Ethel Skakel was born on April 11, 1928, in Chicago, Illinois, to businessman George Skakel and Ann Brannack.[1] She was the sixth of seven children, with a younger sister named Ann and five elder siblings: Georgeann, James, George Jr., Rushton, and Patricia.[2]
Her father George was the founder of Great Lakes Carbon Corporation, which later became a division of SGLCarbon.[3] He was of Dutch descent and a Protestant[4][5][6] while Ann was of Irish ancestry and practiced the Catholic faith. Their children were raised Catholic, and Ethel, a devout Catholic herself, attended mass regularly throughout her life.[7][8]
Robert Kennedy and Ethel Skakel became engaged in February 1950 and were married on June 17, 1950, in a Catholic ceremony at the St. Mary Church in Greenwich, Connecticut.[12]The Boston Globe noted that the marriage "unites two large fortunes".[13]
After Robert graduated from law school at the University of Virginia, the family settled in the Washington, D.C. area, and Robert went to work for the Justice Department.[9] In 1952, Ethel and Robert moved into a rooming house in Boston, Massachusetts,[14] and she helped contribute to her brother-in-law John's Senate campaign by organizing "tea parties" for potential voters.[15] Several months after the birth of Ethel's fourth child, her parents were both killed in a plane crash in Union City, Oklahoma on October 3, 1955.[16]
In 1956, the Kennedys purchased Hickory Hill from Robert's brother John and his wife, Jacqueline.[17] The estate was situated on six acres in McLean, Virginia, (west of Washington, D.C.) with a 13-bedroom mansion.[9] Robert and Ethel held many gatherings at their home and were known for their impressive and eclectic guest lists.[18] Ethel sold Hickory Hill for $8.25 million in December 2009.[19][20] The couple also owned a home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.[21]
In 1960, Ethel's brother-in-law John F. Kennedy won the presidential election, at which time he appointed Robert to the post of attorney general.[9] In 1962, President Kennedy assigned Ethel and Robert to tour 14 countries on a 28-day goodwill trip. Though the trip was said to be informal, the host countries viewed Robert and Ethel as stand-ins for the President and the First Lady.[22]
On November 22, 1963, Ethel first learned of John's assassination from her husband. She had answered the phone, identified the caller as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director J. Edgar Hoover, and handed the phone to Robert, who then informed her of the shooting. Hoover had never called the Attorney General's home before.[23]
In 1964, Ethel supported her husband while he campaigned for and won a seat in the United States Senate, representing New York.[9] During the campaign, Robert was accused of "carpetbagging", and Ethel made light of the criticism by suggesting the slogan, "There is only so much you can do for Massachusetts."[24]
Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was mortally wounded by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles; he died the following day at the age of 42. Ethel was present at the scene and was three months pregnant with daughter Rory at the time. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a National Day of Mourning. Ethel sent Johnson a handwritten note on June 19, thanking him and his wife, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, for the help they had given her and the Kennedy family.[34] After her husband's assassination, Ethel publicly stated that she would never marry again, wanting to focus on "furthering his work and legacy".[26] For a time, she was escorted to dinners, parties, and the theater by singer and family friend Andy Williams.[35]
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
Ethel Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (now known as Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights)[36] in 1968.[37] In February 2001, Kennedy visited Rodolfo Montiel and another peasant activist at their jail in Iguala, presenting Rodolfo with the Chico Mendes Award on behalf of American environmental group the Sierra Club.[38] In March 2016, Kennedy was among hundreds who marched near the home of Wendy's chairman Nelson Peltz in Palm Beach, Florida, as part of an effort by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a farm workers' group, to convince the company to pay an additional one cent per pound of tomatoes to increase the wages of field workers.[39] Kennedy's daughter Kerry was president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, according to the Fund's 2022 annual report.[40]
Later life and death
Kennedy in 2000
During the late 1970s, with a renewed commitment to public service, Kennedy focused much of her time and energy on various social causes, including the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Project.[41] In 1992, Kennedy and her son Michael made a cameo appearance on the NBC sitcom Cheers in Boston.[42]
During the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama.[43] She publicly supported and held fundraisers at Hickory Hill for numerous politicians that included Virginia gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran.[44] Kennedy hosted a $6-million fundraising dinner for Obama at Hickory Hill in June 2008. The $28,500-a-plate dinner was headlined by former Democratic presidential candidate and DNC chairman Howard Dean.[45]
In 2012, Kennedy appeared in a documentary about her life, directed by her youngest child, daughter Rory. The documentary, entitled Ethel, covers Kennedy's early political involvement, her life with Robert F. Kennedy, and the years following his death when she raised eleven children on her own. It features interviews with Ethel and her children interspersed with family videos and archival photos.[46]
President Joe Biden with Kennedy's coffin at her funeral, October 2024
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan honored Kennedy with the Robert F. Kennedy medal in the White House Rose Garden.[54] In 2014, a bridge over the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Ethel Kennedy Bridge in her honor, in recognition of her advocacy for environmentalism and social causes in the District of Columbia.[55] Also in 2014, Kennedy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama for her dedication to "advancing the cause of social justice, human rights, environmental protection, and poverty reduction by creating countless ripples of hope to effect change around the world".[56][57]
Taylor Swift was inspired to write "Starlight" after seeing a photo of Robert and Ethel Kennedy. The song is from the perspective of Ethel Kennedy, mentioning meeting "Bobby on the boardwalk" (Robert F. Kennedy) and saying "we could get married / have ten kids and teach 'em how to dream" (referencing the eleven kids they would have).[62]
^"Ethel Skakel Kennedy". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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