A Guide to the Kennedy Family Tree: Inside the Political Family’s A-List Hollywood Ties!
It's always Kennedy-o'clock somewhere when it comes to the news cycle.
The family is still known as a political dynasty—President John F. Kennedy's grandson Jack Schlossberg spoke at the Democratic National Convention and his mom Caroline Kennedy is the Biden administration's U.S. Ambassador to Australia, while her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just pulled the plug on his 2024 presidential run—but they've been making headlines of all kinds for a century.
The lasting impact of JFK's life and death alone made for an automatic ticket into cover-the-family-forever territory. But, not least because he was one of nine siblings—some of whom were quite prolific procreators in their own right—there is a never-ending slew of family members to cover.
And to every generation its rapt Kennedy fascination—the shocking death of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his bride Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in 1997 continues to be probed in new books released every few years—which is only compounded when you add other famous people to the mix.
So whether it's Taylor Swift circa 2012 or Ben Affleck circa now, the mere possibility of a Kennedy entanglement can't help but come fully loaded with the weight of history, the name connoting decades of power, romance, scandal and tragedy.
Which explains why Ben even just being acquainted with Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy was such an eyebrow-raiser at first glance. (Aside from the fact that speculation they were dating came just a few days after Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce and noted in her petition that they'd been separated since April.)
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While a source told E! News that Ben and Kick only knew each other "in passing" and the actor's rep subsequently relayed that "everything about him and Kick is untrue," naturally the focus shifted to the Kennedy of it all.
For instance, which part of the family tree is she from again? (Also, wait, there are two Kathleen "Kick" Kennedys?!)
In turn, we figured we could help with simply untangling who she and her siblings are, and where they're perched amid the branches of this sprawling tree. Here's a handy multi-generational guide to the Kennedy family: