For Robert Kennedy, family life would be fulfilling and inspiring. He had married Ethel Skakel in June 1950 and began a marriage of deep love and affection that would provide strength and comfort to him in the years ahead. Ethel had come from a large moneyed Catholic family like Bobby's and like the Kennedy household life was lived at a frenetic pace with a spirit of freedom being central to her upbringing. Ethel settled into life with her new in-laws as though she had always been a part of it, becoming as much a Kennedy as Bobby's own siblings. Within a year of their marriage Ethel gave birth to her first child called Kathleen, named for Bobby's deceased older sister. Over the next seventeen years Ethel would bear ten more children when she gave birth to Joseph in 1951, Robert Jr in 1954, David in 1955, Courtney in 1956, Michael in 1958, Kerry in 1959, Christopher in 1963, Mathew in1965, Douglas in 1967 and finally Rory in 1968 delivered in the months after Bobby's death.

With their young family increasing they needed to find a larger house than the one they owned in Georgetown and so they would purchase a property in McLean, Virginia that had been owned by Jack and Jackie called Hickory Hill. Jack and Jackie had bought it designing a nursery for their expected baby but after suffering a miscarriage Jackie couldn't bear to live in the house and so they sold it to Bobby and Ethel. From here on this would be home to the young family, a large sprawling property that would allow the children the freedom to roam and play. Life was chaotic in those days, Bobby was busy building his own career and fulfilling his obligations to his brother and this kept him away from home for long periods. Ethel meanwhile took care of the children with help from nannies and housemaids. Both Bobby and Ethel believed that children should be given space to grow and there were few ground rules.

Children, Dogs horses were allowed to come and go as and where they pleased. Never particularly domesticated the house was in disarray much of the time due to the frenetic pace that life was lived at.

Bobby loved it; he would play and roughhouse with his children, encouraging them to be individual and strong. Both parents were actively interested in their children's lives, taking care to question them on the events of the day, attend school pageants, horse riding competitions and other major events in their lives. Due to him own up bringing where he was starved of attention and affection, Bobby was a tactile father, unashamed to hug and hold his children close to him wherever he was.

The children were the centre of his world and his office walls were adorned with their paintings and stories. He would bring them to the office with him and allow them to crawl around and play within the hallowed halls of the Justice Department. A distraction to some, he was filled with pride and love for them and was eager to extol their achievements to friends and family.

He was anxious too that they were shaped as children to become good and decent adults. Aware that their life was different to many of their friends, because they grew up in a world of money and privilege he was worried that they would not know of the hardships faced by many of the people living in their country. Because of this, from a very early age he set about educating his children through question and answer sessions at the dinner table and talking to them about the difficulties endured by the people who were experiencing abject poverty and the intolerance suffered by people in the black community amongst many other subjects. He would take his children with him to the Indian Reservations or the slum areas of New York so they could see for themselves the injustices that people had to deal with. He wanted to make his children strong in character and ensure they would always question right and wrong, he wanted them to grow into moral human beings who were unafraid to challenge the status quo.

A caring and comforting father he did not want his children to appear to be weak and because of this he would urge his children not to cry. Occasionally if one of the children fell or got into trouble, he would wipe their tears away and mildly scolding he would tell them to remember that Kennedy's don't cry. Probably remembering his own difficult upbringing and the loneliness he had felt he knew the merits of appearing strong and nevertheless he always provided strength and comfort to them whenever they needed it.

He was careful to ensure that none of the children were left behind in anything. As a middle child himself he paid particular attention to his third son David, a much quieter, more sensitive child than his two older brothers. Possibly recognising something of himself in David he set out to spend more time helping and developing his young son and in many pictures of that time we see Bobby constantly hugging him closely to him.

Not unlike many working parents he suffered a sense of guilt because his work kept him away from home so much and he tried to compensate when he was around by packing as many activities into the day as possible. His children loved him unconditionally and this uncomplicated love and devotion that he received from his wife and children gave Bobby Kennedy the freedom and confidence to follow his dreams and live out his passionate crusades. Despite what was written or spoken about him, negatively or otherwise Hickory Hill and his family life provided a sanctuary that would give him respite from the harsh problems of the world.

To his children although some were very young at the time of his death, he has been a model of inspiration and it is a credit to Bobby and Ethel that his children have chosen careers that are in the service of people less fortunate than themselves. Each of their children have taken on the responsibility of playing a part in making the world a better place.

Maybe they have been inspired by the words of one of his most impressive speeches:
'Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance'.
Maybe they were just inspired by his courage and determination, either way it is this legacy that he gave to his children, who have all tried to honour his memory by emulating his passion to make a difference in the world by helping those less fortunate than oneself.

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© 2002 The Kennedy Way.com

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Photographs courtesy of the Kennedy Library and museum.