Joseph P. Kennedy II explained

Joseph P. Kennedy II
State:Massachusetts
Term Start:January 3, 1987
Term End:January 3, 1999
Predecessor:Tip O'Neill
Successor:Mike Capuano
Birth Name:Joseph Patrick Kennedy II
Birth Date:24 September 1952
Birth Place:Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Party:Democratic
Spouse:
    Children:2, including Joe III
    Relatives:Robert F. Kennedy (father)
    Ethel Kennedy (mother)
    Education:University of Massachusetts Boston (BA)

    Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (born September 24, 1952) is an American businessman, Democratic politician, and a member of the Kennedy family. He is a son of former United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, and he is a nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and former U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy.

    Kennedy served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the 8th congressional district of Massachusetts from 1987 to 1999. In 1979 he founded and, until he was elected to the U.S. House, led Citizens Energy Corporation, a non-profit energy company which provides heating oil to low-income and elderly families in Massachusetts.

    Early life, family and education

    Kennedy was born in the Brighton section of Boston, Massachusetts on September 24, 1952. He was the second of 11 children to Ethel (née Skakel) and Robert F. Kennedy. He was named after his grandfather Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., the patriarch of the Kennedy family. Kennedy spent his childhood between the family's homes in McLean, Virginia and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.[1] [2] Kennedy had a troubled youth and was expelled from several private schools as a result of his quick temper. He regularly got into fights with his younger brothers and male cousins.[3] He was 15 when his father was assassinated. The night he was shot at the Ambassador Hotel, Kennedy along with two siblings, Kathleen and Robert Jr., were being flown to Los Angeles aboard one of the planes in the Secret Service's presidential fleet named "the Jet Star".[4]

    Kennedy was educated at Milton Academy and the Manter Hall School, both preparatory boarding schools in Greater Boston. During his time at Milton, he was roommates with Thomas C. Wales.[5] [6]

    Kennedy attended the University of California, Berkeley in 1972, but dropped out.[7] He returned to school after a major car accident which occurred in 1973 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1976.[8]

    Early career

    While on hiatus from college, he worked for several months as part of a federally funded program to combat and treat tuberculosis in the African American community in San Francisco, California.[7] Mayor Joseph Alioto personally praised Kennedy's work in the community.[7] Kennedy resigned from his position in the program and returned to Massachusetts in the summer of 1973.[7]

    In 1979, Kennedy founded Citizens Energy Corporation, a non-profit organization to provide discounted heating oil to low-income and elderly families in Massachusetts.[9] According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, Kennedy started the venture "to alleviate the burden of heating bills for the poor during the oil crisis of that year."[10] In 2010, Kennedy transformed the organization to become a leader in renewable energy generation while continuing to use profits to provide energy savings to low-income families.[11] (See Citizens Energy (since 1979) section below.)

    U.S. House of Representatives (1987–1999)

    Elections

    In 1986, incumbent Democrat and Speaker of the House Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr., who had held Massachusetts' 8th congressional district (a Democratic stronghold in Boston and Cambridge)[12] seat since 1953, announced his retirement. Kennedy decided to run for the seat, which his uncle, former president John F. Kennedy, had held from 1947 to 1953. The Democratic nomination was contested by a number of well-known Democrats including state senator George Bachrach and state representative Mel King.[13] However, Kennedy garnered endorsements from The Boston Globe and the retiring O'Neill. Kennedy won the primary with 53%.[14] He won the general election with 72% of the vote.[15] He won re-election in 1988 (80%), 1990 (72%), 1992 (83%), 1994 (99%), and 1996 (84%).[16]

    Tenure

    Kennedy's legislative efforts in U.S. House of Representatives included[17]

    In 1991 Kennedy boycotted a speech to the U.S. Congress by the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II "in protest to the British occupation in Northern Ireland."[33]

