Jean Kennedy Smith

Jean Kennedy Smith

Kennedy Smith with Victoria Reggie Kennedy in 2008
25th United States Ambassador to Ireland
In office
June 17, 1993 – September 17, 1998
President Bill Clinton
Preceded by William Henry Gerald Fitzgerald
Succeeded by Michael J. Sullivan
Personal details
Born Jean Ann Kennedy
(1928-02-20) February 20, 1928
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality American, Irish (honorary)
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Stephen Edward Smith (m. 1956; d. 1990)
Relations See Kennedy family
Children Stephen Edward Smith, Jr.
William Kennedy Smith
Amanda Mary Smith (adopted)
Kym Maria Smith (adopted)
Parents Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Rose Fitzgerald
Alma mater Manhattanville College
Profession Politician
Religion Roman Catholic

Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (born February 20, 1928) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She is the eighth of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald, and is their longest-lived and last surviving child. Her siblings include President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, longtime Senator Ted Kennedy, and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Smith is the founder of Very Special Arts (VSA), an internationally recognized non-profit dedicated to creating a society where those with disabilities can engage with the arts. In 2011, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama for her work with VSA and the disabled.

As Ambassador to Ireland, Smith was instrumental to the Northern Ireland peace process as President Bill Clinton's representative in Dublin. She was heavily criticised after advocating for the U.S. government to grant a visa to Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, although her family would claim this influenced the IRA declaring a ceasefire in 1994. Irish President Mary McAleese conferred honorary Irish citizenship on Smith in 1998 in recognition of her service to the country.

Early years and family life

c.1953

Jean Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on her elder sister Kathleen's eighth birthday.[1][2] She has been described as the shyest and most guarded of the Kennedy children. She attended Manhattanville College (at the time a Sacred Heart school, and still located in Purchase NY), where she met and befriended two future sisters-in-law: Ethel Skakel, who married her older brother Robert in 1950 and Joan Bennett who married her younger brother Ted in 1958.

Marriage and children

On May 19, 1956, she married Stephen Edward Smith in a small chapel of the Roman Catholic Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. 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. Jean gave birth to two sons:

The couple also adopted two daughters:

Career

Campaigning

Smith was intricately involved with the political career of her older brother John, working on his 1946 Congressional campaign, his 1952 Senate campaign, and ultimately his presidential campaign in 1960. She and her siblings helped Kennedy knock on doors in primary states like Texas and Wisconsin and on the campaign trail played the role of sister more than volunteer, citing her parents' family lesson of "working together for something."[3]

Kennedy Smith and her husband were present at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, when Sirhan Sirhan shot and fatally wounded her brother Robert after he had won the Democratic 1968 California U.S. presidential primary.[4]

Very Special Arts

In 1974, Kennedy Smith founded Very Special Arts, now known simply as VSA "the international organization on art and disabilities."[5] VSA is a non-profit affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts which is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is dedicated to creating a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts. VSA annually serves over 7 million people across American and in 52 countries.[6] Smith has traveled extensively throughout the world on behalf of VSA to advocate for greater inclusion in the arts for people with disabilities. Her book, Chronicles of Courage: Very Special Artists, co-written with George Plimpton, was published by Random House in April 1993.[7] In 2011, Smith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama for her work with VSA and the disabled.[8]

U.S. Ambassador to Ireland

In 1993, Smith was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton as the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland,[9] continuing a legacy of diplomacy begun by her father, who was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom during the administration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As ambassador, she played a pivotal role in the peace process in Northern Ireland for almost five years before retiring the post. She successfully advocated for the U.S. government to grant a visa to Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, which directly led to the IRA declaring a ceasefire in 1994. 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.

Irish President Mary McAleese conferred honorary Irish citizenship on Smith in 1998 in recognition of her service to the country.[10] During a ceremony, McAleese praised Smith's "fixedness of purpose." Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern told Smith, "You have helped bring about a better life for everyone throughout Ireland."

