Sex Scandals, Drugs, and Tragedy: What Happened to Ethel Kennedy’s Kids

The dynastic Kennedy clan lost its matriarch on Thursday with the passing of 96-year-old Ethel Kennedy.

The activist and mother, who was left to raise 11 kids on her own after her husband, Robert, was assassinated in 1968, is survived by nine of her children—many of whom have become noteworthy in their own right.

As with the generation of Kennedys that came before them, public service, tragic deaths and scandal are entwined in their legacy.

Below is everything you need to know—the good, bad, and ugly—about RFK and Ethel’s children: Kathleen, Joseph, Robert, David, Courtney, Michael, Kerry, Christopher, Max, Douglas, and Rory.

Kathleen H. Kennedy Townsend, 73

The eldest child of Robert and Ethel, Kathleen was born in Connecticut in 1951. As a child she was told in a letter from her dad that she bore a “particular responsibility” to “work for your country” as the oldest of the next generation of Kennedys. She did just that, earning the nicknames “clean Kathleen” and “the Nun” as she pushed to make good on her late dad’s wish. She first ran for the U.S. House in 1986 but lost in a majority Republican district, becoming the first Kennedy to ever lose a general election. She persisted, however, and became Maryland’s lieutenant governor in 1994. After two terms, she ran for governor herself in 20o2 but lost. Kathleen has been married to David Townsend since 1973 and has four children with him. Kathleen was just 16 when her dad was assassinated and has suffered another family tragedy in recent years. Her daughter, Maeve, and grandson, Gideon, both drowned in a canoeing accident in 2020.

Joseph P. Kennedy II, 72

Joseph was born in Boston in 1952 and was named after his grandfather. A high schooler when his dad was killed, he was also drawn to public service after a tumultuous two-year period that saw him drop out of the the University of California, Berkeley in 1972 and be cited for negligent driving for causing a car crash that infamously left his passenger paralyzed. Joseph later enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Boston and graduated in 1976. Just three years later, he founded a nonprofit named “Citizens Energy,” which provided heating oil to low-income and elderly families. He left the role in 1987 to run for Congress, where he served as the representative for the 12 district of Massachusetts for a dozen years before retiring. He used his final speech on the House floor to make a plea for unity and forgiveness as Congress threatened to have Bill Clinton impeached. Joseph has two kids and has been married twice—first to Sheila Rauch, in 1979, and to Anne Elizabeth Kelly since 1993.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 70

Perhaps the most prominent and scandalous of Robert and Ethel’s children was their third, who’s gone by simply “Bobby” or “RFK Jr.” for most of his life. He was born in Washington in 1954 and was 14 when his dad was assassinated. RFK Jr., once a prominent environmental lawyer, has become a family pariah in recent years as he’s embraced conspiracy theories, been accused of sexual assault, and has endorsed Donald Trump—a man who has starchily different beliefs than his long list of politician relatives. RFK Jr. has been known to be a womanizer who infamously documented his many affairs in a pair of diaries in 2001 that were reportedly obtained by the New York Post. Kennedy married his first wife, Emily Black, in 1982 and was married to her for 12 years. He then married Mary Richardson Kennedy in 1994 and was accused of being a serial philanderer during the marriage. The couple had a highly-publicized split in 2010 and, two years later, Mary took her own life. Kennedy re-married a third time in 2014, this time to the actress Cheryl Hines. The father-of-six’s womanizing ways reportedly persisted into his seventh decade, however, with it emerging last month that he’d allegedly sexted with the 31-year-old New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi. News of that scandal broke just weeks after his longshot presidential campaign as an independent came to an end.

David A. Kennedy (1955-84)

David Anthony Kennedy was born in 1955 and was 13 years old when his father was assassinated. He lived a troubled life, but was said to have been extremely close with RFK Jr. before his untimely death. David overdosed and was discovered by a hotel secretary while he was staying in a Palm Beach, Florida, resort in 1984. His death came shortly after he’d dropped out of Harvard and sought treatment for an addiction to both heroin and alcohol, The New York Times wrote at the time. He was 28. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, photographed with David above, issued a statement just after his nephew’s overdose. It read in part, “We all pray that David has finally found the peace that he did not find in life.” David was never married and had no children.

Mary Courtney Kennedy Hill, 68

Mary Courtney Kennedy Hill, known as Courtney, was born in Boston in 1956. She was 11 when her father died and has lived a largely private life compared to that of her siblings. Still, despite her low profile, she’s not been immune to the Kennedy Curse that’s long roiled her family. Her daughter, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, died in 2019 from a drug overdose while at the Kennedy compound on Cape Cod. Saoirse, who was 22, was a communication major at Boston College and was the vice president of the school’s College Democrats. She was Courtney’s only child.

