The kennedy family tree has never stood still — and in 2025, it is living proof that America’s most storied political dynasty continues to branch outward even as it weathers profound loss. From a Cabinet secretary reshaping national health policy to a young Schlossberg preparing to run for Congress, the Kennedys remain as relevant and deeply watched as ever.
Want to know which Kennedy names to follow right now? Keep reading — the next generation is already making history.
From Irish Roots to American Royalty
The story of the Kennedy family begins not in Washington or Boston, but in County Wexford, Ireland, where the family emigrated to America in the 1840s during the Great Famine. Patrick Joseph “P.J.” Kennedy, the first to enter public life, won a seat in the Massachusetts state legislature in 1884. That single election planted a seed that would grow into one of the most consequential political dynasties in American history.
P.J.’s son, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., married Rose Fitzgerald — daughter of Boston’s colorful mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald — in 1914. Together, they had nine children and harbored enormous ambitions for each one of them. Joseph Sr. built a fortune through banking, entertainment, and investing. He served briefly as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. But his true legacy was the political future he engineered for his sons.
The First Generation of Power: JFK, RFK, and Ted
John F. Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States in January 1961, the first Catholic to hold the office. His presidency, often referred to as “Camelot,” brought a sense of optimism and cultural elegance to Washington. His administration oversaw the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the establishment of the Peace Corps, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the introduction of the Civil Rights Act to Congress — signed into law by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, after Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
His brother Robert F. Kennedy served as U.S. Attorney General during JFK’s administration. Bobby was a fierce defender of civil rights and a magnetic figure in his own right. He, too, was killed by an assassin’s bullet — shot in Los Angeles in June 1968 while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The youngest brother, Edward “Ted” Kennedy, carried the family torch in the Senate for nearly five decades. First elected to fill JFK’s Massachusetts Senate seat in 1962, Ted became known as “The Lion of the Senate” — a towering figure of American liberalism. He died in 2009 after a battle with brain cancer.
Loss That Reshaped the Family in Recent Years
The Kennedy family has never been a stranger to tragedy, and 2025 brought fresh grief. Joan Bennett Kennedy, the first wife of Senator Ted Kennedy and the mother of three of his children, died on October 8, 2025, at the age of 89. Joan was remembered by the family as beautiful, courageous, and deeply charitable, with a passionate love for music and the piano.
Among the hardest losses of recent memory was the death of Tatiana Kennedy Schlossberg — granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy — on December 30, 2025. Just 35 years old, Tatiana was a journalist and author whose book on environmental consumption earned wide praise. She had written with extraordinary grace about her diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and terminal blood cancer, in an essay published by The New Yorker in November 2025. Her husband George Moran and their two young children survive her. Her loss struck the family and the broader public deeply — a reminder that the Kennedy name has never shielded anyone from heartbreak.
RFK Jr.: From Outsider to Cabinet Secretary
No Kennedy figure in 2025 has commanded more headlines than Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The son of the assassinated senator, RFK Jr. spent decades as an environmental lawyer and activist before launching a 2024 presidential campaign as an independent. He eventually suspended the campaign and endorsed Donald Trump. Following the election, President Trump nominated him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services — a role he began in early 2025.
RFK Jr.’s tenure at HHS has been among the most closely watched in the department’s history. He has made sweeping statements about food safety, pharmaceutical policy, and public health infrastructure, and has drawn both passionate supporters and fierce critics. His appointment marks the first time a Kennedy has held a Cabinet post in a Republican administration, breaking from a family tradition of Democratic public service that stretches back more than a century.
His role in the current administration has also reignited a very public divide within the Kennedy family. Several of his cousins and siblings have spoken out against his positions, turning the private family tree into a very public battle of values — a conflict that has put the Kennedy legacy itself under a microscope.
The Next Generation Steps Up
While older members of the family navigate grief and political controversy, a younger generation is moving toward the spotlight.
Jack Schlossberg — the son of Caroline Kennedy and the only grandson of President John F. Kennedy — announced in November 2025 that he is running to represent New York’s 12th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. The 33-year-old Yale graduate and Harvard JD/MBA holder has already made waves with a sharp political voice, having spoken at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. His candidacy earned the endorsement of longtime House leader Nancy Pelosi, and he is seeking to fill the seat being vacated by retiring representative Jerry Nadler.
Jack’s political ambitions come with a weight that few Americans fully appreciate. He is the last direct descendant of JFK to enter electoral politics — a fact that makes his campaign something larger than just a local congressional race.
Caroline Kennedy, his mother, remains the family’s quiet anchor. The only surviving child of President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, she served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan and later to Australia. She continues to be involved in public life and has been a steadying presence during the family’s recent upheaval.
The Broader Kennedy Family Today
The Kennedy family tree now spans four generations and more than 100 named members. Robert F. Kennedy Sr.’s children — he had 11 with Ethel Kennedy — have fanned out across advocacy, business, law, and government. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest, made history as Maryland’s first female Lieutenant Governor. Joseph P. Kennedy II ran his own oil assistance organization after serving in Congress. Kerry Kennedy leads Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, one of the most active civil liberties organizations in the country.
Ethel Kennedy, matriarch of that sprawling branch of the family tree, lived to see 34 grandchildren. The family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, continues to serve as a gathering point — the kind of place where aerial photography is needed just to fit everyone in a single frame.
A Dynasty That Refuses to Fade
What makes the Kennedy family tree so enduring is not simply its political success — it is the combination of public service, personal tragedy, and cultural mythology that has surrounded the family for over a century. From P.J. Kennedy’s first election in 1884 to Jack Schlossberg’s congressional run in 2026, the arc bends consistently toward engagement with American life in its most consequential forms.
The Kennedys have occupied the White House, the Senate, the Cabinet, embassies on multiple continents, and the pages of American history. They have also endured plane crashes, assassinations, overdoses, and illness. The family has grieved publicly and repeatedly — yet it keeps producing the next generation of leaders, advocates, and public figures.
As of early 2026, the Kennedy name is carried by people as different as a Cabinet secretary overhauling public health policy and a 33-year-old aspiring congressman hoping to bring a legendary name back to Capitol Hill. The tree is still growing.
What do you think the next chapter of the Kennedy legacy looks like? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and keep following this story as it develops.