    In March 1998, following a year of family troubles that included the skiing death of his brother Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, he announced that he planned to retire from the U.S. House, citing "a new recognition of our own vulnerabilities and the vagaries of life."[34] An editorial in The Boston Globe observed that "Kennedy has remained steadfast in his political life to issues and constituencies no poll would have led him to: the poor, the homeless, disadvantaged children, and others swamped in the current tide of prosperity." He served in the U.S. House for six terms, until January 1999. In his final speech on the U.S. House floor, Kennedy delivered "an impassioned plea for unity and forgiveness"[35] in the midst of Congressional debate regarding the proposed articles of impeachment of President Bill Clinton.[36]

    Committee assignments

    Throughout his career in the U.S. House, Kennedy served on the House Banking Committee,[37] where he played an active role in the federal saving-and-loan bailout,[38] credit-reporting reform, the overhaul of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 and financial modernization. Kennedy also served on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, passing legislation to strengthen the veterans' health-care system,[39] to investigate the causes of Gulf War syndrome, and to provide medical treatment for veterans of the Persian Gulf War.[40] [41]

    Citizens Energy (since 1999)

    Overview

    After leaving the House of Representatives, Kennedy returned to Citizens Energy. (During Kennedy's terms in the House, it had been run by his brother Michael.) Citizens Energy pursues commercial ventures aimed at generating revenues that, in turn, are used to generate funds that could assist those in need in the U.S. and abroad.[42] It grew to encompass seven separate companies, including one of the largest energy-conservation firms in the U.S. Citizens Energy became one of the U.S.'s first energy firms to move large volumes of natural gas to more than 30 states.[43] As a precursor to market changes under electricity deregulation in the late 1990s, Citizens Energy was a pioneer in moving and marketing electrical power over the power grid.[44] [45] In recent years, Kennedy has led the company into the renewable-energy industry, building solar farms along the East Coast[46] and transmission lines[47] to support charitable programs like one giving free solar panels to low-income families in California.[48] In 2019, Citizens Energy announced the completion of one of the largest Low-Income Community Shared Solar projects in the country, funded by its investment in the Sunrise PowerLink Transmission line.[49] Totaling 30 megawatts, the record-breaking California project will provide $500 in energy savings to 12,000 low-income families each year.[50]

    Public policy

    Since returning to Citizens Energy, Kennedy also has sought to influence energy-related public policy, challenging the Bush administration to invest in energy conservation and efficiency and renewable energy,[51] encouraging Congress to fully fund federal heating assistance programs,[52] proposing that oil-consuming countries work together to balance oil prices against Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) manipulation,[53] and calling for the federal government and major oil companies to use portions of royalties from oil and gas extracted from federal lands and waters to help low-income families with the high price of energy.[54] Kennedy has been criticized for the salaries paid to himself and his wife.[55] In 2012, as CEO of Citizens Energy and related organizations, Kennedy was paid a total of $796,000 in compensation, and his wife was paid an additional $344,000 as Director of Marketing.[56]

    Venezuela

    Beginning in 2005, Citgo Petroleum Company (Citgo), a wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)—the Venezuelan state-owned oil company—has been the primary donor of heating oil to Citizens Energy. The Wall Street Journal and others criticized Citizens Energy for continuing its relationship with the Venezuelan government and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, a harsh critic of the United States.[57] [58] [59] In response, Kennedy and others[60] [61] have argued that it is hypocritical to criticize a non-profit organization for accepting oil from Venezuela while numerous other American businesses are profiting from robust trade with Venezuela and at a time when the U.S. government has cut low-income fuel assistance.[62]

    Although Citgo donations reportedly dried up in 2015 owing to Venezuela's economic turmoil,[63] the company was reported in 2009 to have donated 83 million gallons of oil over the two previous years, which was used to provide heating assistance to an estimated 200,000 families a year in 23 states.[64]

    Kennedy has since turned into a critic of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the handpicked successor of Chávez,[65] accusing him of "stealing democracy from the people" and calling for Maduro's removal.[66]

    Later political considerations

    Gubernatorial elections

    In 1993 a Boston Globe poll showed Kennedy within one percentage point of popular incumbent William Weld in a hypothetical gubernatorial match-up, prompting prominent state Democrats to try and recruit him for the race.[67] Though no other Democrat was polling near Weld, Kennedy decided to forgo the race and remain in Congress. Mark Roosevelt won the nomination and lost to Governor Weld by over 40 points.

