The son of Robert F. Kennedy, Michael Kennedy was a lawyer and activist who tragically died in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado in 1997.
Wikimedia CommonsMichael Kennedy skied head-first into a tree and died at the age of 39.
Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was the sixth child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. Born into the spotlight, Michael followed in the footsteps of many of his family members. He attended Harvard University, graduated from law school, and led a successful career as an activist and political campaign manager.
For most of his life, the public believed that Michael Kennedy would inevitably run for public office like his famous father and uncle. But those hopes were dashed when rumors began circulating that he had had an inappropriate sexual relationship with his children’s teenage babysitter.
Then, not long after he fell from grace, Michael Kennedy died in a skiing accident during a Kennedy family vacation to Aspen, Colorado on New Year’s Eve 1997. To this day, his untimely death is cited as yet another case of the so-called “Kennedy Curse.”
But who was Michael Kennedy?
The Early Life Of Michael Kennedy
Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoThe Robert F. Kennedy family. Michael Kennedy can be seen in the bottom right.
Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was born on Feb. 27, 1958 in Washington D.C. He was the sixth of eleven children born to Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel Kennedy.
From an early age, Michael knew what it meant to be in the spotlight. When he was only five years old, his uncle, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. At ten years old, Michael suffered an even worse tragedy when his father was assassinated in Los Angeles during his presidential campaign. Both of these events changed the course of his life forever.
Teenage Michael Kennedy was bright and focused, earning a spot at Harvard University, where both his father and uncle had studied. In 1980, Michael graduated from Harvard and went on to attend the University of Virginia for law school.
Then, instead of following in his relatives’ political footsteps, Michael Kennedy decided to pursue a career in activism.
Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock PhotoMichael Kennedy (third boy from the right) poses with his family.
A Successful Career In Activism And Philanthropy
In 1986, Michael Kennedy joined Joseph Kennedy II’s non-profit organization Citizens Energy Corporation, a group dedicated to providing services to low-income and elderly individuals in Massachusetts. While serving as chairman, Michael expanded the nonprofit’s mission to offer AIDS medication to uninsured individuals and provide free fuel to heat 140 homeless shelters.
Between 1989 and 1992, Michael coordinated relief missions to West Africa. He also helped build a Catholic university in Angola and established the U.S.-Angola Chamber of Commerce.
But his philanthropic work did not end there. Michael co-chaired the Walden Woods Project, a conservation effort near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. He also involved himself in Stop Handgun Violence Inc., a non-profit organization advocating for gun safety.
“He was smart, focused, and had a real energy and intensity to him,” Charlie Baker, a friend of Michael’s and a Democratic political consultant, told the Washington Post in 1998. “He had a real commitment, a real love and respect for public service.”
On March 14, 1981, Michael Kennedy married Victoria Gifford. The couple had three children together and resided in Cohasset, Massachusetts, where they were active in their local church.
On the surface, it seemed as though Michael Kennedy was something of a golden boy. He had a great education, a skyrocketing career, and an apparently perfect home life.
But before long, it would become clear that even Michael wasn’t immune from the controversy that seemed to follow the Kennedy family.
@michaellemoynekennedy / InstagramMichael Kennedy at his graduation from Harvard University.
A Sex Scandal Rocks Michael Kennedy’s World
By the early 1990s, it appeared as though Michael Kennedy would be the next Kennedy family member to take on the world of politics. By all accounts, he was responsible, passionate, and altruistic — not at all like many of the other Kennedys, who found themselves embroiled in scandal after scandal.
In 1994, Michael dipped his toes in politics by managing his uncle Edward Kennedy’s re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate, with tremendous success.
“Michael was extraordinarily effective in managing campaigns,” Mary Anne Marsh, another Democratic political consultant, told Associated Press in 1998. “He won every race he ever managed, which is more than most people can say in this business.”
However, in 1997, some disturbing allegations about Michael Kennedy came to light. In April of that year, news began circulating that Michael had had sexual relations with his children’s babysitter — starting when she was just 14 years old. He had been in his 30s at the time.
Michael Kennedy’s seemingly perfect facade began to crumble after these rumors surfaced. He and his wife ended their 16-year marriage; before long, more reports emerged that Michael had previously been treated for alcoholism and had gone to rehab for sex addiction in 1996.
What’s more, Michael had been set to manage his older brother Joseph Kennedy II’s gubernatorial campaign. His scandal damaged the family’s reputation so much that it contributed to Joseph’s decision to drop out of the race altogether. Even John F. Kennedy Jr. declared his cousins Joseph and Michael Kennedy “poster boys for bad behavior.”
Michael Kennedy ultimately confessed to having had a sexual relationship with the teen. However, it was not clear at the time whether he had had sex with her before she turned 16 — the age of consent in Massachusetts. The state prosecutor ultimately did not file statutory rape charges against him because the girl declined to cooperate with the investigation.
Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty ImagesLike many of his family members, Michael Kennedy had his fair share of scandals.
In the aftermath, Michael issued a public apology to his wife and children and to the babysitter’s family.
“I hope that in time the [babysitter’s] family will forgive me. I also hope that my wife and children will forgive me and that I can someday earn and deserve their confidence again,” he said, according to a 1997 Deseret News report. “I intend to do all I can to make up for the serious mistakes I have made and to continue the help I need.”
He never got the chance.
Michael Kennedy Dies In A Tragic Skiing Accident In Aspen
UnsplashSki slopes in Aspen, Colorado.
In December 1997, Michael Kennedy went on ski trip to Aspen, Colorado with his family. On New Year’s Eve, the family ate dinner together at the Sundeck restaurant while waiting for the ski slopes to clear.
They were planning to play football on the slopes — an extremely dangerous sport that the ski patrol had warned them against playing several times. Officials at Aspen Skiing Co. had even called Ethel Kennedy the night prior to ask her to tell her children not to play the game.
But Michael Kennedy, a skilled skier and football enthusiast, was determined to proceed with the plan. He even brought a handheld camera to document the game.
The Kennedys split into two groups, with Michael captaining one team. As the game began, Michael recorded himself skiing down the run. After he reached the first goal, he handed the camera off to a friend to record him.
Then, tragedy struck.
“He skis off, he turns around to get a pass, he slams into a tree head first, he falls down unconscious,” R. Couri Hay, a friend of the Kennedy family who witnessed the accident, told Time Magazine in 1998. Family members hurried to Michael’s side, only to find him unresponsive.
Emergency responders rushed Michael to Aspen Valley Hospital, but doctors could do little for him. At 5:50 p.m., Michael Kennedy was pronounced dead of head and neck trauma. He was 39 years old.
Bill Ilott / FlickrMichael Kennedy’s grave at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Michael Kennedy’s death was yet another tragedy in a long string of Kennedy misfortunes. Some, noting the family’s bad luck, even spoke of a “Kennedy Curse.”
“They’ve had more power, more money, more tragedy, more adversity,” historian Michael Beschloss told the Washington Post. “Almost on a Shakespearean level… There is just an uncanny amount of tragedy in this family.”
Others believed it was simply the family’s hubris that had led them down a dark path. The Kennedys were prone to taking risks that put them in danger — and Michael Kennedy was no exception. Not only had the family ignored multiple warnings not to play football on skis, but Michael had not been wearing a helmet or other protective gear when he crashed.
“I feel the Kennedys took a lot of risks and thought they could defy the limits of nature and society,” Jackie Dormitzer, a congregant at the St. Anthony’s Church where the Kennedys regularly attended, told Associated Press. “But in the end they’re as vulnerable as anyone else.”
After reading about Michael Kennedy, discover the shocking story of Rosemary Kennedy, JFK’s sister whom the family had lobotomized at 23 years old. Then, read the heartbreaking story of Arabella Kennedy, JFK and Jackie Kennedy’s firstborn daughter.
