Edward M. Kennedy Jr.

Early life and education

Edward was born to Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy and Joan Bennett Kennedy in Boston, Massachusetts during the Presidency of his uncle John Kennedy. He is the brother of Kara (1960-2011) and Patrick J. Kennedy (born 1967).

In 1973, when Kennedy was twelve, osteosarcoma (a form of bone cancer) was diagnosed in his right leg. The leg was surgically amputated on November 17, 1973. On that same day his father had escorted his cousin 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, which crashed into the Potomac River on January 13 of that year, killing 74 people. Kennedy was luckily delayed on the drive to the airport and missed the flight.

Kennedy graduated from the private St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.. He attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984. He continued his studies at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, earning a master's degree from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He then attended the University of Connecticut School of Law at night, earning a Juris Doctor 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 Wiggin & Dana specializing in disability issues. He later co-founded 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 on the board of directors of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

Elections

On April 8, 2014, Kennedy announced his candidacy for a seat in the Connecticut State Senate representing the state's 12th district. He was elected on November 4.

Tenure

Kennedy was sworn-in on January 7.

Committee assignments

Party leadership

Personal life

On October 10, 1993, he and Katherine Anne "Kiki" Gershman (b. 1959) were married on Block Island, Rhode Island. She is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine 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. They live in Branford, Connecticut.

The couple have a daughter, Kiley Elizabeth Kennedy (born August 7, 1994, in New Haven), who is a competitive snowboarder and a student at Wesleyan University, and a son, Edward Moore Kennedy III, (born February 25, 1998, in New Haven) who graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 2016 and now attends Wesleyan University. His son, at age 11, announced his intention to run for U.S. Senator from Massachusetts some day.

Kennedy gave a tribute to his father at his father's public funeral on August 29, 2009.