    Kennedy was considered the front runner for the governorship of Massachusetts in 1998,[68] but revelations about his personal life led to a tumultuous fall in public opinion polling, and he decided against running.[69] Kennedy explained in a VFW hall in a working-class corner of Boston that he believed he would never be able to focus his candidacy on issues: "The race will focus on personal or family questions. It is not fair to my family, it is not fair to the people of Massachusetts and it is not the right thing to do."[70]

    2010 U.S. Senate election

    With the death of his uncle U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy on August 25, 2009, Kennedy's name had been mentioned as a possible candidate for his uncle's seat representing Massachusetts in the United States Senate. In an Associated Press article, Democratic strategist Dan Payne said, "He wouldn't be human and he wouldn't be a Kennedy if he didn't give serious consideration to running for what is known as the 'Kennedy seat' in Massachusetts."[71] However, Kennedy released a statement on September 7 explaining that he would not pursue the seat. The seat eventually went by appointment to Paul G. Kirk and later by election to Republican Scott Brown.

    Endorsements

    Kennedy has endorsed incumbent Democrat Joe Biden's reelection campaign in the 2024 United States presidential election over a third-party/independent challenge by his brother Robert Jr.[72]

    Personal life

    On February 22, 1972, Kennedy was on Lufthansa Flight 649 when it was hijacked. Shortly after the inflight movie began during the 747's flight from New Delhi to Athens, five gunmen seized the jet and forced it to land at Aden International Airport, where all hostages were released the following day.[73] [74] [75]

    In August 1973, a Jeep he was driving on Nantucket overturned, fracturing a vertebrae of his brother David's and permanently paralyzing David's girlfriend, Pam Kelley.[76] The police cited Kennedy for reckless driving and the judge temporarily suspended his driver's license.[3] [76] The Kennedy family paid for Kelley's initial medical treatment and contributed modestly to her care during the years following the accident.[77] Kelley died on November 20, 2020, leaving behind, among others, a 31-year-old daughter and two grandchildren.

    Marriages and reversed annulment

    On February 3, 1979, Kennedy married Sheila Brewster Rauch, a daughter of banker Rudolph Stewart "Stew" Rauch Jr.,[78] president and then chairman of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society. On October 4, 1980, the couple had fraternal twin sons, Matthew Rauch "Matt" Kennedy and Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy III. They were legally divorced in 1991.[79]

    In 1993, Kennedy asked the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston for an annulment of his marriage to Rauch, claiming he was mentally incapable of entering into marriage at the time of the wedding. An annulment would have rendered the marriage void in the Church. This would have also allowed Kennedy to marry Anne Elizabeth "Beth" Kell a former staff member of his, in a Catholic ceremony, as well as allow him to continue receiving Holy Communion (which is forbidden for a divorced person who remarries outside of the Church).[80] [81] Rauch refused to agree to the annulment; Kennedy married Beth in a non-Catholic civil ceremony on October 23, 1993.[82]

    The Boston Archdiocese initially ruled in favor of the annulment, which Rauch says she discovered only after the fact, in 1996. An Episcopalian, she later wrote a book, Shattered Faith: A Woman's Struggle to Stop the Catholic Church from Annulling Her Marriage, explaining that she was opposed to the concept of annulment because it meant in Catholic theology that the marriage had never actually existed. She also claimed that the Kennedy family influence made it possible to unilaterally "cancel" a 12-year marriage.

