Kennedy’s endorsement has deep personal meaning for Biden

“The Kennedys, as a group, were the people he patterned his life after,” said former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), who was Biden’s longtime chief of staff and remains his close friend. “Not just his political life, but his life.”

So when the Kennedy family rallied behind Biden in Philadelphia last week in a full statement of support for his re-election campaign, emphatically choosing him over someone from their own — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent — it was not just politically useful. It was also a hugely personal victory for Biden.

Privately, Biden told aides that Thursday was one of the best days of his campaign, according to people familiar with his comments who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The event involved more than a dozen members of the extended Kennedy family, including six of Kennedy Jr.’s siblings, and Biden was especially moved when they said the president was the candidate to carry on their family’s legacy.

Publicly, Biden was visibly moved by the strong support of Kerry Kennedy, his rival’s sister.

“That was the most meaningful introduction I’ve ever had in my life, other than when my sister introduced me,” Biden said Thursday after her introduction.

The Kennedy family hopes their support will help Biden politically. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign threatens to siphon votes from Biden, raising Democrats’ growing concerns that he could meaningfully harm the president’s chances of beating Donald Trump. The outcome could depend on a few thousand votes in key states, and many Democrats say they lost the White House in 2000 and 2016 because of such third-party uprisings.

Within the Kennedy family, Kennedy Jr.’s quixotic campaign was painful, said people familiar with their discussions. Initially, when he challenged Biden for the Democratic nomination, his family was frustrated — and made clear they were behind Biden — but largely publicly ignored the candidacy. They weren’t concerned about Kennedy Jr.’s impact. on the election, as Biden would almost certainly defeat the Democratic nomination.

But as an independent candidate winning votes across the country, members of the family have grown increasingly concerned about his ability to influence the election — and damage their family’s legacy.

“Almost every grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden,” Kerry Kennedy said in her introduction about Biden. “That’s right, the Kennedy family supports Joe Biden for president.”

She later compared Biden directly to her father, the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.).

“Dad stood for equal justice, for human rights and freedom from want and fear,” she said, “just as President Biden does today.”

The Kennedy family occupies an unusual place in the American political imagination. President John F. Kennedy was a youthful, charismatic president who energized a generation of Americans until his shocking assassination in 1963. His brother Robert, a more anguished figure, was seen by many Democrats as the embodiment of tragic idealism after his own assassination in 1968. while campaigning for president.

Scandal has also dogged the family, and while members of the next generation have also gained political office, none have risen to the heights of political and cultural influence of their parents. Still, the Kennedy mystique persists for many Democratic voters, especially older voters.

That background is one of the reasons why Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy has given such a twist to the current presidential campaign. The son and namesake of the respected senator has embraced controversial, unsubstantiated claims about everything, including vaccines and the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — which has many Democrats and, it seems, some of his own family members, in an uproar brings.

Several of those family members have had pointed conversations with Kennedy Jr. about his candidacy, but to no avail, with many close to him saying they don’t believe he will drop out of the race. That understanding fueled the family’s desire to join in a public show of support for Biden, the people familiar with their conversations said.

“This has not been easy for anyone, and I think what should be lost on no one is that despite the context of the event, this has not been easy for anyone to do given the dynamics of this race,” said former Congressman Joe Kennedy. (D-Mass.), a grandson of the elder Robert F. Kennedy who now serves as Biden’s special envoy to Northern Ireland, said in an interview. “But it was important to do.”

He, like other members of his family, declined to comment directly on his uncle’s presidential campaign. Some of the candidate’s family members have condemned Kennedy’s comments on vaccines and other issues, but they have been careful not to view their support of Biden as an explicit rebuke of their relative. Instead, they say it reflects their belief that there are only two possible outcomes in November: Biden wins, or former President Trump wins.

“Given the reality we find ourselves in, there are only two people who have the opportunity to win this race,” said Joe Kennedy. “There are only two parties that have the structures to win this race. So every additional candidate in that dynamic takes away support from one side or the other.”

For his part, Kennedy Jr. no comment has been made on his family’s approval since the event occurred. But before his siblings gathered with Biden, he wrote on social media: “I hear part of my family will be supporting President Biden today. I’m glad they are politically active; it’s a family tradition. We are divided in our opinions, but united in our love for each other.”

At 81, Biden has discovered that his own path — which has involved both enormous political success and immense personal tragedy — is in some ways a reflection of that of the Kennedy family.

After being steeped in Kennedy lore as a child, Biden found solace in the embrace of family as he faced the deaths of those closest to him. A few weeks after he was elected to the Senate in 1972, and before he was even sworn in, Biden’s wife and daughter were killed in a car accident. His sons Beau and Hunter were injured and Biden considered giving up his seat to care for them.

But Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) convinced Biden, along with other colleagues, to stay. Kennedy helped Biden set up his Senate office and became a mentor and close friend.

“I know the president is someone who values ​​family and values ​​loyalty, and when you’re there for someone who’s most vulnerable, he remembers that,” Joe Kennedy said of his family’s bond with Biden. “It’s that relationship that I think has had a huge impact on the members in both families, especially the older generation. They have also suffered enormous losses, and so has he, so there is something in common.”

In addition to Joe Kennedy, there are many other Kennedys working in the Biden administration: Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, is ambassador to Australia; Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Edward Kennedy’s widow, is the ambassador to Austria; Katherine Kennedy Townsend, one of Kennedy Jr.’s siblings who stood on stage with Biden, previously worked in Biden’s Labor Department as an adviser on retirement and pension issues. (The two ambassadors cannot engage in political activities and were not involved in Thursday’s endorsement event).

That meeting in Philadelphia, led largely by Joe Kennedy and Kerry Kennedy, came after family members made clear they wanted to publicly support the president. It took months to organize, given the large size of the family. Although there was some discussion about holding the event in Massachusetts, the Kennedys’ traditional home, family members decided against it because most of them no longer live in the state.

The Kennedys also wanted to campaign in a battleground state, and after the meeting some of them went door knocking and met with Biden campaign volunteers in Philadelphia.

This month almost 50 members of the Kennedy clan gathered at the White House for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration, stayed for a private tour of the Oval Office and posed for a photo with Biden in the Rose Garden. Biden and many of the Kennedys shared the photo on social media, the first implicit rebuke of the Kennedy Jr. campaign. by his relatives.

But that visit, like Thursday’s event, featured Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign. not explicitly mentioned, family members said.

“A lot of what happened in the Oval Office, people talked to him about the presence of President Kennedy, and my father, and where he put the bust and why he likes to look at the bust of my father when he’s making tough decisions.” , said Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

She added: “We have a great relationship with Joe Biden. We love politics. We love this country. We love Ireland.”