Patrick J. Kennedy

Patrick Joseph Kennedy II (born July 14, 1967) is an American retired politician and mental health advocate. From 1995 to 2011, he served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island's 1st congressional district, and was one of the first two Generation X members of Congress (with Randy Tate) when he took office in 1995. Born and raised in Boston, he is the youngest child and second son of the long-time Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, and is a nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Providence College. He was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 1989, becoming the youngest member of the Kennedy family to hold elected office. He was then elected to represent Rhode Island's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was repeatedly re-elected, serving from January 3, 1995, to January 3, 2011 (the 104th to 111th Congresses). In the House, Kennedy served on the Armed Services and Natural Resources Committees before being appointed to the Appropriations Committee. In 2017, he was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as a member of the Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission. He is a co-founder of One Mind, a mental health nonprofit. At the time of his father's death in late August 2009, Patrick was the last remaining member of the Kennedy family to serve in an elective office in Washington. After he chose not to seek re-election in 2010 and left office the following year, it was the first time that no member of the Kennedy family held elected office since 1947. The Kennedys' absence in politics was temporary, however, and following the next mid-term election, Joe Kennedy III would be sworn in to Congress and Caroline Kennedy would be appointed to an ambassadorship.