RFK Jr. Lived With a ‘Surrogate’ Mother in Massachusetts

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has garnered his share of headlines since declaring his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on April 19, 2023.

On October 9, 2023, Kennedy left the Democratic Party and opted to run for president as an independent candidate.

On August 23, 2024 Kennedy suspended his campaign and endorsed Republican nominee Donald J. Trump for president.

Get our free mobile app

Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. lives in Los Angeles, California, but was born in Washington, D.C. on January 17, 1954. Kennedy spent much of his young life in Massachusetts.

Kennedy, the third of 11 children born to U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel, was a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy.

RFK, Jr. grew up at Hickory Hill, the family estate in McLean, Virginia, and the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Kennedy was 14 years old when his father was assassinated while running for president on June 6, 1968.

After his father's death, Kennedy, perhaps too much for his mother to handle, attended several boarding schools.

In 1972, Kennedy received a high school diploma from the Palfrey Street School in Watertown, Massachusetts. Palfrey was a day school so Kennedy lived with a surrogate family in Cambridge.

The Daily Mail reported, "The mother of the house, Joanne 'Joey' Brode became a virtual surrogate mother to Bobby who notes years later, 'Ethel didn't even call Bobby on his birthday. She never was here.'"

The Daily Mail said a Kennedy family friend "arranged with the Brode family of Cambridge to house and feed him, and watch out for him." The publication suggested Kennedy may have led a less-than-traditional life with the Brode family.

RFK, Jr. earned a Bachelor of Arts in American History and Literature from Harvard in 1976, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1982, and a Master of Laws from Pace University in 1987.