Who is Caroline Kennedy? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Age: 66 Years, 66 Year Old Females

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Edwin Schlossberg (m. 1986)

father: John Fitzgerald Kennedy

mother: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy

children: John Schlossberg, Rose Schlossberg, Tatiana Schlossberg

The Kennedy Family Diplomats

Height: 1.8 m

political ideology: Democratic Party

City: New York City

U.S. State: New Yorkers

More Facts

education: Harvard University (BA), Columbia University (JD)

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Childhood & Early Life

Caroline Bouvier Kennedy was born on 27 November 1957, in New York City, USA. She is the eldest daughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. She had a younger brother John Jr., and a baby brother, Patrick who died in infancy.

The initial years of her life were spent in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. When she was only three years old, her father became the 35th President of the United States and the family moved into the White House.

At the White House, she attended kindergarten classes arranged by her mother, rode around her pony called Macaroni, and received numerous gifts from international dignitaries.

Shortly before her sixth birthday, her father was assassinated. Two weeks later, the family left the White House and went back to Georgetown. Eventually, they moved to a penthouse apartment in Manhattan.

Following the loss of her father, her uncle Robert F. Kennedy became a father figure in her life. When Robert was assassinated as well, her mother Jacqueline Kennedy tried to protect her children by marrying a Greek shipping tycoon, Aristotle Onassis, and moving out of the country.

Caroline didn’t seem to like her step-father and later, another one of her uncles, Ted Kennedy, became her godfather on Jacqueline’s request. In 1971, she returned to the White House to view the official portrait of her father when invited by President Nixon.

In 1975, Onassis died and she attended his funeral in Skorpios, Greek island. Later that year, while visiting London to complete a year-long art course at the Sotheby's auction house she narrowly escaped a car bomb attack.

She attended private girls’ schools in Manhattan and in 1975 she graduated from Concord Academy in Massachusetts. In 1980, she received a Bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College at Harvard University and later in 1988 she graduated from Columbia Law School as well.

After completing her graduation, she joined as a research assistant at the Film and Television Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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Career

At around this time Caroline Kennedy began her career as an attorney, writer, and editor. Along with her family members, she created the ‘Profile in Courage Award’ in 1989 that honours courageous public officials.

She co-authored a book with Ellen Alderman called ‘In Our Defence: The Bill of Rights in Action’ (1991) about constitutional issues and also published some best-selling volumes of prose and poems, such as ‘The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.’

From 2002 to 2004, she worked as director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education. Against a salary of $1, she helped raise funds of $65 million for the city’s public schools. She is currently Honorary Director of the Fund and was earlier on the board of trustees of Concord Academy.

She is the president of the Kennedy Library Foundation and an adviser to the Harvard Institute of Politics. She is also a member of the New York and Washington D.C. bar associations.

Caroline Kennedy is a member of the boards of directors of the Commission on Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund.

In January 2008, she publicly endorsed Barack Obama for the 2008 U.S. presidential election by writing an essay for The New York Times titled ‘A President like My Father.’

In June 2008, Obama selected her along with Jim Johnson and Eric Holder, to co-chair his Vice Presidential Search Committee.

In December 2008, she showed interest in being appointed to the U.S. Senate seat from New York. The position was once held by her uncle, Robert Kennedy from 1965 to 1968.

Her desire to hold the public office received mixed opinions from both critics and supporters. She finally withdrew her nomination citing personal reasons, and Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed to the position shortly thereafter.

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She was among the 35 national co-chairs of Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. In June 2012, she made various appearances to campaign for the re-election of President Obama.

In November 2013, Caroline Kennedy was sworn in as the first female U.S. Ambassador to Japan. She was welcomed heartily by the people and worked competently to strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship.

She resigned from the position in January 2017 following orders passed by the new President Donald Trump for all non-career U.S. ambassadors.

Caroline Kennedy is not only an accomplished attorney, writer, editor and charity worker, but also a skilled diplomat who as the first female U.S. ambassador to Japan successfully strengthened the ties between the two nations, and promoted the importance of women in Japanese business and politics.

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Major Works

Caroline Kennedy and Ellen Alderman have co-authored two books together on civil rights: ‘In Our Defence: The Bill of Rights in Action’ (1991) and ‘The Right to Privacy’ (1995).

She has edited some best-selling volumes like ‘The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ (2001) and ‘A Patriot's Handbook’ (2003), and also authored books of poems and prose.

As the first female U.S. ambassador to Japan, she worked with the Japanese government to return to Japan thousands of acres of land in north Okinawa that had been used by the U.S. as a military base since the end of World War II. She also promoted literacy, and women's and LGBT rights in Japan.

Personal Life & Legacy

While working at the Film and Television Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Caroline Kennedy met exhibit designer Edwin Schlossberg whom she married in 1986. The couple has three children, Rose Kennedy Schlossberg (b.1988), Tatiana Celia Kennedy Schlossberg (b.1990), and John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg (b.1993).

She is the owner of her mother's 375 acre estate known as Red Gate Farm in Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard.

Caroline Kennedy Biography