By Andrew Stanton
Copyright newsweek
Joan B. Kennedy, the former wife of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, has died at age 89.
The Context
Joan Kennedy was married to the Massachusetts Democratic senator from 1958 through 1982 and was known as the last surviving Camelot Kennedy. Her public discussion of her mental health struggles drew attention to issues of mental health and addiction.
What to Know
Joan Kennedy was born in September 1936 to a family living in the New York City suburb of Bronxville. She went on to study at Manhattanville College and Lesley University and was known as a pianist who would often open her husband’s campaign rallies with her music, reported the Associated Press.
The couple met in 1957 at a dedication ceremony for Kathleen Kennedy, who had died in a plane crash, and they got married just about a year later in November 1958.
Joan Kennedy appears in a photograph with her husband Ted Kennedy (right) and her brother-in-law John F. Kennedy during their wedding in New York.
Two years later, in 1960, her brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy, would be elected president, and Ted would be elected to the Senate in 1962.
Joan Kennedy and Edward Kennedy pose for a photo in Boston shortly after his election as U.S. senator.
Their lives would be upended in 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated in Texas.
Joan Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy attend Mass at the Holy Cross Cathedral in 1964.
Senator Kennedy faced a scandal during his time in office in 1969, when a car he was driving crashed off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. A female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, was killed, and Kennedy was charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Joan Kennedy suffered a miscarriage shortly after the incident, the AP reported.
Joan Kennedy and Ted Kennedy ski in Colorado in 1969.
She stood by her husband despite the scandal, but had been separated by 1980, when Senator Kennedy sought to challenge incumbent President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Joan Kennedy and Ted Kennedy speak in New York City in 1980.
The couple ultimately divorced in 1983. She faced difficult times in the decades that followed, including arrests for drinking and driving and stays in alcohol treatment programs, according to the AP. She would speak candidly about her challenges, bringing attention to issues of alcoholism. She was hospitalized in 2005 after being found passed out on a Boston sidewalk, and her son Ted Jr. obtained legal guardianship over her care.
The New York Times noted in its obituary that she was seen as a “survivor” and that those close to her rejected terms like “fragile” to describe her.
Her sister in law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, told The Boston Globe in 2000: “I think she had a life that was very demanding of her. Sometimes she had real problems in those days. I think she never gave up. She consistently tried to improve and overcome her problems, and eventually she did. So that is not a person who is fragile.”
She attended the funeral of Senator Kennedy in 2009. She outlived other Kennedys of her generation, and many called her the “Last Survivor of Camelot.”
Joan Kennedy attends the funeral of her late husband, Senator Ted Kennedy, in Boston on August 29, 2009.
Who Are Joan Kennedy’s Kids? What We Know About Kara, Patrick Joseph, and Ted Jr.
Joan Kennedy had three children with the senator. Her oldest daughter, Kara Kennedy, built a career in television news. She died in September 2011 at the age of 51 after suffering a heart attack.
She gave birth to Ted Kennedy Jr. in 1961. He was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 11 years old and had to have his leg amputated. He went on to serve as a lawyer and member of the Connecticut state legislature.
Her youngest son, Patrick, was born in 1967. He had a decades-long career in politics, serving in Congress representing Rhode Island. He praised his mother in a statement reported by the AP.
“Besides being a loving mother, talented musician, and instrumental partner to my father as he launched his successful political career, Mom was a power of example to millions of people with mental health conditions. She will be missed not just by the entire Kennedy Family, but by the arts community in the City of Boston and the many people whose lives that she touched,” he wrote.
What People Are Saying
Maria Shriver wrote to X: “My aunt, Joan Kennedy, mom to my cousins, Teddy and Patrick Kennedy, passed away this morning. Not only was she a mom, but she was a grandmother too. She was an accomplished pianist, an arts advocate, and a beautiful soul. She valiantly shared her struggle with addiction so that others could share theirs. She courageously shared what it was like to lose a child, get divorced from a famous man, and carry on. Her life was challenging, but she persevered.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote to X: “She was my friend, confidante, and…