The Kennedy Family Tree, Explained
A visual guide to America's most famous political dynasty across four generations — from the Boston-Irish grandfathers and patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy to JFK, RFK, and Ted, and the grandchildren who carry the name today.
They are as close as America gets to royalty — and to tragedy. In a single generation the Kennedys produced a president, an attorney general, and the longest-serving liberal lion of the Senate; in that same span they buried four of the nine siblings to a war, a plane crash, and two assassinations. This guide walks through who's who across four generations, from the Boston-Irish ward bosses who started it all, through patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy and his famous nine children, to the grandchildren — a U.S. health secretary, ambassadors, and activists — who carry the name today.
The family at a glance
- People
- 37
- Generations
- 4
- Years spanned
- 166 (1858–2024)
- Earliest born
- P. J. Kennedy (1858)
- Latest born
- Patrick J. Kennedy (1967)
How to read the graph
Each circle is a person. Lines connect parents to children, and spouses to each other. Joseph Sr. and Rose sit at the top with nine children fanned out beneath them; follow any one down to see the grandchildren. Click a node to focus on it; drag to rearrange the layout.
The brothers cut down five years apart
John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States
Robert F. Kennedy
U.S. Attorney General; Senator
Generations 1 & 2 — Boston-Irish roots and the patriarch
The dynasty's politics were inherited. Both of Joseph Sr.'s grandfathers-in-spirit were Boston power brokers: P.J. Kennedy, a saloon-owner-turned-ward-boss, and John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a two-term mayor whose daughter Rose would become the family matriarch. Their child Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. — a self-made tycoon, the first SEC chairman, and ambassador to Britain — poured his thwarted political ambitions into his sons. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy lived to 104 and outlived four of her nine children.
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., the patriarch
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
Businessman; founding SEC Chairman; Ambassador to the UK
1888–1969 · Boston, Massachusetts, USA
A self-made tycoon and dynasty patriarch who transferred his soaring ambitions onto his sons.
Married Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (1914–1969, widowed)
Generation 3 — the famous nine
Joseph and Rose had nine children, and the family's glory and grief both run through this row. Joseph Jr., the intended heir, was killed flying a WWII bomb mission in 1944; Kathleen "Kick" died in a 1948 plane crash; Rosemary was hidden away after a disastrous 1941 lobotomy. The survivors became a political machine: John F. Kennedy reached the White House, Robert F. Kennedy the office of attorney general, and Edward "Ted" Kennedy a 47-year Senate career. The sisters were forces too — Eunice founded the Special Olympics.
John F. Kennedy, 35th President
John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States
1917–1963 · Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
The youngest elected U.S. president, assassinated in Dallas after barely 1,000 days in office.
Married Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1953–1963, widowed)
The four most consequential siblings
The brothers in politics
For a decade the Kennedy brothers were American politics. JFK's "Camelot" presidency ended in Dallas in 1963; RFK was assassinated in 1968 moments after winning the California primary; and Ted, the youngest, carried the family's standard in the Senate for nearly half a century, becoming the "Lion of the Senate" even as the 1969 Chappaquiddick crash ended his own presidential hopes.
Ted Kennedy, the Lion of the Senate
Edward "Ted" Kennedy
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
1932–2009 · Boston, Massachusetts, USA
The "Lion of the Senate" for 47 years, whose 1969 Chappaquiddick crash ended his presidential hopes.
Married Joan Bennett Kennedy (1958–1982, divorced) · Victoria Reggie Kennedy (1992–2009, widowed)
Generation 4 — the grandchildren
The third generation kept the family in public life — and in the headlines. Caroline Kennedy, JFK's only surviving child, became ambassador to Japan and Australia; her brother John F. Kennedy Jr., "America's most eligible bachelor," died with his wife Carolyn in a 1999 plane crash. RFK's children include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. And through Maria Shriver — Eunice's daughter — the dynasty briefly bridged to Hollywood and the Republican Party: she married actor and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The grandchildren who carry the name
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. health secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services
1954– · Washington, D.C., USA
An environmental lawyer turned vaccine skeptic, appointed U.S. health secretary in 2025.
A century in dates
Births and deaths across the family
- 1858
P. J. Kennedy born - 1863
John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald born - 1888Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. born
- 1890
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy born - 1914Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. & Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy married
- 1915
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. born - 1915
Sargent Shriver born - 1917John F. Kennedy born
- 1917WCWilliam Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington born
- 1918
Rosemary Kennedy born - 1920
Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy born - 1921Eunice Kennedy Shriver born
- 1923
Peter Lawford born - 1924
Patricia Kennedy Lawford born - 1925Robert F. Kennedy born
- 1927
Stephen Edward Smith born - 1928
Ethel Skakel Kennedy born - 1928
Jean Kennedy Smith born - 1929P. J. Kennedy died
- 1929
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis born - 1932Edward "Ted" Kennedy born
- 1936
Joan Bennett Kennedy born - 1944Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. died
- 1944WCWilliam Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington died
- 1944WCWilliam Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington & Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy married
- 1944WCWilliam Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington & Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy widowed
- 1945
Edwin Schlossberg born - 1947
Arnold Schwarzenegger born - 1948Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy died
- 1950John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald died
- 1950Ethel Skakel Kennedy & Robert F. Kennedy married
- 1951
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend born - 1952
Joseph P. Kennedy II born - 1953John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis married
- 1953Sargent Shriver & Eunice Kennedy Shriver married
- 1954
Victoria Reggie Kennedy born - 1954Robert F. Kennedy Jr. born
- 1954
Bobby Shriver born - 1954Peter Lawford & Patricia Kennedy Lawford married
- 1955Maria Shriver born
- 1955
Christopher Kennedy Lawford born - 1956Jean Kennedy Smith & Stephen Edward Smith married
- 1957Caroline Kennedy born
- 1958Joan Bennett Kennedy & Edward "Ted" Kennedy married
- 1959
Kerry Kennedy born - 1959
Timothy Shriver born - 1960John F. Kennedy Jr. born
- 1960
William Kennedy Smith born - 1961
Edward M. Kennedy Jr. born - 1963John F. Kennedy died
- 1963John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis widowed
- 1966
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy born - 1966Peter Lawford & Patricia Kennedy Lawford divorced
- 1967
Patrick J. Kennedy born - 1968Robert F. Kennedy died
- 1968Ethel Skakel Kennedy & Robert F. Kennedy widowed
- 1969Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. died
- 1969Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. & Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy widowed
- 1982Joan Bennett Kennedy & Edward "Ted" Kennedy divorced
- 1984Peter Lawford died
- 1986Edwin Schlossberg & Caroline Kennedy married
- 1986Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver married
- 1990Stephen Edward Smith died
- 1990Jean Kennedy Smith & Stephen Edward Smith widowed
- 1992Victoria Reggie Kennedy & Edward "Ted" Kennedy married
- 1994Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died
- 1995Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died
- 1996Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy & John F. Kennedy Jr. married
- 1999John F. Kennedy Jr. died
- 1999Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy died
- 1999Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy & John F. Kennedy Jr. widowed
- 2005Rosemary Kennedy died
- 2006Patricia Kennedy Lawford died
- 2009Eunice Kennedy Shriver died
- 2009Edward "Ted" Kennedy died
- 2009Sargent Shriver & Eunice Kennedy Shriver widowed
- 2009Victoria Reggie Kennedy & Edward "Ted" Kennedy widowed
- 2011Sargent Shriver died
- 2018Christopher Kennedy Lawford died
- 2020Jean Kennedy Smith died
- 2021Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver divorced
- 2024Ethel Skakel Kennedy died
Generation by generation
- P. J. Kennedy
- John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald
- Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
- Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
- Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
- John F. Kennedy
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- Rosemary Kennedy
- Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy
- WCWilliam Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver
- Sargent Shriver
- Patricia Kennedy Lawford
- Peter Lawford
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Ethel Skakel Kennedy
- Jean Kennedy Smith
- Stephen Edward Smith
- Edward "Ted" Kennedy
- Joan Bennett Kennedy
- Victoria Reggie Kennedy
- Caroline Kennedy
- Edwin Schlossberg
- John F. Kennedy Jr.
- Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy
- Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
- Joseph P. Kennedy II
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- Kerry Kennedy
- Maria Shriver
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Timothy Shriver
- Bobby Shriver
- Christopher Kennedy Lawford
- William Kennedy Smith
- Patrick J. Kennedy
- Edward M. Kennedy Jr.
From Honey Fitz to a cabinet secretary
Trace the line from the old Boston mayor at the top of the tree down to a sitting U.S. cabinet secretary, and a century of American political ambition compresses into a single chain of parents and children.
John F. "Honey Fitz" FitzgeraldRose Fitzgerald KennedyRobert F. KennedyRobert F. Kennedy Jr.By the numbers
One generation produced a president, an attorney general, and a senator for the ages — and buried four of nine before their time.