    Catholic Canon law at the time required a tribunal decision in favor of annulment to be automatically appealed, and the decision was not effective until a second, conforming, sentence was granted. Instead of allowing the appeal to take place in the United States, Rauch appealed directly to the Roman Rota, the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church.[83] The annulment was overturned by the Rota in 2005. Rauch says she was not informed of the decision until 2007, receiving the news from Boston Archdiocese officials.[84] As the first decision was never confirmed, there was no time at which the Church finally declared the marriage to be null or gave Kennedy permission to remarry. Because the Rota was sitting as a second-instance appellate court, Kennedy could appeal against the decision to another Rotal panel.[85]

    External links

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    Notes and References

    1. Book: Thompson . Robert E. . Robert F. Kennedy: The Brother Within . Phocion Publishing . 128.
    2. Web site: Eidell . Lynsey . Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 10 Siblings: All About His Brothers and Sisters . People. 21 April 2024.
    3. Book: Heymann, Clemens D. . American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy . . 2007 . 978-0-7434-9738-1 . 194 .
    4. Oppenheimer, Jerry (May 15, 1995). The Other Mrs. Kennedy: An Intimate and Revealing Look at the Hidden Life of Ethel Skakel Kennedy. Macmillan. p. 453.
    5. Osborne, David (April 1985). "Joe Kennedy Makes a Name for Himself". Mother Jones. p. 20.
    6. News: Manter School Endures. De Los Reyes. Gaston. The Harvard Crimson. 1993-11-13. 2009-09-04 .
    7. Oppenheimer, Jerry. The Other Mrs. Kennedy. p. 578. St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1995.
    8. Walker, P. Wayne. 1997 Congressional Staff Directory (49th Edition), p. 111. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Books, June 1997
    9. Web site: Citizens Energy. Citizens Energy.
    10. Book: Taraborrelli . J. Randy . The Kennedy Heirs: John, Caroline, and the New Generation - A Legacy of Tragedy and Triumph . 2019 . St. Martin's Publishing Group . 122.
    11. Independent Transmission Company Becomes Newest Member of California ISO Grid. December 17, 2011.
    12. Wilentz . Amy . Can Daddy's Team Be Beaten? . Time . September 8, 1986 . 9 March 2024.
    13. News: Running Against Washington in Boston's 'Kennedy Country' . The Washington Post . September 7, 1986.
    14. Web site: MA District 8 – D Primary Race – Sep 16, 1986. OurCampaigns.com. September 16, 1986.
    15. Web site: MA District 8 – D Primary Race – Nov 04, 1986. OurCampaigns.com. November 4, 1986.
    16. Web site: Candidate – Joseph P. Kennedy. OurCampaigns.com.
    17. Web site: Executive Biography. January 30, 2023 . CitizensEnergy.com.
    18. Dober, Patrick; Callahan, Tom (1998-11-08). "Joe Kennedy's Home Run Against Bias". The Boston Globe.
    19. Turner, Robert L. (1989-07-02). "Joe Kennedy: the Happy Warrior". The Boston Globe. p. A45.
    20. News: Joseph Kennedy Won't Run in Fall . The Washington Post . March 14, 1998 . Because of his efforts, banks now have to disclose racial statistics on mortgage borrowers, a tool the Clinton administration has used to enhance services in minority neighborhoods..
    21. Harrington, Walt (1993-06-06). "Settling In". The Washington Post (magazine section). p. 32.
    22. [Op-ed]
    23. Kurkjian, Stephen (1995-10-13), "U.S. Urged to Probe Business Insurers". The Boston Globe.
    24. Keller, Jon (1995-02-05). "Joe Kennedy's Clear-Eyed View of How Things Are". The Boston Globe. p. 3.
    25. Kennedy II, Joseph P. (1995-12-27). "Corporations Rake in Subsidies as Poor, Aged Suffer Cuts". The Boston Globe.
    26. Pear, Robert (1998-05-10). "House Votes to Overhaul Housing for the Poor". The New York Times.
    27. Kennedy II, Joseph P. (1998-02-02). "R&D, Engine of Our Growth". Boston Herald.
    28. Black, Chris (1995-11-25). "Rep. Kennedy Acts to Protect Small Shops". The Boston Globe.
    29. Sullivan, Paul (1993-01-30). "Kennedy Targets Stalking in New Bill". Boston Herald.
    30. Kennedy II, Joseph P. (1993-04-25). "It's Time to Give the Courts Legal Tools to Put Stalkers Away". Boston Herald.
    31. "Rep. Kennedy Takes on Beer Ads". The Boston Globe. (May 17, 1996); "Celebrating Sobriety". The Boston Globe. (July 3, 1996).
    32. Kennedy II, Joseph P. (1998-02-08). "Growing Up Hungry in a Time of Plenty". The Boston Globe. pp. C1-C2.
    33. News: Queen's Address to Congress Celebrates Mutual Respect . De Witt, Karen . 1991-05-17 . . 2009-08-28.
    34. News: Joseph Kennedy 2d Will Quit Congress; Family Needs Cited . Goldberg . Carey . 1998-03-14 . . 2009-08-29 .
    35. Miga, Andrew (1998-12-19). "Joe K's Final Speech on the House Floor Is His Finest". Boston Herald.
    36. Meehan, Marty (1999-01-10). "Joe K Leaves Legacy of Morality". Boston Herald. p. 27.
    37. News: Joseph Kennedy Won't Run in Fall . The Washington Post . March 14, 1998.
    38. Book: United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (Volume 110) . 1990 . 10 . Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II (D - Mass.) has introduced legislation to pay for the savings-and-loan bailout by taxing corporations and the nation's wealthiest individuals..
    39. News: A Nephew of Kennedy Will Not Run for His Seat . The New York Times . September 7, 2009 . 7 March 2024 . Goodnough . Abby .
    40. Web site: Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II . . 7 March 2024.
    41. Web site: Biography: Joseph P. Kennedy II . American Program Bureau, Inc. . 7 March 2024.
    42. Katz, Marisa (2001-01-15). "Heat Is On, Thanks to Joe". The Providence Journal.
    43. Web site: Our History. citizensenergy.com. Citizen's Energy. March 20, 1979. June 7, 2023.
    44. Web site: Citizens Transmission. 20 November 2013.
    45. Sheingold, Barry J. "Power Marketing for the People". Public Power (January–February 1990), pp. 24–29.
    46. Web site: Feldott . Brittany. Joe Kennedy Commissions Solar Project at Landfill. May 11, 2017. The Falmouth Enterprise. October 30, 2017.
    47. Web site: Joe Kennedy visits the Imperial Valley to launch solar home project . The Desert Review. October 30, 2017.
    48. Web site: Movellan. Junko. Low-Income Rooftop Solar Program Helping Hundreds of California Families. April 3, 2014. Renewable Energy World. October 30, 2017.
    49. Web site: dead. IID community solar project to serve low-income customers. 2019-09-26. Paul . Ciampoli . https://web.archive.org/web/20210519190623/https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/iid-community-solar-project-serve-low-income-customers. 2021-05-19. 2023-06-07.
    50. Web site: California Starts Among Largest Community Solar Projects in U.S.. 2019-09-25. Emily C.. Dooley. BloombergLaw.com. 2023-06-07.
    51. Kennedy, Joseph P. II(2001-05-15). "Taking Steps Towards Energy Independence". The Boston Globe.
    52. Catell, Robert B.; Kennedy, Joseph P. II (2006-10-02). "Congress: Turn Up the Heat". Newsday.
    53. Kennedy, Joseph P. II (2001-04-18). "Organized Oil-Consuming Countries Could Offset OPEC". USA Today. p. A13.
    54. Kennedy, Joseph P. II (2005-09-26). "Sharing the Oil Price Windfall". The Boston Globe.
    55. News: Isabel. Vincent. RFK son is broken up over Chavez death. New York Post. March 2013.
    56. Web site: Citizen Audit. IRS Form 990, Citizens Energy Corporation. 2012.
    57. [Editorial]
    58. News: Tom . Phillips. Hugo Chavez says Obama is 'a clown and an embarrassment'. The Guardian. 2011-12-20.
