Edward Moore Kennedy Jr. (born September 26, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, a firm headquartered in New York City, and previously represented

Connecticut's 12th State Senate district Connecticut's 12th Senate district elects one member of the Connecticut Senate. The district consists of the towns of Branford, North Branford, Durham, Guilford, Killingworth, and Madison. Its current senator is Christine Cohen. The district b ...

in the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

from 2015 to 2019. He is a son of

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and nephew of President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

and Senator

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

Early life and education

Edward Moore Kennedy Jr. was born in

St. Elizabeth's Hospital St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health. It opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for the Insane, the first federally oper ...

in the Brighton section of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to Ted Kennedy Sr. and

Joan Bennett Kennedy Virginia Joan Kennedy ( Bennett, born September 2, 1936) is an American socialite who was the first wife of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. Early life Virginia Joan Bennett was born at Mother Cabrini Hospital in New York City. She was raised in a ...

during the presidency of his paternal uncle John. He is the brother of

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...

(19602011) and

Patrick J. Kennedy Patrick Joseph Kennedy II (born July 14, 1967) is an American politician and mental health advocate. From 1995 to 2011, he served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st congressional distr ...

(born 1967). In 1973, when Kennedy was twelve,

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) (or simply bone cancer) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) a ...

(a form of bone cancer) was diagnosed in his right leg. The leg was

surgically Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pa ...

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

on November 17, 1973. On that same day, his father had escorted his niece Kathleen down the aisle at her wedding and rushed back to the hospital. A made-for-TV movie, ''The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story'' (1986), concentrated on this event in young Kennedy's life. In 1982, his mother Joan revealed that Kennedy missed by just ten minutes being aboard

Air Florida Flight 90 Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight operated by Air Florida from Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, with an intermed ...

, which crashed into the Potomac River on January 13 of that year, killing 74 people. Kennedy was delayed on the drive to the airport and missed the flight. Kennedy graduated from the

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

St. Albans School, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

After completing a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

, in Middletown,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, in 1984, he continued his studies at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, Connecticut, earning a master's degree from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He then attended the

University of Connecticut School of Law The University of Connecticut School of Law (UConn Law) is the law school associated with the University of Connecticut and located in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. In ...

at night, earning a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree. On May 19, 2013, Kennedy received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of New Haven.

Career

After graduation he worked at the New Haven

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Wiggin & Dana specializing in

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

issues. He later co-founded and served as president of the Marwood Group, a firm that advises corporations about health care and financial services. He left the Marwood Group in 2014 to join the law firm of Epstein Becker & Green where he advises health care providers, commercial insurers, and life science companies on critical issues related to health care reform policies. Kennedy is the Chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the

American Association of People with Disabilities The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which advocates for the legal rights of people with disabilities.Imparato, Andrew J. 2005. "AAPD In Its Second Decade," ''AAPDnews'' (Spring 2005), ...

Political career

On April 8, 2014, Kennedy announced his candidacy for a seat in the

representing the state's 12th district. He was elected on November 4. He was re-elected on November 8, 2016. In both election cycles, Kennedy defeated Bruce Wilson Jr. On June 26, 2017, Kennedy announced that he would not run for

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Connecticu ...

in 2018. On February 28, 2018, Kennedy announced he would not seek re-election to the

. On November 6, 2018, Democrat

Christine Cohen Christine Hunter Cohen (born January 25, 1976) is an American politician. She was a member of the Guilford, Connecticut school board from 2015 to 2019, when she resigned to serve on the Connecticut State Senate from the Connecticut's 12th State S ...

won the general election to replace Kennedy after defeating Republican Adam Greenberg. She was later sworn in on January 9, 2019.

State Senate

Kennedy was first sworn in to serve in the

on January 7, 2015. Committee assignments * Committee on the Environment (Senate Co-chair) * Committee on Internship (Ranking Member) * Committee on Public Health * Committee on Transportation Party leadership * Deputy Majority Leader

Personal life

On October 10, 1993, Kennedy married Katherine Anne "Kiki" Gershman (b. 1959) on

Block Island Block Island is an island in the U.S. state of Rhode Island located in Block Island Sound approximately south of the mainland and east of Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, named after Dutch explorer Adriaen Block. It is part of Washingt ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. She is an assistant

clinical professor Clinical professor, sometimes known as professor of practice, is an academic appointment made to a member of a profession who is associated with a university or other academic body, and engages in practical (clinical) instruction of students ( ...

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

at the

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

at Yale University and an environmental advocate. She serves as spokeswoman for Stop the Pipeline, which successfully blocked the Islander East natural gas pipeline across the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. They live in Branford, Connecticut. The couple have a daughter, Kiley Rose Kennedy (born August 7, 1994 in

), a competitive snowboarder who graduated from

in 2016, and a son, Edward Moore Kennedy III, (born February 26, 1998, in

) who graduated from

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high ...

in 2016 and from

in 2020. Kennedy gave a tribute to his father at his father's public funeral on August 29, 2009.Video (August 29, 2009).
"Kennedy Jr. on His Dad"
''

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

'''s module at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Accessed September 1, 2009.

References

External links

marwoodgroup.com
Marwood Group official website * * (Boston, Massachusetts)
Connecticut Senate page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Edward M. Jr. 1961 births American amputees American people of Irish descent American politicians with disabilities Businesspeople from New York (state) Connecticut lawyers Democratic Party Connecticut state senators Edward Moore Ted Kennedy Living people Politicians from Boston Lawyers from New Haven, Connecticut St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni University of Connecticut School of Law alumni Wesleyan University alumni Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies alumni Lawyers from Boston 21st-century American politicians Politicians from New Haven, Connecticut