Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was born on January 17, 1954, in Washington D.C., and is commonly known to be related to the United States’ 35th president John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Robert Jr. is the third of eleven children born to Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, two hard-working parents. His father was a counsel with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and later became the U.S. attorney general, (serving his brother JFK) and finally went on to become the U.S. Senator of New York. Ethel Skakel Kennedy came from a wealthy family who had built its fortune in the coal industry.
Later in 1968, his father Robert Kennedy announced his candidacy for the presidency. Sadly, on June 6, 1968, in Los Angeles California, he was assassinated. Following his father’s death, Kennedy Jr. struggled with drug abuse, which led to his arrest for marijuana possession at 16 and his exclusion from two private schools. He later graduated from Harvard University earning a bachelor’s in American History and Literature in 1976.
The most important takeaway from this is what his campaign preaches. Kennedy presents himself as an honest politician who has a history of standing up to the big forces on behalf of the middle class. He appointed the lawsuits he’s worn against corporations like Monsanto and DuPont.
He stated in AP News in February, “I can fix this country. All these agencies that intimidate normal politicians, I’ve sued every one of them…When you sue these agencies, you get a PHD in corporate capture and how to unravel it.” Corporate capture refers to private interests using their influence to control government decision-making, such as when they help draft legislation.”
The last third-party candidate to make it to the White House was Abraham Lincoln. The odds are long. Some of those who declare their support for him may be more likely to be responding to his well-known last name than to his genuine campaign platform. According to a CNN/SSRS poll from last spring, 20% of respondents who indicated they would think about backing Kennedy for the Democratic nomination, which he was seeking at the time, claimed their decision was influenced by his last name and ties to the Kennedy family. Merely 12% stated that it was due to endorsement of his opinions and policies.
Overall, for any of that to matter he has to get on the ballot!