A Who’s Who Guide to the Famous Political Family

The Kennedy family is synonymous with American politics.

Since the late 1800s, members of the famous family have pursued both political and philanthropic careers, holding offices that span from city council to Commander-in-Chief along with spearheading some of the biggest nonprofits and charitable initiatives on the globe.

John F. Kennedy’s presidency, in particular, is heralded as a golden era in U.S. history, often referred to as Camelot (in reference to the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table), that the nation still remembers with a heightened sense of nostalgia.

However, the Kennedy clan is not without its tragedies and many scandals, which have spanned generations. The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and his younger brother, Robert F. Kennedy, in 1968 marked a period of great turmoil in the U.S., and the tragic death of JFK’s son, John F. Kennedy Jr., in a plane crash in 1999 was yet another untimely death.

Below is a guide to the Kennedy family tree, starting with patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy and matriarch Rose Fitzgerald and their nine children and the most notable faces of each generation since.

The Kennedy Family Tree

The modern Kennedy family can be traced to Joseph P. Kennedy and his wife, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. The two wed on Oct. 7, 1914, and had nine children together: Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (1915), John F. Kennedy (1917), Rosemary Kennedy (1918), Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy (1920), Eunice Kennedy (1921), Patricia Kennedy (1924), Robert F. Kennedy Sr. (1925) Jean Kennedy (1928) and Edward “Ted” Moore Kennedy (1932).

And while the family’s political pursuits peaked when JFK was elected president in 1960, the Kennedys’ history in politics began long before that. JFK’s father, Joseph, is said to have become acquainted with Franklin D. Roosevelt while working at a steel shipyard, who would later appoint him as the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Joseph also served as the United States Ambassador to the U.K. from 1938 to 1940.

Joseph’s father, P.J. Kennedy also held political offices. P.J. Kennedy, a local bar owner, began his political career in his mid-20s, winning a campaign for the Massachusetts House of Representatives at the age of 27. According to the 2022 book The First Kennedys, he spent five years in legislation before deciding to step back to focus on his business. However, he ultimately ended up taking a higher political position instead, being elected to the Senate in 1892. With no desire to relocate to Washington, D.C., however, P.J. ultimately left politics for more financially focused endeavors.

John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy’s Family Tree

John F. Kennedy met his wife, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, through a mutual friend in 1952. One year later, they married in Newport, R.I., on Sept. 12. with 600 guests in attendance. They went on to have four children during their 10-year marriage: a stillborn baby named Arabella (Aug. 23, 1956); son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who died on  Aug. 9, 1963; daughter Caroline Kennedy, who was born on Nov. 27, 1957; and son John F. Kennedy Jr., who was born on Nov. 25, 1960, and died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.

Here’s a look at John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy’s lives and their most notable descendants.

John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was the second-born child of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Born in Brookline, Mass., in 1917, he became the 35th President of the United States.

Prior to his presidential term, JFK earned a degree from Harvard University, served in the Navy, and was a legislator in the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 before becoming the junior senator of Massachusetts.

He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade next to Jackie in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Jackie Kennedy Onassis (née Jacqueline Lee Bouvier), was the oldest of four children born to Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III and Janet Lee Bouvier. Born in Southampton, N.Y., in 1929, Jackie was a national champion in horse riding by age 11. She attended Vassar College, where she studied history, literature, art and French. Her first job was as a photojournalist and writer for the Washington-Times Herald.

She consistently appeared on the campaign trail in support of her husband’s 1960 bid for the presidency and became the nation’s First Lady on Jan. 20, 1961. During her time in the White House, Jackie undertook a massive $2 million restoration of the property, which she filmed for a CBS special.

Following JFK’s death, she married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1968, marking the start of her affectionate public nickname “Jackie O.” Jackie died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 64 on May 19, 1994.

Caroline Kennedy

Caroline Kennedy is the third and only surviving child of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy.

Born on Nov. 27, 1957, Caroline grew up in the White House and attended the Brearley School in New York, but summers of her youth in Greece with her mother and stepfather, Aristotle. She attended Radcliffe College (now part of Harvard) and Columbia University School of Law. She spent two years working for the New York City Department of Education and also penned several books, including two on civil liberties, and edited several others, including 2001’s The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In 2013, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as the United States Ambassador to Japan, a role she served for four years. In 2022, she was appointed the United States Ambassador to Australia by President Joe Biden.

Caroline has been married to Edwin Schlossberg since 1986. They share three adult children: daughters Rose Kennedy Schlossberg (born in 1988) and Tatiana Kennedy Schlossberg (born in 1990) and son John “Jack” Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg (born in 1993).

John F. Kennedy Jr.

John F. Kennedy Jr. was the first-born son of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy. He was born on Nov. 25, 1960 — just two weeks after his father was elected president of the United States. He spent the first three years of his life in the White House until his father was killed in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. JFK Jr. studied first at Brown University, then the New York University School of Law. In 1995, he co-founded the political magazine George.

He met his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in 1992. The pair began dating a few years later and wed in a super private ceremony on Sept. 21, 1996, on Cumberland Island with roughly 40 guests in attendance.

JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn, tragically died on July 16, 1999, when the plane he was piloting to cousin Rory Kennedy’s wedding crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. JFK Jr.’s sister-in-law Lauren Bessette was also killed in the accident.

Jack Schlossberg

Jack is the only son and youngest child of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg.

According to Jack, born on Jan. 19, 1993, he is a “student of his grandfather’s life, legacy and administration.” He attended Yale University and graduated in 2015 with a degree in history before entering Harvard Law School in 2017 and Harvard Business School in 2018, from which he graduated in 2022. Jack has also dipped his toe into politics, speaking at the DNC conventions in 2020 and 2024 and previously working as a senate page and intern for John Kerry.

Robert F. Kennedy Sr. and Ethel Kennedy’s Family Tree

The seventh child born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Sr. had 11 children with his wife Ethel Kennedy, whom he married in 1950: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (1951), Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (1952), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (1954), David Anthony Kennedy (1955), Mary Courtney Kennedy Hill (1956), Michael LeMoyne Kennedy (1958), Mary Kerry Kennedy (1959), Christopher George Kennedy (1963), Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy (1965), Douglas Harriman Kennedy (1967) and Rory Elizabeth Kennedy (1968).

Many of RFK Sr. and Ethel Kennedy’s children — nine of whom are still alive — have pursued political or philanthropic careers, most notably their third child and second son Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is President Trump’s controversial nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Here’s a look at Robert F. Kennedy Sr. and Ethel Kennedy’s lives and their most notable descendants.

Robert F. Kennedy Sr.

Robert “Bobby” F. Kennedy Sr. was the seventh child born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. During his life, he was a 1968 presidential candidate, a New York Senator and the 64th Attorney General of the United States. He was assassinated on June 5, 1968, shortly after winning the presidential California Primary and pronounced dead one day later.

Six of his children spoke out in a joint statement after his killer, Sirhan Bushara Sirhan, was granted parole in August 2021, and called for an immediate reversal, writing, “Our father’s death impacted our family in ways that can never adequately be articulated and today’s decision by a two-member parole board has inflicted enormous additional pain.”

Ethel Kennedy

Born in 1928, Ethel Kennedy (née Skakel) was the sixth child of George and Ann Skakel’s seven children. Her father was the Great Lakes Carbon Corporation and she grew up in Greenwich, Conn.

She and RFK Sr. raised their 11 children (two of whom she outlived) in their 13-bedroom home in McLean, Va., known as Hickory Hill. After her husband’s death, she founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, which is now run by her daughter Kerry Kennedy. She was also the grandmother to over 30 grandchildren.

Ethel died at age 96 on Oct. 10, 2024, “from complications related to a stroke suffered last week,” according to a statement from her daughter, Kerry, posted on X.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the third child of Robert F. Kennedy Sr. and Ethel Kennedy. Born on Jan. 17, 1954, he was 14 when his father was killed.

The politician is a father of six: He shares Robert “Bobby” Kennedy Jr. III (1984) and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy (1988) with first wife Emily Ruth Black and Conor Kennedy (1994), Kyra Kennedy (1995), William Kennedy (1997) and Aidan Kennedy (2001) with late second wife Mary Richardson, who died by suicide in 2012. RFK. Jr. has been married to his third wife, actress Cheryl Hines, since 2014.

He received a Bachelor of Arts in American history and literature from Harvard, a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia and a Master of Laws from Pace University. He pled guilty to a felony charge of heroin possession aboard an aircraft in 1984, for which he was sentenced to a two-year probation with community service. He also sought out treatment. He later wrote of his struggles in a book called American Values: Lessons I Learned From My Family. He has maintained a long career as an environmental law specialist and is an outspoken anti-vaxxer.

A former Democrat, RFK Jr. abandoned his independent bid for president in 2024 and endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump. President Trump has since nominated RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, though the nomination has been met with bipartisan skepticism.

The Kennedy-Shriver Family Tree

JFK’s younger sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, married her husband, Robert Sargant Shriver Jr. — another political heavyweight — in 1957. They welcomed four sons, Robert “Bobby” Sargant Shriver III (1954), Timothy Perry Shriver (1959), Mark Kennedy Shriver (1964) and Anthony Paul Shriver (1965), and one daughter Maria Owings Shriver (1955).

Here’s a look at Eunice Shriver’s life and her most notable descendants.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the fifth child born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Born in 1921, she is best remembered as the founder of the Special Olympics. She started the organization with her husband, Robert, in 1968 as a way to turn her anger over the treatment of her sister Rosemary, who had developmental disabilities and then underwent a lobotomy, at their father’s directive, into positive action. Though Eunice initially found herself in politics, working for the Special War Problems Division of the U.S. State Department and as a secretary for the U.S. Executive Department, she found her calling in charity work.

She was also a strong supporter of her brother JFK, supporting him on the campaign trail of his 1960 presidential campaign. She died on Aug. 11, 2009, after suffering a stroke four years earlier. She posthumously received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2017 ESPY Awards.

Maria Shriver

Maria Shriver is the second child and only daughter of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Former U.S. Ambassador to France Robert Sargant Shriver Jr.

Though Maria was born at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill., on Nov. 6, 1955, she spent several of her formative years in Paris, where her father was stationed as the U.S. Ambassador to the country. She later moved to New York, where she attended Manhattanville College before transferring to Georgetown University. She became a journalist, co-anchoring The CBS Morning News for a year in 1985 before moving over to Sunday Today. She also worked at NBC Nightly News and contributed to Dateline NBC from 1992 to 1994. She returned to media as a special anchor in 2013 and has executive produced at least six film projects and published multiple self-help and children’s books over the years.

Maria shares four children with her ex-husband and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom she wed in 1986: Katherine Schwarzenegger (1989); Christina Schwarzenegger (1991); Patrick Schwarzenegger (1993); and Christopher Schwarzenegger (1997). Maria and Arnold split in 2011 and their divorce was finalized in 2021.

Edward “Ted” Moore Kennedy’s Family Tree

Edward “Ted” Moore Kennedy

Sen. Edward “Ted” Moore Kennedy was the ninth and last child born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, who welcomed him in 1932. He had a long career as the Democratic U.S. Senator for Massachusetts for nearly four decades.

After suffering from a malignant brain tumor first diagnosed in 2008, Ted died at 77 years old in August 2009.

Joan Kennedy

Ted met his first wife, Joan Kennedy, in 1957. They were introduced by his older sister, Jean, who met Joan while they were students at Manhattanville College. Ted and Joan were engaged within the year and wed on Nov. 29, 1958, in Bronxville, N.Y.

The pair welcomed three children together — Kara, Ted Jr. and Patrick — before their split in 1978. It wasn’t until after his failed 1980 presidential campaign that they officially divorced in 1983. Joan died at 89 years old on Oct. 8, 2025.

Victoria “Vicki” Kennedy

Following his split from Joan, Ted went on to marry Victoria “Vicki” Kennedy, an attorney and mother of two. According to NPR, their romance began on Vicki’s parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, when her father suggested they invite Ted, a longtime friend, over for dinner.

They wed on July 3, 1992, per the outlet, and she became one of Ted’s most trusted political advisor over the years. They were married for nearly 17 years when he died in 2009.