Sinn Féin controversy

In 1994, Smith came to the forefront of American foreign policy when she championed the granting of a U.S. visa to Gerry Adams. Smith has been lauded for her work in the region, but was criticised for supporting the visa for Adams. Her family have claimed this was a key step in the success of the peace process in the years that followed.[11] In her brother Ted's memoir, he described that "Jean was convinced that Adams no longer believed that continuing the armed struggle was the way to achieve the IRA's objective of a united Ireland," and that "It took only a couple of hours' conversation with Jean after we landed to discover what was the most important thing on her mind – the opportunity for a breakthrough in the Northern Ireland stalemate."[12]

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 Adams the visa and had sent in a "Dissent Channel" message.[13] The Foreign Service Journal called the U.S. State Department's report on the matter "scathingly critical".[14] Her management of the embassy came under criticism by the Boston Herald in December 1996, which obtained internal U.S. State Department memoranda and e-mail, for putting pressure on embassy staff to spend taxpayer money to refurbish her residence in Dublin.[15][16] 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.[17]

On September 17, 1998, seven months after the historic Good Friday Agreement, Smith retired as ambassador.

Philanthropy, awards and later life

Smith has won a number of awards for her work in Ireland and in the disability community. In 1995, she was honored as Irish American of the Year by Irish America magazine and a year later had an uncredited role in the film Michael Collins (1996). She was awarded honorary citizenship by the Government of Ireland in 1998[18] and in 2007, Smith received the Gold Medal Award from the Éire Society of Boston,[19] for her peace efforts in Northern Ireland and for her humanitarian work with disabled children. She has also received the Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service, the Margaret Mead Humanitarian Award, and the 1997 Terence Cardinal Cooke Humanitarian Award.

In 2009, Smith was honored with the Tipperary Peace Prize along with her brother Ted Kennedy for their support of the peace process in Northern Ireland. In February 2011, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom,[8][20] the nation's highest civilian honor, for her work with people with disabilities.

On March 15, 2011, Smith was inducted into Irish America magazine's Irish America Hall of Fame.[21]

Smith, who holds a number of honorary degrees, serves on the board of directors of both the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the International Rescue Committee, and has also served on the Board of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Her husband, Stephen Edward Smith, died of cancer on August 19, 1990. The following year their younger son William, then a student at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., was accused of rape in Florida, but was acquitted after a highly publicized trial.[22] Her elder 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 Joe and Rose.[23] She attended his funeral on August 29, 2009.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "Jean Kennedy Smith." The Kennedy Family: JFK Library.
  2. ↑ Romano, Kristin (March 10, 2011). "Irish America Hall of Fame: Jean Kennedy Smith".
  3. ↑ Plitt, Todd. "JFK's Sister Jean Kennedy Smith Reflects USA Today, September 26, 2010
  4. ↑ "Bobby's Last, Longest Day" The Daily Beast
  5. ↑ Jean Kennedy Smith: Founder of VSA
  6. ↑ "About VSA." VSA The International Organization on Arts and Disability.
  7. ↑ "Jean Kennedy Smith." The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.
  8. 1 2 White House Office of the Press Secretary (February 15, 2011). "President Obama Names Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients".
  9. ↑ Peacemakers: Jean Kennedy Smith: Irish Central
  10. ↑ Jean Kennedy Smith: Irish America Hall of Fame: Ambassador
  11. ↑ O'dowd, Niall. "Ted Kennedy's Touching Tribute to Sister Jean Kennedy Smith IrishCentral
  12. ↑ Kennedy, Edward M. True Compass: A Memoir. New York: Twelve, 2009. Print.
  13. ↑ Engleberg, Stephen (March 8, 1996). "U.S. Says Envoy to Ireland Wrongly Punished 2 Colleagues", The New York Times. Accessed August 25, 2009.
  14. ↑ Gilbert, Richard (July 1996). "Dissent in Dublin – For 2 FSOs, Cable Drew Retribution And Frustration". Foreign Service Journal. Accessed August 25, 2009.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Department of Justice and Former Ambassador Settle Allegations of Conflict of Interest Violation , September 22, 2000. Accessed August 28, 2009.
  18. ↑ Staff writer (October 14, 1999). "Ambassador J. Kennedy Smith Is Fellow at Institute of Politics". The Harvard University Gazette. Accessed August 25, 2009.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ Julianna Goldman (February 15, 2011). "Obama Honors Buffett, George H.W. Bush With Medal of Freedom". Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  21. ↑ Romano, Kristin. "Activist, Humanitarian, Diplomat", Irish America magazine, March 10, 2011. Accessed March 22, 2011. "Often referred to as the shy Kennedy, Jean Kennedy Smith has quietly blazed her own trail while still holding true to the family legacy of public service. "
  22. ↑ Margolick, David (December 12, 1991). "Smith Acquitted of Rape Charge After Brief Deliberation by Jury". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  23. ↑ 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
William Henry Gerald FitzGerald		 United States Ambassador to Ireland
1993–1998 		Succeeded by
Michael J. Sullivan
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