $28,500-a-plate dinner was headlined by former Democratic presidential candidate and DNC chairman, Howard Dean.^[10]

Family involvement

Ethel was among the chief mourners at the public funeral for her brother-in-law Edward M. Kennedy on August 29, 2009. At the funeral Mass, Kennedy placed the pall on her brother-in-law's casket along with sisters-in-law Jean Kennedy Smith and Victoria Reggie Kennedy.

Children of Robert and Ethel Kennedy

References

Notes

Further reading

• Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Robert Kennedy and His Times, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, ISBN 0618219285
• Taraborrelli, J. Randy. Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot. Warner Books: 2000. ISBN 0-446-52426-3

External links

• Ethel Kennedy at the Internet Movie Database
• American Experience: RFK People & Events -- From PBS