1. Caroline Bouvier Kennedy was born on November 27,1957 and is an American author, diplomat, and attorney who served as the United States ambassador to Australia from 2022 to 2024.
78 Facts About Caroline Kennedy
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Caroline Kennedy previously served in the Obama administration as the United States ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017.
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Caroline Kennedy is a member of the Kennedy family and the only surviving child of US president John F Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
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Caroline Kennedy was only five years old when he was assassinated on November 22,1963.
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Caroline Kennedy graduated from Radcliffe College of Harvard University and later attended Columbia Law School, where she earned a Juris Doctor degree in 1988.
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Caroline Kennedy passed the New York State bar exam the following year.
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Caroline Kennedy worked at Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she met her future husband, designer Edwin Schlossberg.
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Caroline Kennedy later stumped for him in Florida, Indiana, and Ohio, served as co-chair of his Vice Presidential Search Committee, and addressed the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
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Eight years later, Joe Biden appointed Caroline Kennedy as United States ambassador to Australia and she took office following her confirmation on June 10,2022.
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Caroline Bouvier Kennedy was born on November 27,1957, at New York Hospital to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and John F Kennedy, then a US senator from Massachusetts.
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Caroline Kennedy is named after her maternal aunt, Lee Radziwill, and maternal great-great-grandmother, Caroline Ewing Bouvier.
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Caroline Kennedy lived with her parents in Georgetown, Washington, DC during the first three years of her life.
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When Caroline Kennedy was three years old, the family moved to the White House after her father was sworn in as president of the United States.
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Caroline Kennedy was often photographed riding her pony "Macaroni" around the White House grounds.
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When Caroline Kennedy's father was assassinated in 1963, nanny Maud Shaw took her and John Jr.
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In 1967, Kennedy christened the US Navy aircraft carrier USS John F Kennedy in a widely publicized ceremony in Newport News, Virginia.
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Jacqueline Caroline Kennedy married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis several months later and she and the children moved to Skorpios, his Greek island.
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The next year, 11-year-old Caroline attended the funeral of her grandfather, Joseph P Kennedy Sr.
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In 1970, Jacqueline wrote her brother-in-law Ted Kennedy a letter stating that Caroline had been without a godfather since Robert Kennedy's death and would like Ted to assume the role.
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In 1971, Caroline Kennedy returned to the White House for the first time since her father's assassination when she was invited by President Richard Nixon to view the official portrait of her father.
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Onassis died in March 1975, and Caroline Kennedy returned to Skorpios for his funeral.
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Later that year, Caroline Kennedy was visiting London to complete a year-long art course at the Sotheby's auction house, when an IRA car bomb placed under the car of her hosts, Conservative MP Sir Hugh Fraser and his wife, Antonia, exploded shortly before she and the Frasers were due to leave for their daily drive to Sotheby's.
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Caroline Kennedy had not yet left the house, but a neighbor, oncologist Professor Gordon Hamilton Fairley, was passing by when he was walking his dog and was killed by the explosion.
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Caroline Kennedy began her education with kindergarten classes in the White House organized by her mother.
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Caroline Kennedy attended The Brearley School and Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan, and later graduated in 1975 from Concord Academy in Massachusetts.
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Caroline Kennedy was a photographer's assistant at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
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In 1980, Caroline Kennedy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in fine arts.
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Caroline Kennedy later became a "liaison officer between the museum staff and outside producers and directors shooting footage at the museum", helping coordinate the Sesame Street special Don't Eat the Pictures.
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On December 4,1984, Caroline Kennedy was threatened when a man telephoned the museum and stated his name and address while reporting that a bomb had been planted there.
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In 1988, Caroline Kennedy earned a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, graduating in the top 10 percent of her class.
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Caroline Kennedy was romantically linked to many famous men, including Mark Shand, Sebastian Taylor, and Jonathan Guinness.
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Caroline Kennedy did not change her surname at the time she married.
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Caroline Kennedy decided that his remains would be cremated, and his ashes scattered into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, where John Jr.
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Caroline Kennedy owns Red Gate Farm, her mother's 375-acre estate in Aquinnah, Massachusetts on Martha's Vineyard.
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In January 2025, Kennedy publicly spoke out against her cousin Robert F Kennedy Jr.
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Caroline Kennedy is an attorney, writer, and editor who has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations.
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Caroline Kennedy attended the Robin Hood Foundation annual breakfast on December 7,1999.
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In 2000, Caroline Kennedy supported Al Gore for the presidency and mentioned feeling a kinship with him since their fathers served together in the Senate.
