Victoria Anne Kennedy (née Reggie; born February 26, 1954)[1] is an American diplomat, attorney, and activist who presently serves as the United States Ambassador to Austria since 2022. She is the widow and the second wife of longtime U.S. senatorTed Kennedy.
A member of the Kennedy family through her late husband, Kennedy was born in Louisiana and became a practicing attorney after attending Tulane University Law School. As a partner at Keck, Mahin & Cate, she specialized in financial law. She was appointed as ambassador by President Joe Biden in 2021 and confirmed unanimously by the US Senate. She is a sister-in-law to former president John F. Kennedy and former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Early life and education
The second of six children, Victoria Anne Reggie was born in Crowley in Acadia Parish in southwestern Louisiana. Her father, Edmund Reggie, was a Louisiana judge and banker, and her mother, Doris Ann Boustany, was a Democratic National committeewoman.[2][3] Reggie is of Lebanese descent, as all of her grandparents were Maronites from Lebanon who immigrated to the United States and later settled to Louisiana.[4] Reggie's grandparents became important members of the local Roman Catholic church, and later their children became involved in business and politics. Her brother is Denis Reggie, a photographer who popularized the genre of wedding photojournalism.
Reggie's immediate family was wealthy because of money from her maternal family's interest in the Bunny Bread baking concern in New Orleans.[5] She was raised in a family that was constantly involved in politics and campaigns. At the 1956 Democratic National Convention, her father helped deliver his state for John F. Kennedy's unsuccessful bid for the vice-presidential nomination. Over time, John Kennedy developed a close social relationship with the Reggies.[6] Her mother cast the only Louisiana delegate vote for Ted Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic National Convention.[7]
Kennedy is president and co-founder of Common Sense about Kids and Guns, an advocacy group begun in 1999 which seeks to reduce gun deaths and injuries to children in the U.S. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and has served on the board of Stop Handgun Violence in Boston.[8] She is a board member of Catholic Democrats and authored the preface for their 2009 book The Catholic Case for Obama.
Activities
Reports indicated that the Senator Kennedy expressed the wish that his wife would succeed him in office,[11] and speculation towards that possibility continued during his illness.[12]
Upon his death, some thought that she would be appointed by then-Governor Deval Patrick to take the Senator's seat until the special election could take place, but she declined[13][14][15] and the governor instead appointed long-time Kennedy associate Paul G. Kirk. Some Democratic officials hoped she would agree to run for Senate to finish out her husband's term, but she declined again and instead endorsed Martha Coakley for the special election to fill the vacant seat.[16] Coakley was defeated by Scott Brown. A year later, speculation continued as some noted Democrats saw her as their best chance to take back Senator Kennedy's former seat from Brown and the Republicans in the 2012 election;[17] however, she again declined,[18] and the Democratic nomination was awarded to Elizabeth Warren, who went on to defeat Brown in November 2012.[19]
Kennedy was invited to speak at the spring commencement of the Catholic Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, but at the request of Bishop Robert Joseph McManus of the Diocese of Worcester, Kennedy was disinvited by the college. The bishop and other Catholic organizations had expressed reservations about a stalwart pro-choice advocate like Kennedy speaking at a Catholic university.[20]
Following marriage, the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where she practiced banking and savings and loan law and restructuring and bankruptcy law for Keck, Mahin & Cate.[3][4] She was made partner there, and was known to be "charismatic and hard-driving" and a tough negotiator in settlement talks[4] and "as a real star" for her ability to work on complicated financial transactions.[3] Reggie and Raclin had two children, Curran (born 1982) and Caroline (born 1985).[2] They were divorced in 1990.[2][31] Upon her divorce, she was left to juggle her career as a lawyer with her role as a single mother of two young children.[3]
Marriage to Ted Kennedy
Kennedy and Reggie began dating in June 1991[32] after meeting at a party celebrating her parents' 40th wedding anniversary.[3] Ted Kennedy said of this meeting, "I had known Vicki before, but this was the first time I think I really saw her."[7] The relationship became serious in September 1991.[7] They were engaged in March 1992, and married July 3, 1992, in a civil ceremony at his home in McLean, Virginia.[33] His political career had suffered from a long period of womanizing, drinking, and adverse publicity, and she is credited with stabilizing his personal life and helping him resume a productive career in the Senate.[3][6] Kennedy was devoted to her two children.[3][6]
^ ab"Common Sense about Kids and Guns: Kennedy Bio". Archived from the original on September 7, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2006. Mrs. Kennedy received her undergraduate degree, a B.A. magna cum laude, from Newcomb College of Tulane University, in New Orleans, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and other honor societies and was involved in student government. She was graduated summa cum laude from the Tulane Law School in 1979, where she was an editor of the Tulane Law Review and was inducted in the Order of the Coif. In May 1998, Mrs. Kennedy received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Suffolk University Law School in Boston for her service to her community.
^Tyler, Bridges (October 15, 1995). "Records Reveal More Perks to the Powerful; The Tulane Scholarship Scandal Part II". The Times-Picayune.
^Urbanski, Al (July 15, 2014). "Postal Board Nominees Would Hand Rate-Setting Authority to USPS". Direct Marketing News. Archived from the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014. Attorney and consultant Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy, said she was cautious on the issue of raising rates and would defer judgment until she gains more experience on the board.
^Blumenfeld, Laura. (1992-03-20, page b.01). "Victoria Reggie, Ready for Teddy; Her Friends and Family Agree. She's Perfect for Him", The Washington Post.
^Trueheart, Charles (1992-03-15, page A.05). "Kennedy Announces Plans to Wed Washington Lawyer." The Washington Post.