    59. News: Howard . LaFranchi. Hugo Chavez era ends: Will US-Venezuela relations improve?. Christian Science Monitor. 5 March 2013.
    60. Editorial (2007-02-19). "Rhetoric Fails to Help Poor". The Daily News Tribune.
    61. Walker, Adrian. (2005-11-24). "Oil Deal Is Her Lifeline". The Boston Globe.
    62. News: Kennedy. Joseph P. II . Yes, oil from Venezuela. The Boston Globe. December 24, 2006.
    63. Web site: Sharp. David. Venezuela's troubles put US heating oil charity in limbo. March 21, 2017. Boston.com. Associated Press. June 7, 2023.
    64. Rezendes, Michael; Bierman, Noah (2009-09-06). "As Joe Kennedy Considers Run, Chavez Ties Loom". The Boston Globe. p. 1.
    65. Web site: Memmott. Mark. Venezuela Says Recount Likely After Chavez Heir's Close Win. NPR. April 15, 2013. October 30, 2017.
    66. News: Kennedy. Joseph P. II. It's Time for Maduro to Go. The Washington Post. October 30, 2017.
    67. Web site: Kennedy Won't Run . The Harvard Crimson. Wendy M.. Seltzer. February 22, 1993. June 7, 2023.
    68. News: Joseph Kennedy Ends Gubernatorial Bid. Harden, Blaine. 1997-08-29. The Washington Post. 2009-08-27.
    69. Web site: In Camelot, The Chicks May Be Coming Home To Roost. Henry . Goldman. May 4, 1997. philly.com. Philadelphia Inquirer. https://web.archive.org/web/20151221135704/http://articles.philly.com/1997-05-04/news/25561569_1_annulment-citizens-energy-corp-robert-f-kennedy. 2015-12-21. 2023-06-07.
    70. Web site: Joseph Kennedy Ends Gubernatorial Bid. 2021-04-27. washingtonpost.com.
    71. Web site: Another Senator Kennedy in Massachusetts?. NBC News. NBC News. August 31, 2009. Associated Press. June 7, 2023.
    72. Web site: O'Donnell . Kelly . Lebowitz . Megan . Richards . Zoë . Kennedy family members endorse Biden over RFK Jr. . NBC News . 22 April 2024 . en . 18 April 2024.
    73. News: RFK's Son Freed by Hijackers. . February 22, 1972.
    74. News: $5 Million Paid to Jet Hijackers. Oakland Tribune. February 25, 1972.
    75. News: On This Day—23 February1972: Hijackers surrender and free Lufthansa crew. 29 August 2013. BBC.co.uk.
    76. Book: Canellos, Peter S. . Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. 194. New York. Simon & Schuster. 2009.
    77. Book: Taraborrelli, J. Randy. Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot. 423. New York. Grand Central Publishing. 2000.
    78. Web site: R. Stewart Rauch, Jr.. December 4, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20150501081119/http://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/407_0.pdf. May 1, 2015. dead.
    79. Book: Taraborrelli, J. Randy. After Camelot: A Personal History of the Kennedy Family--1968 to the Present. 2012. Hachette Digital, Inc.
    80. News: Seeking to Annul the Annulment . Lawson . Carol . 1997-04-24 . . 2009-08-28 .
    81. Web site: Frequently Asked Questions . Archdiocese of Indianapolis . 2009-08-30.
    82. Book: Kennedy, Sheila Rauch . Shattered Faith: A Woman's Struggle to Stop the Catholic Church from Annulling Her Marriage . . 1998 . 978-0-8050-5828-4 . 7–22 .
    83. Joe Kennedy's First Marriage: Still On. Israel. Jeff. 2007-06-19. Rome. Time. 2009-08-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130824153616/https://time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1634956,00.html. 2013-08-24. dead.
    84. News: Staff writer . Staff writer . Vatican Undoes Annulment of Ex-Rep. Kennedy—Eldest Son of Late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Was Married in 1991 . Associated Press. . 2007-06-20 . 2009-09-03.
    85. Web site: Canon 1444 . Code of Canon Law . The Vatican . vatican.va . 2009-09-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100108061657/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P5G.HTM . 2010-01-08 .