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Caroline Kennedy spoke at the 2000 Democratic National Convention which was held in Los Angeles, California, the first time since the 1960 Democratic National Convention, where her father had been nominated by the Democratic Party for the presidency.
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From 2002 through 2004, Caroline Kennedy worked as director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education, appointed by School Chancellor Joel Klein.
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Caroline Kennedy served as one of two vice chairs of the board of directors of The Fund for Public Schools and is currently honorary director of the fund.
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Caroline Kennedy has served on the board of trustees of Concord Academy, which Kennedy attended as a teen.
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Caroline Kennedy is president of the Caroline Kennedy Library Foundation and an adviser to the Harvard Institute of Politics.
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Caroline Kennedy is a member of the New York and Washington, DC, bar associations.
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Caroline Kennedy is a member of the boards of directors of the Commission on Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and is an honorary chair of the American Ballet Theatre.
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Caroline Kennedy represented her family at the funeral services of former presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford and former First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush.
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Caroline Kennedy attended the 50th-anniversary ceremony of the March on Washington on August 28,2013.
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On January 27,2008, Caroline Kennedy announced in a New York Times op-ed piece entitled, "A President Like My Father," that she would endorse Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidential election.
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Federal Election Commission records show that Caroline Kennedy contributed $2,300 to the Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign committee on June 29,2007.
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Caroline Kennedy previously contributed a total of $5,000 to Clinton's 2006 senatorial campaign.
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Filmmaker Michael Moore called on Kennedy to "Pull a Cheney", and name herself as Obama's vice presidential running mate.
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Caroline Kennedy addressed the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, introducing a tribute film about her uncle, Senator Ted Caroline Kennedy.
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Caroline Kennedy was among the 35 national co-chairs of Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.
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On June 27,2012, Caroline Kennedy made appearances in Nashua and Manchester, New Hampshire, to campaign for the re-election of President Obama.
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In December 2008, Caroline Kennedy expressed interest in the United States Senate seat occupied by Hillary Clinton, who had been selected to become Secretary of State.
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Caroline Kennedy was criticized for not voting in a number of Democratic primaries and general elections since registering in 1988 in New York City and for not providing details about her political views.
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On foreign policy, her spokeswoman reiterated that Caroline Kennedy opposed the Iraq War from the beginning as well as that she believed that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital city of Israel.
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Caroline Kennedy declined to make disclosures of her financial dealings or other personal matters to the press, stating that she would not release the information publicly unless she were selected by Governor Paterson.
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Caroline Kennedy did complete a confidential 28-page disclosure questionnaire required of hopefuls, reported to include extensive financial information.
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In late December 2008, Caroline Kennedy drew criticism from several media outlets for lacking clarity in interviews, and for using the phrase "you know" 168 times during a 30-minute interview with NY1.
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Shortly before midnight on January 22,2009, Caroline Kennedy released a statement that she was withdrawing from consideration for the seat, citing "personal reasons".
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Caroline Kennedy declined to expand upon the reasons that led to her decision.
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On September 19,2013, Caroline Kennedy sat before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and responded to questions regarding her potential appointment.
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Caroline Kennedy explained that her focus would be military ties, trade, and student exchange if she was selected for the position.
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Caroline Kennedy was confirmed on October 16,2013, by voice vote as the first female US Ambassador to Japan and was sworn in by Secretary of State John Kerry on November 12.
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In February 2014, Caroline Kennedy visited the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, the site of the large military bases of United States Forces Japan, and was received by protests against the American military presence and placards with "no base" written on them.
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Caroline Kennedy subsequently met with Okinawa's governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, who was re-elected in 2010 in opposition to the base.
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Caroline Kennedy pledged to reduce the burden of the American military presence in Okinawa.
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Caroline Kennedy called her visit a "solemn honor" and planted dogwood trees on a road, participating in a US project to spread 3,000 dogwood trees across Japan.
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Caroline Kennedy christened CVN-79 on December 7,2019, the 78th anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.
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Traditionally, a person only sponsors one United States navy ship; however, Caroline Kennedy is one of the rare exceptions who sponsored two ships.
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Caroline Kennedy resigned as the United States Ambassador to Japan shortly before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.
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Caroline Kennedy formally left Japan as Ambassador on January 18,2017.
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In recognition of her service, Caroline Kennedy was awarded Japan's Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 2021.
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On December 15,2021, President Joe Biden nominated Caroline Kennedy to be the United States Ambassador to Australia.
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Caroline Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate on May 5,2022, by voice vote.
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Caroline Kennedy presented her credentials to Governor-General of Australia David Hurley on July 25,2022.
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In September 2024, Caroline Kennedy announced she would leave her ambassadorial position regardless of the result of the presidential election.