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Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

politician
Born: July 4, 1951
Birthplace: Greenwich, Conn.

The eldest child of Ethel and Robert F. Kennedy, and the eldest grandchild of Rose and Joseph Kennedy, Kathleen at first didn't appear to be destined for political office. She graduated from Harvard University and earned her law degree at the University of New Mexico. After her marriage to David Townsend in 1973, her political involvement consisted of working for her uncle Ted's senatorial campaigns as well as local candidates. After a move to a Republican stronghold in David's home state of Maryland, she decided to run for Congress in 1984, an election she lost. She then worked as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Justice Department. In 1994 gubernatorial candidate Parris Glendening chose her as his running mate. Their team won and Kathleen became Maryland's first female lieutenant governor. During her two terms, she concentrated on education, healthcare, and anti-crime measures. She ran for governor of Maryland in 2002, but lost that election to Republican Robert Ehrlich, Jr.

Kathleen Townsend founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland. Before becoming lieutenant governor, she founded the Maryland Student Service Alliance and was instrumental in making Maryland the first state to require high school community service. She was the former chairperson of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation and is on the board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.


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Townsend Fighting for Political Life: In the Maryland Governor's Race, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Appears to Be Losing the Battle to Prove She Isn't Just Getting by on the Legacy of Her Family Name. (Election 2002: Maryland) (Insight on the News)

Of them much is expected: many liberals fear mixing their religious convictions with their political ones. Not Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.(Failing America's Faithful: How Today's Churches Are Mixing God With Politics and Losing Their Way)(Book review) (The Washington Monthly)

Three new members named to NCR board.(Nation)(Pamela D. Hayes, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and John "Jake" P. Mascotte added to National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company board of directors)(Brief Article) (National Catholic Reporter)

The headline from a recent Newsweek article by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend reads: "why Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the Pope does".(While We're At It)(Brief article) (First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life)

The day before President Obama was scheduled to meet Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend on Newsweek's website published an article entitled "Without a Doubt: Why Barack Obama Represents American Catholics Better than the Pope Does.".(WHILE WE'RE AT IT)(Brief article) (First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life)

MARYLAND: Candidate Townsend. (The Bond Buyer)

C-Level: Townsend Joins Lightbridge Strategic Council. (Investrend)

The gifts of a Kennedy father.(Opinion) (The Christian Science Monitor)

From the Kennedy clan, with a difference: RFK's daughter brings the name, money, authenticity - but not family flash - to Maryland governor's race.(USA) (The Christian Science Monitor)

The Inheritor: Patrick Kennedy -- HE RAISES BIG BUCKS THANKS TO HIS NAME--AND THAT MAKES HIM LEADERSHIP MATERIAL (The Nation)

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