Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy was born on January 11, 1965, in Washington, D.C., the tenth child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. His name carries significant historical weight: he was named after British Field Marshal Sir Brian Horrocks — specifically after Maxwell Taylor, the American general and Kennedy family friend, while Taylor was named partly after the field marshal. General Maxwell Taylor served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Kennedy and as U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, and was a close adviser to both President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
Maxwell Kennedy has built a career as an author and environmental activist, channeling the Kennedy family's literary tradition and deep commitment to conservation into a body of work that honors his father's legacy. In 1998, he co-edited Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy, a collection of the writings, poetry, and speeches that inspired his father — including passages RFK quoted in the hours after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The title itself is drawn from a line in Aeschylus that Robert F. Kennedy quoted publicly on that grief-stricken night in April 1968.
Maxwell Kennedy is married to Vicki Strauss, and the couple has several children. He has remained engaged in environmental causes and civic life, serving as a thoughtful custodian of his father's intellectual and moral legacy while raising his own family in that tradition.
Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy is the child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel. They married Victoria Anne Strauss and had 3 children: Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy Jr., Caroline Summer Rose Kennedy, Noah Isabella Rose Kennedy.
Maxwell Kennedy co-edited Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy (1998), a collection of the writings and poetry that inspired his father, RFK.
Maxwell Kennedy was named after General Maxwell Taylor, a close Kennedy family adviser who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Kennedy.