Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (born February 20, 1928) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She is the eighth of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald, and is their longest-lived and last surviving child. Her siblings include President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, longtime Senator Ted Kennedy, and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy is the founder of Very Special Arts (VSA), an internationally recognized non-profit dedicated to creating a society where people with disabilities can engag
Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (born February 20, 1928) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She is the eighth of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald, and is their longest-lived and last surviving child. Her siblings include President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, longtime Senator Ted Kennedy, and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy is the founder of Very Special Arts (VSA), an internationally recognized non-profit dedicated to creating a society where people with disabilities can engage with the arts. In 2011, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama for her work with VSA and people with disabilities. As Ambassador to Ireland, Smith was instrumental in the Northern Ireland peace process as President Bill Clinton's representative in Dublin. She was heavily criticized after advocating for the government to grant a visa to Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, although her family would claim this influenced the IRA declaring a ceasefire in 1994. Irish President Mary McAleese conferred honorary Irish citizenship on Smith in 1998 in recognition of her service to the country. Jean Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on her elder sister Kathleen's eighth birthday. She has been described as the shyest and most guarded of the Kennedy children. She attended Manhattanville College (at the time a Sacred Heart school, and still located in Purchase NY), where she met and befriended two future sisters-in-law: Ethel Skakel, who married her older brother Robert in 1950 and Joan Bennett who married her younger brother Ted in 1958.
Size: 6592px × 4271px
Location: Ambassador's residence, Dublin, Ireland
Photo credit: © Paul McErlane / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1993, ambassador, american, army, arrival, dublin, ireland, irish, jean, jfk, john, kenedy, kennedy, smith, states, troops, united, usa
