In this weekโs Faces of Intrepidity, a series where America Missionโข explores the brave and dauntless figures that the culture war has to offer, weโre profiling former environmental attorney & former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK Jr. spent decades fighting corrupt government and corporate bureaucracy. More recently, he challenged the Democratic Party frontrunner directly and paid the price for it. By hopping on the Trump Train, Kennedy is fighting back against the Democratic Partyโs hegemony in the best way possible.
Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C.. He is Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedyโs son. His uncles are President John F. Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy.
Kennedy was raised in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and McLean, Virginia. He was nine when his uncle, President JFK, was assassinated in 1963, and 14 when his dad was assassinated while running for president in 1968.
Kennedy was a pallbearer at his father’s funeral. He spoke and read excerpts from his father’s speeches at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate his death. Kennedy struggled with drug abuse after his father’s death. He was arrested in Massachusetts for cannabis possession at 16 and was expelled from Millbrook and Pomfret boarding schools.
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Kennedy continued his drug use (specifically heroin and cocaine), often with his brother David, in college. RFK Jr. earned a reputation for being a drug dealer. Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts in American history and literature.
He earned a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1982. That same year, Kennedy was sworn in as an assistant district attorney for Manhattan. After failing the New York bar exam, he resigned in 1983.
RFK Jr. was arrested for heroin possession at the age of 29 that same year. He pled guilty to a single felony charge of heroin possession in 1984. Kennedy originally faced a potential sentence of two years in prison but was sentenced to two years of probation and community service instead.
After his arrest, he entered a drug treatment program. Kennedy worked as a volunteer for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and was required to attend regular drug rehab sessions to satisfy the conditions of his probation. His time in rehab helped him quit heroin and cocaine and his probation ended a year early.
RFK Jr. began volunteering for the environmental nonprofit, The Hudson River Fisherman’s Association, in 1984 before it was renamed RiverKeeper. A year later, after Kennedy was admitted to the New York bar, he became a senior attorney for them.
In 1985, Kennedy helped the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) establish an international program for environmental causes. As a project director, he assisted natives in protecting their wilderness areas from destructive large-scale energy extraction operations.
Kennedy obtained a Master of Laws from Pace University in 1987. While there, he founded the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University School of Law that same year.
For three decades, he was the clinic’s supervising attorney, co-director, and clinical law professor. Kennedy got a special practice order from the New York State Court of Appeals that allowed his clinic students to practice law. They tried cases against Hudson River polluters in state and federal court under the supervision of Kennedy. Bobby Kennedyโs career fighting corrupt corporations and government agencies ran nearly 40 years.
In 2000, Kennedy & Madonna sued Ford Motors on behalf of the Ramapough Mountain Indians Company for dumping toxic waste on tribal lands in New Jersey. In 2007, RFK Jr. won a $396 million lawsuit on behalf of rural communities in West Virginia contaminated by Zinc from a DuPont chemical plant. A 2010 HBO film was made about Kennedyโs Ford Motors lawsuit.
In 2016, Kennedy became counsel to the Morgan & Morgan law firm. A year later, Kennedy and his partners sued Monsanto in federal court in San Francisco. He won against General Electric, ExxonMobil, and Monsanto among others. As of December 2022, RFK Jrโs Monsanto lawsuits have โโฆyielded $11 Billion for farmers, migrant workers, day laborers, and families exposed to the pesticide RoundUp.โ
In August of 2023, RFK Jr. announced that heโd be running for president as a Democrat. Kennedy โwas a lifelong Democrat but became increasingly estranged from the party in the 2010s as it drifted away from its traditional values.โ Something had to give.
Kennedy reached his breaking point in October of last year, announcing his candidacy for President of the United States as an independent. As the campaign went on, Kennedy and his team were targeted by the Democratic Party establishment for running against President Joe Biden. They fought to keep him off the ballot and Kennedyโs family called his decision to run as an independent โdangerous to our countryโ.
Earlier last month, RFK Jr. dropped out and endorsed President Donald Trump. Kennedy joins prominent former Democrats like Tulsi Gabbard and Elon Musk who have turned out for Trump. Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr.โs former running mate, released an ad that mocks TDS-stricken Democrats and encourages them to try independence instead. The ad is stylized like a pharmaceutical commercial, a likely hat tip to RFK Jr.โs activism against the pharmaceutical industry. RFK Jr. vowed to help Trump โMake America Healthy Again! (MAHA)โ, while Trump vowed to release the JFK assassination files.
The uniparty establishment still has some tricks up its sleeves. Election officials in Michigan and Wisconsin plan to keep RFK Jr.โs name ON the ballot. RFK Jr. is suing the state of North Carolinaโs election board to remove his name from the ballot. Members of Kennedyโs family have publicly disavowed his decision to endorse Trump.
Kamala and Trump are nearly tied in the betting markets. Trump is moving towards moderatism with the help of his MAGA coalition and RFK Jr. fights to prevent the Democratic Party from engaging in election interference. With about 60 days left until election day, keep your head on a swivel and your eyes peeled for shenanigans.
My name is Mike Melo and I made America my mission. We sincerely hope you join us โ the many whoโve decided that America is their mission, too. If you enjoyed this weekโs Faces of Intrepidity, please follow America Missionโข and Mike Melo on X. See you next time!
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