Former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Delaware), Biden’s longtime chief of staff and close friend, said, “The Kennedy family, as a group, was the people he modeled his life after.” ” he said. “Not just his political life, but his life.”
That’s why the Kennedy family rallied behind Mr. Biden in Philadelphia last week, giving their full support to Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign and encouraging one of their own family members, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent. The clear choice of Mr. Biden over Mr. Biden was not just for that reason. politically useful. This was a huge personal victory for Biden.
Mr. Biden privately told aides that Thursday was one of his best days on the campaign trail, according to people familiar with his comments who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The event was attended by more than a dozen members of the Kennedy extended family, including six of Kennedy Jr.’s brothers, and Biden was especially moved when they said the president was the candidate to continue his family’s legacy.
In public, Biden was clearly moved by the enthusiastic support from his rival’s sister, Kerry Kennedy.
“Other than the introduction from my sister, it was the most meaningful introduction I’ve ever had in my life,” Biden said Thursday after the introduction.
The Kennedys hope their support will translate into political support for Biden. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign threatens to siphon votes away from Biden, and Democrats are increasingly concerned that he could seriously hurt the president’s chances of defeating Donald Trump. The outcome could depend on thousands of votes in key states, and many Democrats say they lost the White House to such third-party rebellions in 2000 and 2016.
Inside the Kennedy family, Kennedy Jr.’s bizarre campaign was painful, people familiar with their discussions said. Initially, when he was challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination, his family was dissatisfied and had made it clear they supported Biden, but had largely ignored his candidacy publicly. . They were indifferent to Kennedy Jr.’s influence on the election, since it was almost certain that Biden would defeat him for the Democratic nomination.
But as he gains voting rights across the country as an independent candidate, his family has grown increasingly concerned about his influence over elections and his ability to damage their legacy.
“Almost all of Joe and Rose Kennedy’s grandchildren support Joe Biden,” Kerry Kennedy said in introducing Biden. “Yes, the Kennedy family supports Joe Biden as president.”
She later directly compared Biden to her father, the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of New York.
“Papa, just like President Biden today, stood for equal justice, human rights, and freedom from want and fear,” she said.
The Kennedy family occupies an unusual place in the American political imagination. Until his shocking assassination in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was a young, charismatic president who inspired generations of Americans. His younger brother Robert was a more tormented figure, seen by many Democrats as the embodiment of tragic idealism after his own assassination in 1968. when he was campaigning for president.
Scandal continued in the family, and subsequent generations held political office, but none reached the same heights of political and cultural influence as their parents. But the Kennedy mystique persists for many Democratic voters, especially older voters.
This background is one reason why Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy added such a twist to the current presidential campaign. The respected senator’s son and namesake has embraced controversial and unsubstantiated claims about everything from vaccines to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which has upset many Democrats. It seems to have upset some members of his own family as well.
Some of these relatives have had bitter conversations about Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy, to no avail, and many close to him say they do not believe he will withdraw from the race. . That understanding fueled the family’s desire to participate in public support for Biden, according to people familiar with the family’s conversations.
“This hasn’t been easy for anyone, and I don’t think it should be lost on anyone, but despite the framework of the event, given the dynamics of this race, it’s been easy for everyone. It has not been easy,” said Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), the grandson of former President Robert F. Kennedy and now Mr. Biden’s special envoy to Northern Ireland, in an interview. “But it was an important thing to do.”
He, like other members of his family, declined to comment directly on his uncle’s presidential campaign. Many of the candidates’ families have condemned Kennedy’s comments on vaccines and other issues, but are careful not to see their support for Biden as an outright rebuke of their relatives. Rather, they say it reflects their belief that there are only two possible outcomes in November: a Biden victory or a victory for former President Trump.
“Given the reality that we’re in, only two people have the ability to win this race,” Kennedy said. “There are only two parties that are positioned to win this race. So any additional candidate in that dynamic will take away support from one side or the other.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy Jr. has not commented on his family’s support since the incident occurred. But before his brothers rallied around Biden, he wrote on social media: “Today I hear that some members of my family support President Biden. I’m glad they are politically active. It’s a family tradition. Although we disagree, We are united in our love for each other.”
At age 81, Biden has realized that his trajectory, with both great political success and immense personal tragedy, in some ways mirrors that of the Kennedys.
Immersed in the Kennedy legend since childhood, Biden found solace in the embrace of family after the deaths of those close to him. Weeks after Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972, before he was sworn in, his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. His sons Beau and Hunter were injured, and Biden considered relinquishing his seat to care for them.
But Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), along with other colleagues, persuaded Mr. Biden to stay. Kennedy helped Biden establish his Senate office and became a mentor and close friend.
Joe Kennedy said of Biden’s relationship with his family, “I know the president is a person who values his family very much, and he values loyalty very much.When you stand by those who are most vulnerable, the president It reminds me of that.” “I think that relationship has had a huge impact on members of both families, especially the older generations. They’ve experienced tremendous loss, and so has he, so there’s a commonality there. ”
In addition to Joe Kennedy, many other Kennedys are working in the Biden administration. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, serves as ambassador to Australia. Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Edward Kennedy’s widow, is Ambassador to Austria. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, one of Kennedy Jr.’s siblings who appeared on stage with Biden, previously worked as an adviser on retirement and pension issues at Biden’s Department of Labor. (The two ambassadors cannot engage in political activity and were not included in Thursday’s advocacy event).
The rally in Philadelphia was led primarily by Joe and Kerry Kennedy and was held after their families made it clear they wanted to publicly support the president. Since we had a large family, it took months to sort things out. There was some discussion of holding the event in Massachusetts, the traditional home of the Kennedy family, but the family opposed it because most of the family no longer lives in the state.
The Kennedys also want to campaign in battleground states, with some knocking on doors after rallies and meeting with Biden campaign volunteers in Philadelphia.
This month we have nearly 50 members. Members of the Kennedy family gathered at the White House for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration, staying for a private tour of the Oval Office and posing for photos with Biden in the Rose Garden. Biden and many members of the Kennedy family shared the photo on social media, but this was the first implicit condemnation by Kennedy Jr.’s family.
But during that visit, like Thursday’s event, Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign was not explicitly discussed, the family said.
“What was going on in the Oval Office was that people were talking about President Kennedy being there, and about my father, and where he put the bust, and why he put the bust of my father in such a difficult time. “We were talking about what we liked to see,” Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said.
She added, “We have a great connection with Joe Biden. We love politics. We love this country. We love Ireland.”
