Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Kennedy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vice Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 Serving with Mark Warner | |
| Leader | Chuck Schumer |
| Preceded by | Chuck Schumer |
| United States Senator from Massachusetts | |
| Assumed office September 24, 2009 Serving with Joe Kennedy III | |
| Preceded by | Ted Kennedy |
| 94th President of the Massachusetts Senate | |
| In office March 21, 2007 – September 24, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Travaglini |
| Succeeded by | Stan Rosenberg |
| Member of the Massachusetts Senate | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – September 24, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Kirby |
| Succeeded by | Therese Murray |
| Constituency | Plymouth and Barnstable |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Henri S. Rauschenbach |
| Succeeded by | Thomas N. George |
| Constituency | 1st Barnstable |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Caroline Bouvier Kennedy November 27, 1957 New York City, New York, United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mark Shand (m. 1986; died 2014) |
| Children | |
| Parent(s) | John F. Kennedy Jacqueline Kennedy |
| Relatives | Kennedy family |
| Education | Harvard University (AB) Columbia University (JD) |
| Occupation |
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Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American politician, author, and attorney currently serving as the senior United States senator from Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party and the prestigious Kennedy family, Kennedy previously served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and the Massachusetts Senate from 1993 to 2009 during which she became the first woman to be elected President of the Massachusetts Senate, a post that she held from 2007 to 2009. Her father John, the 33rd President of the United States from 1960 to 1969, was also the 65th Governor of Massachusetts from 1970 to 1983 while her uncles Robert and Edward were the 34th President of the United States from 1969 to 1977 and the longtime Massachusetts United States Senator respectively from 1962 to 2009 respectively. Meanwhile, her younger sister Josephine is the 72nd and current Governor of Massachusetts since 2023 and her younger brother John Jr. served as the 54th Governor of New York from 2006 to 2019. Together, the two are popularly nicknamed "The Princesses of Massachusetts", owing to the sisters' dominance in Massachusetts politics and their family's overall prestige.
Born in New York as the eldest of two daughters of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Kennedy, a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University, began her career in politics when she was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the constituency of 1st Barnstable. In 1993, while representing the constituency of Plymouth and Barnstable, Kennedy was then elected to the Massachusetts Senate and, in 2007, was made the first female President of the Massachusetts Senate following the resignation of Robert Travaglini. As the head of the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, Kennedy championed a wide range of initiatives, including gun control, healthcare, labor laws, and consumer rights. In 2009, following the death of longtime incumbent Ted Kennedy, Caroline was chosen to succeed her uncle in the latter's Senate seat, sparking some controversy and accusations of nepotism. Nonetheless, Kennedy narrowly defeated her Republican challenger Scott Brown in an ensuing special election to defend her seat, which she has continued to hold ever since. In 2017, she was appointed vice chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus alongside Virginia Senator Mark Warner. In 2020, her first cousin once removed Joe Kennedy III was elected as the junior senator for Massachusetts, resulting in a historic first where a state's two federal senators come from the same family.
Together with her younger sister, who is the current Governor of Massachusetts, her younger brother, the current junior senator from New York, and her first cousin once removed, currently the junior United States senator from Massachusetts, Caroline is one of four members of the Kennedy family currently holding elected offices and are collectively considered a dominant force in American politics. From 1986 to 2014, Kennedy was married to the British travel writer and conservationist Mark Shand. Together, the couple had four children, with the eldest Jack currently married to the United Kingdom's Queen Alexandra, thereby making her the mother-in-law of the current British monarch. Moreover, Kennedy is also a cousin of the British aristocrats Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire, the son of Caroline's aunt Kathleen Kennedy and William Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire, and Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, the son of her other aunt Rosemary Kennedy and Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury. Moreover, through her sister, Kennedy is the sister-in-law of Republican politician and former Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker.