Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Did You Know?

• Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts in American history and literature.
• He earned a Master of Laws from Pace University in 1987.
• Two of his books, The Real Anthony Fauci and Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak, are New York Times Bestsellers.

Career

Kennedy was sworn in as an assistant district attorney for Manhattan in 1982 but resigned in July 1983 after failing the New York bar exam. In September 1983 he was arrested and charged with heroin possession in Rapid City, South Dakota; he pleaded guilty to a felony charge in February 1984 and received two years of probation and community service. After his arrest he entered a drug treatment center and worked as a volunteer for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). He said this ended 14 years of heroin use that had begun when he was 15. In 1984 he began volunteering at the Hudson River Fisherman's Association, later renamed Riverkeeper, and after being admitted to the New York bar in 1985 he became its senior attorney. He litigated environmental enforcement lawsuits on east coast estuaries, suing municipalities and industries including General Electric. In 1995 he advocated for repeal of legislation he considered unfriendly to the environment. With John Cronin he wrote The Riverkeepers (1997), a history of the early Riverkeepers and a primer for the Waterkeeper movement.

Political aspirations

Kennedy considered running for political office in 2000 when Daniel Patrick Moynihan did not seek reelection to the US Senate seat from New York formerly held by Kennedy's father. In 2005 he considered running for New York attorney general in 2006, which would have pitted him against his then-brother-in-law Andrew Cuomo, but he chose not to despite being considered the front-runner. In December 2008 he said he did not want New York governor David Paterson to nominate him to the US Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton, saying Senate service would leave him too little time with his family. During the 2000s he was often linked to top environmental jobs in Democratic administrations, including potential chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality for Al Gore in 2000 and EPA administrator under John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008. According to Politico, the Obama transition team decided not to nominate Kennedy due to his past heroin conviction and opposition from Senate Republicans. In a March 2023 speech in New Hampshire he said he was considering a run for president in 2024. He filed for the Democratic nomination on April 5, 2023, formally declared on April 19, and became an independent candidate on October 9. PolitiFact named his presidential campaign its 2023 'lie of the year' for listing many false conspiracy theories he used during campaign appearances.

Secretary of Health and Human Services (2025–present)

Days before the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump said Kennedy would have 'a big role in health care'. After winning the election, Trump announced on November 14 his intention to nominate Kennedy for secretary of health and human services. In December 2024 more than 75 Nobel Laureates urged the Senate to oppose the nomination, saying Kennedy would 'put the public's health in jeopardy'. Over 17,000 doctors signed an open letter arguing he had spent decades undermining public confidence in vaccines and spreading false claims. During his January 29, 2025, Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy said all his children were vaccinated. The Senate confirmed him in February 2025 by a vote of 52 to 48, and he was sworn in shortly thereafter amid strong opposition from scientists and medical groups. Kennedy disclosed to an HHS ethics official his arrangement with the law firm Wisner Baum, under which he earns 10% of fees awarded in contingency cases he refers; he listed his income from this arrangement as $856,559. He said he would assign his son his interests in litigation against the maker of Gardasil, an HPV vaccine.

Personal life

Kennedy is a licensed master falconer who has trained hawks since age 11; he breeds hawks and falcons and holds permits as a raptor propagator, wildlife rehabilitator, Federal Game Keeper, Bird Bander, and Scientific Collector. He was president of the New York State Falconry Association from 1988 to 1991 and authored New York State's examination for apprentice falconers as well as the New York State Apprentice Falconer's Manual. He is also a whitewater kayaker, introduced to the sport by his father on trips down the Green and Yampa Rivers, the Columbia River, the Middle Fork Salmon, and the Upper Hudson Gorge. Between 1976 and 1981 he was a partner and guide at a whitewater company called Utopian in West Forks, Maine, and organized first-descent expeditions to Latin America on the Apurimac (Peru, 1975), Atrato (Colombia, 1979), and Caroni (Venezuela, 1982) rivers. In 1993 he made an early descent of the Great Whale River in northern Quebec. He married Emily Ruth Black in 1982; they separated in 1992 and divorced in 1994. He married Mary Kathleen Richardson in 1994. He has six children.