Special Sub-Topic: Kennedys in Politics Click Here To Play: Kennedys in Politics

The first generation of Kennedy politicians (JFK and his siblings) were quite successful in politics. What was the first electoral loss suffered by one of them?

Bobby Kennedy's loss in the 1968 Oregon presidential primary. Bobby lost the Oregon primary to Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy. JFK lost the vice-presidential nomination to Estes Kefauver on the floor of the 1956 Democratic convention, but it was a vote by the convention delegates, not a popular election. Many people think that if he had won that vote, and joined in Adlai Stevenson's ill-fated run for president that year, he may have been tarred as a loser and not won the nomination or the presidency in 1960.

Robert Kennedy served as U.S. senator from what state?

New York. New York has a long history of "carpet bagger" senators. Kennedy was elected in 1964, defeating incumbent Kenneth Keating.

JFK's maternal grandfather, John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, held which of the following offices?

Mayor of Boston. Fitzgerald served as mayor of Boston and a member of the U.S. house of representatives. Fitzgerald twice lost races for U.S. senate, in 1916 and 1948. Interestingly, Fitzgerald lost his 1916 race to Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. Thirty-six years later, in 1952, Fitzgerald's grandson, JFK, defeated Lodge's grandson, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for the same senate seat.

Kennedy in-law Sargent Shriver replaced this man as the vice-presidential nominee on the 1972 Democratic ticket.

Thomas Eagleton. Originally, the 1972 Democratic ticket consisted of George McGovern and Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton. After revelations emerged about Eagleton's electro-shock therapy, Eagleton withdrew from the ticket and was replaced by Shriver. Defeated by Richard Nixon, McGovern and Shriver lost every state in the nation except Massachusetts and D.C.

What position did Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (JFK's father) hold in the administration of Franklin Roosevelt?

Ambassador to Great Britain. He was appointed in 1937 and was controversial for isolationist views that some considered pro-Nazi.

Robert Kennedy's daughter, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, became the first woman in the family elected to office when she was elected lieutenant governor of this state in 1994.

Maryland. Townsend lost a race for governor of Maryland in 2002.

Which Kennedy served the shortest term in the U.S. senate: John, Robert or Edward?

Robert & Robert Kennedy. Robert served a little more than three years; he took office in January 1965 and was assassinated in June 1968. John was elected in 1952 and left office to become president in 1961. Edward, elected in 1962 and still serving as of 2003, served the longest term of the three.

Which Kennedy brother, John, Robert or Edward, never had a child elected to the U.S. congress?

John & John Kennedy & John F. Kennedy & J & JFK. Robert's son Joseph served in congress from Massachusetts and Edward's son Patrick served from Rhode Island. No child of John's ever ran for public office.

Which of the following is a correct statement about California Governor and "Terminator" Arnold Schwarzenegger's relationship to the Kennedy family?

His mother-in-law is JFK's sister. Schwarzenegger's wife, reporter Maria Shriver, is the daughter of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who was JFK's sister.

Which Kennedy said, "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die"?

Edward M. Kennedy. In 1980, Edward Kennedy unsucessfully challenged President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination. This quote came from his speech at the Democratic convention.