Michael LeMoyne Kennedy

For other people named Michael Kennedy, see Michael Kennedy (disambiguation).

Michael Kennedy
Born	February 27, 1958(1958-02-27) Washington, D.C.
Died	December 31, 1997(1997-12-31) (aged 39) Aspen, Colorado
Alma mater	Harvard College Univ. of Virginia - Law
Political party	Democratic
Religion	Catholic
Spouse	Victoria Gifford (1981-1997)
Children	Three children
Parents	Robert F. Kennedy Ethel Skakel

Michael LeMoyne Kennedy (February 27, 1958 – December 31, 1997), was the sixth of eleven children of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy.

Education

Kennedy graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Harvard College in 1980, and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984.

Personal life

Michael Kennedy married Victoria Gifford (b. February 20, 1957),^[1] daughter of former pro football player and sportscaster Frank Gifford and Maxine Avis Ewart, on March 14, 1981 in New York City.

They had three children, residing in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

In 1997, the news broke that Michael Kennedy was having an affair with the family's former babysitter. Allegations were reported that the affair had begun three years before when the babysitter was 14 years old, although Kennedy took and passed three lie detector tests claiming he had not had sex with the Cohasset teen until she was 16 years old, the legal age of consent in Massachusetts at the time. Kennedy was placed under investigation for statutory rape.^{[citation needed]} However, the babysitter did not cooperate with prosecutors.^{[citation needed]} Shortly after the scandal began, Michael Kennedy and his wife separated.^{[citation needed]} After the affair, Michael Kennedy checked himself into a rehab center for alcoholics.

Career

Michael Kennedy was the head of his brother Joe's non-profit organization, Citizens Energy Corporation. He also helped organize his uncle Ted Kennedy's re-election campaign against Mitt Romney in 1994.

Death

Kennedy died at the end of 1997 in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado. He was playing ski-football with several other members of the Kennedy family when he hit a tree. Kennedy was not wearing a helmet or other safety equipment. Some have alleged that the family had been previously warned by the ski patrol to cease the activity.^[2] Others have noted that the ski patrol issued no such warnings.^[3]

See also

• Kennedy Curse
• List of skiing deaths

References

1. ^ American Experience | The Kennedys | Kennedy Family Tree | PBS
2. ^ Time - "The Kennedy Family: Tragedy Strikes Again," 1998-01-12, accessed 2009-08-30
3. ^ Time - "Letters: Feb. 2, 1998", 1998-02-02, accessed 2009-10-27.

External links

• Michael LeMoyne Kennedy at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Kennedy at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Kennedy, Michael Lemoyne
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 27, 1958
Place of birth	Washington, D.C.
Date of death	December 31, 1997
Place of death	Aspen, Colorado