Jump to content

Jean Kennedy Smith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 98.116.115.180 (talk) at 21:25, 1 September 2009 (flush out (some) naked citations; some general copyedit/tidy). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the American biographer and academic, see Jean Edward Smith. For the Canadian artist and writer, see Jean Smith.
Jean Kennedy Smith
25th United States Ambassador to Ireland
In office
June 17, 1993 – September 17, 1998
Preceded byWilliam Henry Gerald FitzGerald
Succeeded byMichael J. Sullivan
Personal details
Born
Jean Ann Kennedy

(1928-02-20) February 20, 1928 (age 96)
Brookline, Massachusetts, United States
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseStephen Edward Smith (1956–1990, his death)
RelationsParents:
Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth (née Fitzgerald) Kennedy

see also Kennedy family
ChildrenStephen Edward Smith, Jr. (born 1957)
William Kennedy Smith (born 1960)
Amanda Mary Smith (born 1965)
Kym Maria Smith (born 1972)
Alma materManhattanville College
ProfessionPolitician

Jean Kennedy Smith (born February 20, 1928) is an American diplomat, a former United States Ambassador to Ireland.

She is the eighth of nine children born to Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth (née Fitzgerald) Kennedy, and the last surviving member of her generation of the Kennedy family.

Early life and family life

Born Jean Ann Kennedy in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States, she was the shyest and most-guarded of the Kennedy children. Her mother said of her youngest daughter, "She was born so late, that she only was able to enjoy the tragedies, and not the triumphs."

She attended Manhattanville College (at the time a Sacred Heart school), located in Purchase, New York, where she met and befriended two future sisters-in-law: Ethel Skakel, who married her brother Robert F. Kennedy in 1950, and Joan Bennett, who married her brother Ted in 1958.

On May 19, 1956, in a small chapel of the Roman Catholic Saint Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, New York, she and Stephen Edward Smith were married.

The Smiths maintained a lower profile than some other members of the extended Kennedy family. During the early 1960s, they settled in New York City. Smith gave birth to two sons, Stephen Edward Smith, Jr. (born 1957) and William Kennedy Smith (born 1960), and adopted two daughters, Amanda Mary Smith (born 1965) and Kym Maria Smith (born 1972 in Vietnam).

Smith and her husband were present at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 1968, the night Sirhan Sirhan shot and fatally wounded her brother U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy after he had won the Democratic 1968 California U.S. presidential primary.

Career

VSA arts

In 1974, Smith founded Very Special Arts, now known as VSA arts, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. It promotes the artistic talents of mentally and physically challenged children and is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

U.S. Ambassador to Ireland

In 1993, Smith was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, continuing a legacy of diplomacy begun by her father, who was the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's (United Kingdom) during the administration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

As ambassador, she played a pivotal role in the peace process in that region for almost five years before resigning the post. As a demonstration of her ecumenical views, on at least one occasion she received communion in a cathedral of the Church of Ireland, an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion.

She was reprimanded by U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher for retaliating against two foreign-service officers at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, who had objected to her recommendation to the U.S. government to grant a U.S. visa to Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and had sent in a "Dissent Channel" message.[1] The Foreign Service Journal called the U.S. State Department's report on the matter "scathingly critical".[2]

Her management of the embassy came under criticism by the Boston Herald in December 1996, which obtained internal U.S. State Department memoranda and electronic mail, for putting pressure on embassy staff to spend taxpayer money to refurbish her residence in Dublin. [3] [4]

Smith was also the subject of an allegation of violations of U.S. conflict-of-interest laws. The U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release on September 22, 2000, announcing that she had paid US$5,000 in a civil settlement to resolve the allegations.[5][dead link‍]

She ended her term as amabassador on September 17, 1998.

Philanthropy, awards and later life

She is on the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Her husband died of cancer on August 19, 1990.

In 1991 their son William, then a student at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., was accused of rape in Florida, but was acquitted.

Smith had an uncredited role in the film Michael Collins (1996).

She was awarded honorary citizenship by the Government of Ireland in 1998.[6]

In 2007, Smith received the Gold Medal Award from the Éire Society of Boston[7] for her peace efforts in Northern Ireland and for her humanitarian work with disabled children, and was mentioned in the August/September 2007 issue of Irish American magazine.

Her sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver died on August 11, 2009. Smith did not attend Eunice's funeral on August 14, 2009, choosing to stay with their brother Ted who was ill; he died on August 25, 2009, leaving her as the last surviving child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy.[8] She attended his funeral on August 29, 2009.

She commutes between New York City and Washington, D.C.

See also

References

  1. ^ Engleberg, Stephen (March 8, 1996). "U.S. Says Envoy to Ireland Wrongly Punished 2 Colleagues", The New York Times. Accessed August 25, 2009.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Richard (July 1996). "Dissent in Dublin - For 2 FSOs, Cable Drew Retribution And Frustration". Foreign Service Journal. Accessed August 25, 2009.
  3. ^ Boston Herald Abstract (Undated) (full article requires purchase). Battenfeld, Joe (December 19, 1996). "Queen Jean — Kennedy Sis Spends Bundle to Redecorate Embassy Home". Boston Herald. Accessed September 1, 2009.
  4. ^ Boston Herald Abstract (Undated) (full article requires purchase). Battenfeld, Joe (December 20, 1996). "Jean K Rug Plan Floored Aides — Ambassador Ordered Carpet via Family Associate", Boston Herald. Accessed September 1, 2009.
  5. ^ [dead link‍]Department of Justice and Former Ambassador Settle Allegations of Conflict of Interest Violation, September 22, 2000.[1]. Accessed August 28, 2009.
  6. ^ Staff writer (October 14, 1999). "Ambassador J. Kennedy Smith Is Fellow at Institute of Politics". The Harvard University Gazette. Accessed August 25, 2009.
  7. ^ Staff writer (Undated). "Gold Medal Dinner & Award Ceremony Honoring Former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Ms. Jean Kennedy Smith; Gold Medal Dinner & Award Ceremony — May 3, 2007 at the Park Plaza, Boston". The Eire Society of Boston. Accessed September 1, 2009.
  8. ^ McMullen, Troy (August 26, 2009) "The Last Kennedy — Death of Ted Kennedy Leaves One Surviving Child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy". ABC News. Accessed August 26, 2009.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Ireland
1993 – 1998 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Jean_Kennedy_Smith&oldid=311350793"