Michael L. Kennedy (1958-97)

Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., in 1958 and was 10 years old when his father was killed. He studied at Harvard for his undergraduate degree and went to law school at the University of Virginia, setting him up for a job at a private law firm. Things appeared to be looking up for Michael, who’d grown into a successful lawyer who married Victoria Denise Gifford in March 1981. The couple had three children together before their relationship became embroiled in scandal after reports alleged that Michael had an affair with the family’s babysitter when she was as young as 14. Michael admitted to the affair but insisted he never had sex with the child before she turned 16. The disgusting allegations were quickly followed by Michael and Gifford announcing their separation in April 1997. Later that same year, Michael fatally crashed into a tree while he played football with loved ones while skiing in Aspen, Colorado.

Mary ‘Kerry’ Kennedy, 65

Mary Kerry Kennedy, who goes by Kerry, was born in Washington, D.C., in 1959. She followed the footsteps of her older siblings by becoming a lawyer, obtaining an undergraduate degree from Brown University and her law degree from Boston College. She worked as human rights activist after joining Amnesty International as an intern. She’s continued working in that field ever since and is currently the president of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights—a nonprofit she founded in 1986. She married Andrew Cuomo in 1990 and the couple share three daughters. They divorced in 2005, however, three years after Cuomo’s first run at becoming governor of New York. Kerry allegedly sideswiped a tractor trailer in 2012 and blamed the incident on having adverse effects from a sleeping pill. Despite police alleging she was intoxicated, a drug test backed up her claims and she was acquitted on all charges after a jury trial.

Christopher G. Kennedy, 61

Christopher George Kennedy was born in Boston on the Fourth of July in 1963. He studied at Boston College and Northwestern University before working in both politics and finance. He married Sheila Sinclair Berner in 1987 and they share four children together. Among his political ventures was running the campaign for his uncle Ted Kennedy’s failed 1980 presidential bid. More recently, he announced he was running in the Democratic Party primary for governor of Illinois in 2018, but his campaign fizzled after the state’s Democratic party threw its support behind J.B. Pritzker. Since then, Christopher has worked as the chairman of Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises, an investment firm. He endorsed Joe Biden for president earlier this year and, upon Biden’s departure from the race, said he’d be voting for Kamala Harris.

Matthew “Max” Taylor Kennedy, 59

Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy was born in 1965 in New York City. He was just a tot when his dad was killed, but he followed a path similar to his siblings who spent more years with him after grade school drama that saw him be expelled from the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard for his undergraduate degree—after initially enrolling at Georgetown University—before receiving a law degree from the University of Virginia. He splashed onto the scene as a prosecutor in Philadelphia after he famously chased down a mugger on foot—an incident that was covered by the national press. Max worked on his uncle Ted’s campaign in 2000 and also for Barack Obama in 2008. Kennedy was nominated by Obama to serve as a member of the Board of the Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Senate confirmed him in 2011. He served in that role until 2018. Max married Victoria Anne Strauss in 1991 and they share three children together.

Douglas Harriman Kennedy, 57

Douglas Harriman Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., in 1967, just a year before his father was assassinated. Douglas broke from the Kennedy family tradition of becoming a lawyer. Instead, he graduated from Brown University and began his career as a journalist with The Nantucket Beacon and, soon after, the New York Post. He later joined Fox News as a general assignment reporter and eventually had his own program. He was forced to turn up in court after being slapped with physical harassment and child endangerment charges in 2012 that stemmed from him allegedly getting physical with hospital staff who tried to stop him from taking out his newborn outside to get “some fresh air” against hospital policy. Kennedy, who has five children with his wife Molly Stark, was ultimately acquitted.

Rory Kennedy, 55

Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 12, 1968, six months after her father’s slaying. She’s a documentary filmmaker that has focussed on social issues such as addiction, nuclear power, prisoners-of-war treatment, and the politics surrounding a fence at the U.S. southern border with Mexico. She was arrested during a protest outside the South African Embassy in D.C. as a teenager and was said to have been hit hard by David’s overdose death. She was also present at her brother Michael’s accident, unsuccessfully trying to save him through mouth-t0-mouth resuscitation after his skiing accident. She married Mark Bailey in Greece in 1999—a wedding that was delayed by the 1999 Martha's Vineyard plane crash that killed John F. Kennedy Jr, his wife, and his sister-in-law as they were en route to the wedding’s initial date. The couple has two daughters and a son together.