Jean Kennedy Smith
Biography
Early Life and Very Special Arts
Jean Ann Kennedy was born on February 20, 1928, in Bronxville, New York, the youngest daughter and eighth of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. She attended Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart and in 1956 married Stephen Edward Smith, who became a trusted manager of Kennedy family finances and political operations.
In 1974, Jean Kennedy Smith founded Very Special Arts — now VSA Arts — an organization dedicated to bringing arts education and creative programming to people with disabilities. Operating under the umbrella of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, VSA grew into one of the most significant disability arts organizations in the world.
Ambassador to Ireland and the Peace Process
In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Jean as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, a post she held until 1998. Her tenure coincided with the most sensitive period of the Northern Ireland peace negotiations, and she played an active, if often behind-the-scenes, role. She used her personal relationships with Irish-American political networks and her access to both nationalist leadership and the British government to encourage engagement. The resulting Good Friday Agreement, signed in April 1998, ended decades of sectarian conflict.
In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She died on June 17, 2020, in New York City, at the age of 92 — the last surviving child of Joseph and Rose Kennedy.
Family Context
Jean Kennedy Smith is the late child of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald. They married Stephen Edward Smith and had 4 children: Stephen Edward Smith Jr., William Kennedy Smith, Amanda Mary Smith, Kym Maria Smith.
Frequently Asked Questions
What role did Jean Kennedy Smith play in the Northern Ireland peace process?
As U.S. Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998, Jean Kennedy Smith worked behind the scenes to encourage dialogue between nationalist and unionist factions, using her political access and personal relationships to help create conditions for the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed in April 1998.
What is Jean Kennedy Smith's most significant philanthropic legacy?
Jean Kennedy Smith founded Very Special Arts (VSA Arts) in 1974, an organization providing arts education and performance opportunities for people with disabilities. Affiliated with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, it grew into an international program operating in more than 50 countries.