Michael LeMoyne Kennedy

Michael LeMoyne Kennedy was born on February 27, 1958, in Washington, D.C. He was the sixth of eleven children of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. His name was chosen in honor of Kirk LeMoyne Billings, a family friend and preparatory school roommate of John F. Kennedy. Kennedy's childhood was marked by the assassinations of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, when Michael was five years old, and his father, Robert F. Kennedy, when Michael was ten. He spent his early years living between the Kennedy family homes in McLean, Virginia, and Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

Kennedy attended Harvard College, graduating in 1980. He later earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984. During his time in college, he was noted for recovering a stolen wristwatch from a thief while on a sightseeing tour in Colombia. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1985.

On March 14, 1981, Kennedy married Victoria Denise Gifford in New York City. Victoria was the daughter of Frank Gifford, a former NFL player and sportscaster. The couple had three children: a son, Michael LeMoyne Kennedy Jr., born in 1983; and two daughters, Kyle Francis Kennedy, born in 1984, and Rory Gifford Kennedy, born in 1987. The family lived in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

Kennedy's career began as a lawyer in Boston where he briefly worked for a private law firm. In 1986, he became the chairman of his brother Joseph Kennedy’s non-profit organization, Citizens Energy Corporation, which provides heating oil and services to elderly and low-income households in Massachusetts. Under his leadership, the organization expanded its services to include distribution of discount AIDS-related medications to uninsured patients. Kennedy also co-chaired the Walden Woods Project, an organization dedicated to preserving Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1994, he co-founded Stop Handgun Violence, a campaign aimed at increasing public awareness about handgun dangers. In the same year, he participated in organizing his uncle Ted Kennedy’s re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate against Mitt Romney.

In 1992, Kennedy, his wife Victoria, and his mother Ethel appeared briefly on the NBC sitcom "Cheers" in Boston.

In 1997, Kennedy was involved in allegations concerning an affair with an underage former babysitter who was 14 at the time. Kennedy passed three polygraph tests administered by his attorneys and claimed he had not engaged in sexual activity with her until she was 16, the age of consent in Massachusetts at the time. Following the scandal, Kennedy and his wife separated. The Norfolk County District Attorney decided to cease the investigation into statutory rape due to the babysitter's lack of cooperation. The incident was widely covered in the media, and Kennedy and his brother Joseph withdrew from political pursuits, with some observers suggesting it ended Kennedy's prospects of political office.

Michael LeMoyne Kennedy died on December 31, 1997, in Aspen, Colorado, as a result of a skiing accident. While skiing with family members, he collided with a tree at approximately 4:15 p.m., after which he was not wearing a helmet or safety gear, despite warnings by the ski patrol. His sister Rory Kennedy attempted to resuscitate him until medical personnel arrived. He was transported to Aspen Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:50 p.m. Kennedy was interred on January 3, 1998, at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts.