Robert F. Kennedy Jr

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr. , is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, and critic of vaccine policies and public health institutions, serving as the 26th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services since February 13, 2025. A member of the prominent Kennedy family , he is a son of Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy .

Kennedy began his career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. In the mid-1980s, he joined two nonprofits focused on environmental protection: Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In 1986, he became an adjunct professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law, and in 1987 he founded Pace's Environmental Litigation Clinic. In 1999, Kennedy founded the nonprofit environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance. He first ran as a member of the Democratic Party and later started an independent campaign in the 2024 presidential election, before withdrawing from the race and endorsing the Republican Party's nominee, Donald Trump .

Since the mid-2000s, Kennedy has publicly expressed concerns about vaccine safety, particularly the preservative thimerosal (containing mercury), aluminum adjuvants, the cumulative impact of the expanded childhood vaccine schedule, and alleged conflicts of interest in agencies like the FDA and CDC. He has argued that these factors may contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, although these assertions are disputed by major health organizations and scientific studies that find no evidence of a causal link between vaccines and autism. His positions have been linked to debates over vaccine hesitancy during outbreaks of preventable diseases.

Kennedy is the founder and former chairman of Children's Health Defense, an organization that advocates for greater vaccine safety research, removal of certain ingredients, and policy transparency; critics describe it as anti-vaccine, while it positions itself as defending children from harmful exposures. He has written books including The Riverkeepers (1997), Crimes Against Nature (2004), The Real Anthony Fauci (2021), and A Letter to Liberals (2022).

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was born on January 17, 1954, in Washington, D.C., as the third child of Robert F. Kennedy , then chief counsel to the minority of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Ethel Skakel Kennedy . His parents married in June 1950 and had eleven children, with Kennedy among siblings Kathleen (1951), Joseph II (1952), David (1955), Courtney (1956), Michael (1958), Kerry (1959), Christopher (1963), Max (1965), Douglas (1967), and Rory (1968). The family lived at Hickory Hill, a 13-bedroom estate in McLean, Virginia, purchased in 1956 from John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy . As part of the Kennedy political dynasty, descended from grandfather Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. , a businessman and ambassador, he grew up with expectations of public service and family legacy.

Kennedy's early years coincided with his father's rising political career, including service as U.S. Attorney General under President John F. Kennedy from 1961 to 1964 and later as U.S. Senator. At age 14, on June 5, 1968, his father was assassinated in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic primary, an event that deeply affected the family. Ethel Kennedy raised the children as a widow at Hickory Hill, fostering a household focused on athleticism, competition, and informal gatherings emblematic of the Kennedy style.

In adolescence, Kennedy grappled with trauma from the assassination.