John F. Kennedy, Jr
John F. Kennedy, Jr. was the only surviving son of former President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. From an early age, he was in the public eye, garnering celebrity status due to his lineage. After passing the New York bar exam in 1990, he worked as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, where his personal life, including high-profile relationships, drew significant media attention. In 1995, he launched the magazine George, which aimed to combine politics with popular culture, reflecting the interests of his generation. Kennedy married Carolyn Bessette, a publicist for Calvin Klein, in 1996 and was considered a potential candidate for political office in the early 2000s. Tragically, his life was cut short when the plane he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 1999, leading to a national outpouring of grief. His legacy remains intertwined with the exploration of the relationship between politics and celebrity culture in America, marked as much by his potential as by his untimely death.
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Subject Terms
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Born: November 25, 1960
- Birthplace: Washington, D.C.
- Died: July 16, 1999
- Place of death: Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard
Identification American lawyer, publisher, and celebrity
Heir to America’s leading political dynasty, charismatic, and adventurous, Kennedy was closely watched for his celebrity status, publishing venture, and growing political aspirations.
The only surviving son of the late president John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, John F. Kennedy, Jr., had been accorded celebrity status for his entire life. When he passed the New York bar exam on his third attempt on July 24, 1990, it was national news, allowing Kennedy to retain his appointment as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. Over the next few years, the media followed Kennedy closely: both for his romances as People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” most notably with well-known actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Daryl Hannah, and for possible political aspirations as the leading heir of the Kennedy political dynasty.
When his stint as a prosecutor ended in 1993, Kennedy combined his media and political status by starting the unique magazine George. The novel approach of the magazine was indicated by its motto, “Not just politics as usual.” The first issue was published in September, 1995, to great publicity, with supermodel Cindy Crawford posing as George Washington on the cover. With numerous successful issues of George over the succeeding years, Kennedy could point to a signal achievement. He was no longer famous merely for his name but had become publisher and editor in chief of a national magazine with a fresh and breezy approach to politics, which mirrored the perspective of many in his generation. A further sign of his maturation came on September 21, 1996, when he married the glamorous Calvin Klein publicist Carolyn Bessette.
Kennedy was considering a possible run for the U.S. Senate in 2000 or for New York governor in 2002. Famously married, nationally celebrated, professionally accomplished, Kennedy seemed poised for a dramatic entrance into political life, one that perhaps could have ended in the White House. Tragedy struck, however, on July 16, 1999, when the small airplane that Kennedy was flying crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, several miles off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Kennedy, an amateur pilot, was flying at night from New York to Massachusetts with his wife Carolyn and her sister Lauren to attend a wedding. President Bill Clinton ordered an extensive maritime search and rescue operation. The remains of the bodies were found five days later and were cremated and scattered into the ocean.
Impact
John F. Kennedy, Jr., represented the intersection of two cultural trends of the 1990’s: the increasing popularization of politics and the fascination with media celebrities. He fruitfully cultivated this union in his magazine George, which strove for serious political commentary with a lively people-centered perspective. However, Kennedy’s greatest impact was more one of loss than of accomplishment, as his life was tragically ended just as he seemed poised to realize his full potential.
Bibliography
Blow, Richard. American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr. New York: Henry Holt, 2002.
Heymann, C. David. American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy. New York: Atria Books, 2007.
Leamer, Laurence. Sons of Camelot: The Fate of an American Dynasty. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.