How to read the Kennedy dynasty chart
Read the chart from the top down, one generation to a row, with children hanging from the union of their parents. Many people on it died after 2000 and one is living, so the chart records structure, offices and dates only, with no notes of health and no lines for how close two people were.
A portrait is a person
A silhouette of an infant stands in for Patrick, who has no photograph.
A double line is a marriage
Two marriages are drawn, those of Joseph and Rose and of John and Jacqueline.
Three generations of the Kennedy dynasty in office
The Kennedy dynasty begins one generation above this chart. John F. Fitzgerald, the father of Rose, sat in the House of Representatives from 1895 to 1901 and was twice Mayor of Boston.14 In 1916 Henry Cabot Lodge Sr. defeated him for the Senate, and in 1952 his grandson John F. Kennedy defeated Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.3
| Person | Office | Years |
|---|---|---|
 Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. | First chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, then ambassador to the United Kingdom | 1934 to 1940 |
 John F. Kennedy | Representative and senator from Massachusetts, then 35th President | 1947 to 1963 |
 Robert F. Kennedy | 64th Attorney General, then senator from New York | 1961 to 1968 |
 Edward M. Kennedy | Senator from Massachusetts | 1962 to 2009 |
 Jean Kennedy Smith | Ambassador to Ireland | 1993 to 1998 |
 Caroline Kennedy | Ambassador to Japan | 2013 to 2017 |
Joseph and Rose, the founders of the Kennedy dynasty
Joseph Patrick Kennedy was born in East Boston in 1888, the son of P. J. Kennedy.12 He married Rose Fitzgerald in Boston on 7 October 1914.13 The couple moved that year into 83 Beals Street in Brookline, their first home, where John was born on 29 May 1917.10
Joseph was the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, from 1934 to 1935.12 He was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom on 17 January 1938 and left the post on 22 October 1940.4 Rose was made a papal countess in 1951 and died at Hyannis Port in 1995, aged 104.13 In 1969 she gave the Beals Street house to the National Park Service, restored as it had looked in 1917.10
The nine children of the Kennedy dynasty
Joseph and Rose had nine children, from Joseph Jr. in 1915 to Edward in 1932, and the chart sets them out in that order.12 Joseph hoped that his eldest son would seek the presidency.12 Joseph Jr., a Navy aviator, was killed over Suffolk on 12 August 1944, when the explosive aircraft he flew for Operation Aphrodite blew up early.15 Kathleen married the Marquess of Hartington in London in May 1944. He was killed in Belgium four months later, and she died in an air crash in France in 1948.16
The line of office passed to John. Robert managed his campaigns of 1952 and 1960 and became his Attorney General in 1961.7 Eunice founded Camp Shriver and then Special Olympics, which began in Chicago in 1968.11 Edward, the youngest, sat in the Senate from 1962 until his death in 2009.23 John, Robert and Edward lie side by side at Arlington, where a marker also remembers Joseph Jr.89
John, Jacqueline and their children
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married John at Newport on 12 September 1953.17 Their children stand on the bottom row. Caroline was born in 1957 and John Jr. in 1960. Patrick lived about thirty-nine hours in August 1963 and was reinterred beside his father at Arlington.19 John Jr. died in 1999, when the light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the sea near Martha’s Vineyard.18 Caroline was ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017.6
The chart carries one branch of the third generation only. For the same family drawn as a structural genogram, read the Kennedy family genogram.
Who is who on the Kennedy dynasty chart
Each person on the chart has a row. Choose a period to list the people alive in it.
All 15 people on the chart are listed.
| Portrait | Person | Years | Life | On the chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.Founder of the Kennedy dynasty | 1888–1969 | First chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and ambassador in London. | |
 | Rose Fitzgerald KennedyWife of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. | 1890–1995 | Daughter of John F. Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston. | |
 | Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.Eldest son | 1915–1944 | A Navy aviator, killed over Suffolk in 1944. | |
| John F. Kennedy35th President of the United States | 1917–1963 | He served in both houses of Congress and was assassinated in Dallas. Sources1 | |
 | Jacqueline KennedyWife of John F. Kennedy | 1929–1994 | Born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, she lies beside her husband at Arlington. | |
 | Rosemary KennedyEldest daughter | 1918–2005 | The third of the nine children of Joseph and Rose. Sources12 | |
 | Kathleen Kennedy CavendishMarchioness of Hartington | 1920–1948 | She died in an air crash in France in 1948. Sources16 | |
 | Eunice Kennedy ShriverFounder of Special Olympics | 1921–2009 | Special Olympics, which she founded, began in Chicago in 1968. Sources11 | |
 | Patricia Kennedy LawfordSixth child | 1924–2006 | The sixth of the nine children of Joseph and Rose. Sources12 | |
| Robert F. KennedyAttorney General and senator | 1925–1968 | Senator from New York from 1965. He was shot in Los Angeles in 1968. | |
| Jean Kennedy SmithAmbassador to Ireland | 1928–2020 | Appointed in June 1993, she left the post in September 1998. Sources5 | |
| Edward M. KennedySenator from Massachusetts | 1932–2009 | Elected in 1962 to the seat his brother John had left. | |
| Caroline KennedyDaughter of John and Jacqueline | 1957– | The only person on the chart who is living. Sources6 | |
 | John F. Kennedy Jr.Son of John and Jacqueline | 1960–1999 | He founded the magazine George in 1995. Sources18 | |
| PB | Patrick Bouvier KennedySon of John and Jacqueline | 1963–1963 | He lived about thirty-nine hours. Sources19 |
Questions about the Kennedy dynasty
Who founded the Kennedy dynasty
The Kennedy dynasty was founded by Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, who married in 1914.
The Kennedys who held national office
John served in both houses of Congress and as president. Robert and Edward sat in the Senate, and Joseph Sr., Jean and Caroline served as ambassadors.
People and sources
A page of its own lists the 19 numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the portraits and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.