In Memoriam: Jean Kennedy Smith Remembers Her Famous Family
Jean Kennedy Smith, the youngest and last surviving sibling of President John F. Kennedy, died yesterday at her home in New York City. She was 92. In 2016, we published this interview with Smith, and we are resharing it now in memoriam.
It was October 31, 1962, the Kennedy family's second Halloween in the White House, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was determined to go trick or treating with her children. But no First Lady—especially one as popular as Jackie Kennedy—could just take a walk in the neighborhood, not unless she wanted to cause a huge scene. That's when she turned to her sister-in-law and close friend Jean Kennedy Smith for advice. Together, they came up with a plan.
"Our children were about the same age, so we spent a good amount of time together when she and Jack were living in the White House," Smith told me. "As much as possible, Jackie wanted her children to have the experience of typical American children. So, one Halloween, she decided that we would dress up and take them trick-or-treating around Washington, D.C."
Jackie volunteered to make costumes for her and Jean to cover their faces. Though she was known for her style, Jackie kept the ensembles austere: a black shapeless cover with two eyes cut for herself, and a matching one in red for her sister-in-law. With Smith's son Stephen dressed as a skeleton and Jackie's daughter Caroline dressed as a witch, the foursome snapped a quick photo with the President and then set out to the brick sidewalks of Georgetown, the D.C. neighborhood where Jackie and her family lived before moving into the White House.
"Worried that Jackie would be recognized by her distinctive voice, I was always the person to knock on the door and pronounce, Trick or treat!" Smith recalls. "We made it through several houses anonymously until someone spotted the Secret Service and our cover was blown. Still we and, most importantly the children, had a marvelous time."
Smith, the last living Kennedy sibling, is sharing this and other stories for the first time, as she has remained largely out of the limelight for most of her life. Like many of her family members, Smith served in government, as the United States ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. And she founded Very Special Arts, a nonprofit providing arts and educations opportunities to people with disabilities. Now, at age 89, she's releasing a memoir, The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy, with her favorite never-before-told family memories.
"I hope that people who read this book better understand who my parents, brothers and sisters truly were," she says. "They were real people who loved each other and loved this country. They kidded each other, played together, learned hard lessons, and tried to make the most out of every day."
Smith was the eighth child born to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Her siblings were — from oldest to youngest — Joe, John (whom they called Jack), Rosemary, Kathleen (known as Kick), Eunice, Pat, Bobby, and finally, after Smith, Teddy.
"Joe taught me how to ride a bike. He was my protector and hero," she says. "Jack showed me the importance of books; Rosemary was my tennis partner; Kick and I shared a birthday and a bedroom; Eunice helped me learn to swim; Pat took me on special shopping trips and to the movies; Bobby tipped me off about what to wear when his friends came over; and Teddy, though he was the youngest, always made his presence known because he had such a big heart and was so much fun."
Smith describes some of her fondest memories at the family's home in Bronxville, just north of New York City, where they moved for her father's job when she was young: Walking with siblings to the first day of school and her mother Rose singing Christmas carols at the grand piano.
Then there was the time Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, who would later be elected Pope Pius XII, swung by the house for afternoon tea. As a successful businessman who was close to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Sr. had serious connections. Later, when the patriarch became the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Teddy received his first communion from the newly elected pope.
"Our life did not seem unusual to me at all," she says. "Anything that happened that was special, like visits from dignitaries, was always explained as part of Dad's work."
The family dinner conversation was also influenced by Joseph Sr.'s work. A common topic of discussion was, "If you were president, what would you do?" Prompts came from real-life 1930s dilemmas like: Unemployment is down; a hurricane killed hundreds; and Hitler is advancing.
Smith writes in her memoir: "Joe and Jack devoured every morsel. They dove in with theories, solutions, remedies, and platforms. We all listened in awe."
Jack was interested in becoming a journalist, because of his love of writing and literature. Joe, the oldest, was the brother the family pegged as the politician, and none of the siblings was surprised when he expressed an interest in running for office. He never had the chance, as he he was killed in 1944 while serving as a United States Navy Lieutenant in World War II.
"After Joe passed away in the war, it seemed only natural that Jack and Bobby and then Teddy might pursue office as well," Smith says. "Public service was part of our DNA from our earliest years."
When Jack decided to run for Congress in 1946, the whole family got behind him, volunteering and campaigning. They would do it again when he ran for Senate in 1952 and for president in 1960.
"One of my happiest memories from that time was traveling across Massachusetts with my mother or sisters, campaigning for Jack in his 1952 race against Henry Cabot Lodge for the U.S. Senate," Smith remembers. "Ladies would invite us to tea parties in their homes where they would ask us about Jack and what he was like as a brother. We talked about his time in the service and how he was always interested in politics and the direction our country was taking. All the ladies were so gracious and welcoming and enthusiastic about his chances. After Jack won, he was described as The man who drowned Henry Cabot Lodge in 75,000 cups of tea. I can't confirm that we drank that much tea, but it sure felt like it!"
Of course, it only made sense that Jack was with his whole family when he found out that he'd defeated Richard Nixon to become the 35th (and youngest ever) President of the United States. The night before, the whole family had dinner together in Hyannis Port, the Massachusetts village on Cape Cod where they spent much of their childhood. The next morning, on November 8, 1960, they woke up to the news.
"Jackie borrowed my coat to go down the driveway with Jack to speak to the press," Smith writes in her memoir. "Meantime, relieved and needing to move about, the rest of us started a touch football game on the lawn. When Jackie and Jack came back up the drive, he joined in."
When Joseph Sr. called everyone in for lunch, Smith walked unhurriedly with her brother up to the porch. When their dad said, "We're still waiting on you two—hurry up!" Smith remembers Jack turning to her with mock seriousness and saying: "Doesn't he know I'm President of the United States?"
The two burst out laughing.
"I thought it was the funniest thing," Smith tells Town & Country. "You may be President of the United States but you're still your father's son. It didn't matter who we were. To all of us, Dad was Number One in our house."
Jack was assassinated less than three years later, but Smith's book ends before that dark chapter, leaving readers with only happy memories of her brother in the White House. A brief epilogue touches on the deaths of her parents and siblings. Considering her parents' advice about maintaining a stiff upper lip, it's perhaps no surprise she chose not to focus on her family's tragic periods.
"When I protested because they wouldn't buy me new skates or if someone complained a teacher gave too much homework, Dad would respond: There's no whining in this house. It was his way of saying: there is no place in this house for feeling sorry for yourself," she says. "As we grew older and faced bigger challenges, we were all immensely grateful that our parents took this singular point of view."
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