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The Parents

Joesph Patrick Kennedy (Sept 6, 1888 - Nov. 16, 1969)

The family patriarch made his fortune during the 1920s in the stock market and by importing liquor during Prohibition. A supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was appointed ambassador to Britain but was recalled in 1940 for undermining the war effort. He worked tirelessly to advance the political careers of his sons and was a major architect of JFK's bitterly contested 1960 presidential campaign, which raised allegations of voter fraud, particularly in mayor Richard Daley's Chicago.

Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald (July 22, 1890 - Jan. 22, 1995)

The eldest daughter of Boston politician John Fitzgerald, Rose raised nine children, four of whom died young and violently. Through the loss of her two assassinated sons and the humiliation of later scandals, she was considered an icon of devotion and dignity.

The children

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - Nov. 22, 1963)

The hero of PT-109 was elected to Congress in 1946. In 1955, while recuperating from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage , which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. In 1956 Kennedy almost gained the Democratic nomination for vice-president, and four years later was a first-ballot nominee for president. Millions watched his television debates with the Republican candidate, Richard M. Nixon. Winning by a narrow margin in the popular vote, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic president and ushered in the White House's "Camelot" period, ended by his 1963 assassination in Dallas. It was later revealed that, while president, he had torrid affairs with the likes of Marilyn Monroe. His stylish wife, Jackie, widely admired for her grace after Dallas, later shocked the country by marrying Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.

Eunice Mary Kennedy (July 10, 1921 - Aug. 11, 2009)

Dedicating her life to working with the disabled, she helped to found the Special Olympics and married R. Sargent Shriver, who served as director of the Peace Corps and later as George McGovern's vice-presidential running mate in 1972. She died Tuesday. Aug. 11, 2009, at a hospital on Cape Cod after suffering a series of strokes.

Robert Francis Kennedy (Nov. 20, 1925 - June 6, 1968)

His brother's campaign manager in 1960 and then his attorney-general, Bobby Kennedy played a key role in the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis. Elected to the Senate the year after JFK's death, he was a presidential front-runner in 1968 when he too was assassinated. His wife, Ethel, whom he had met on a ski trip to Mont-Tremblant, Que., was pregnant with their 11th child. Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was convicted of the assassination. He is serving a life sentence at the California State Prison, Corcoran.

Edward Moore Kennedy (Feb. 22, 1932 - Aug. 25, 2009)

Ted carried on the political tradition but failed to take the presidential nomination away from incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980. In nearly 50 years as a senator from Massachusetts since 1962, Mr. Kennedy served alongside 10 presidents and compiled an impressive list of legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, education and immigration. His career was forever marred by an accident at Chappaquiddick in 1969, when a car he was driving plunged off a bridge, killing a young woman. Kenndy's only run for the White House ended in defeat in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter turned back his challenge for the party's nomination. More than a quarter-century later, Kennedy handed then-Sen. Barack Obama an endorsement at a critical point in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, explicitly likening the young contender to President Kennedy. He died Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009, at his home on Cape Cod after a year-long struggle with brain cancer.

The third generation

Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (Nov. 27, 1957)

The only surviving child of John and Jackie is president of the Kennedy Library Foundation and chair of the American Ballet Theatre. A graduate of Harvard and Columbia Law School, she is married to designer Edwin Schlossberg, has worked with New York's schools and has written several books. In 2008, she served as a member of the advisory committee suggesting vice-presidential nominees for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (Nov. 25, 1960 - July 16, 1999)

'John-John,' the three-year-old who bravely saluted his father's coffin, graduated from New York University law school, served as an assistant district attorney for four years, and founded the political magazine, George. He died with his wife Carolyn and her sister when his plane crashed off Martha's Vineyard. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the crash was: "[Kennedy]s failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation." The cremated remains of Kennedy, his wife, and sister-in-law were later scattered off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

Maria Owings Shriver (Nov. 6, 1955)

The mother of four and former NBC News correspondent is now the first lady of California, where her movie-star husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is governor.

Timothy Perry Shriver (Aug. 29, 1959)

He is president and chief executive officer of the Special Olympics, the organization founded by his mother, Eunice.

Patrick Joseph Kennedy (July 14, 1967)

The youngest Kennedy elected to office began at 21 in Rhode Island before heading to Congress in 1994 and now serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. He admitted to cocaine use as a teenager, and says he has been diagnosed as clinically depressed. He is currently serving his eighth term in Congress.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (July 4, 1951)

As lieutenant-governor of Maryland, she was the first female Kennedy to hold elected office. She ran unsuccessfully for governor in Maryland in 2002.

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (Jan. 17, 1954)

A law professor at New York's Pace University, he is a noted environmentalist who has engaged in protest campaigns and written numerous articles and books. He is partner in a non-profit company that donates its profits to clean-river campaigns.

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