Joseph P. Kennedy II
Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (born September 24, 1952) is an American businessman, Democratic politician, and a member of the Kennedy family. He is a son of former United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, and he is also a nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and former U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy.
For the first son of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., see Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
Joseph P. Kennedy II
2, including Joe III
Robert F. Kennedy (father)
Ethel Kennedy (mother)
Kennedy served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the 8th congressional district of Massachusetts from 1987 to 1999. In 1979 he founded and, until he was elected to the U.S. House, led Citizens Energy Corporation, a non-profit energy company which provides heating oil to low-income and elderly families in Massachusetts.
Early career[edit]
While on hiatus from college, he worked for several months as part of a federally funded program to combat and treat tuberculosis in the African American community in San Francisco, California.[7] Mayor Joseph Alioto personally praised Kennedy's work in the community.[7] Kennedy resigned from his position in the program and returned to Massachusetts in the summer of 1973.[7]
In 1979, Kennedy founded Citizens Energy Corporation, a non-profit organization to provide discounted heating oil to low-income and elderly families in Massachusetts.[9] According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, Kennedy started the venture "to alleviate the burden of heating bills for the poor during the oil crisis of that year."[10] In 2010, Kennedy transformed the organization to become a leader in renewable energy generation while continuing to use profits to provide energy savings to low-income families.[11] (See Citizens Energy (since 1979) section below.)
Citizens Energy (since 1999)[edit]
Overview[edit]
After leaving the House of Representatives, Kennedy returned to Citizens Energy. (During Kennedy's terms in the House, it had been run by his brother Michael.) Citizens Energy pursues commercial ventures aimed at generating revenues that, in turn, are used to generate funds that could assist those in need in the U.S. and abroad.[42] It grew to encompass seven separate companies, including one of the largest energy-conservation firms in the U.S. Citizens Energy became one of the U.S.'s first energy firms to move large volumes of natural gas to more than 30 states.[43] As a precursor to market changes under electricity deregulation in the late 1990s, Citizens Energy was a pioneer in moving and marketing electrical power over the power grid.[44][45] In recent years, Kennedy has led the company into the renewable-energy industry, building solar farms along the East Coast[46] and transmission lines[47] to support charitable programs like one giving free solar panels to low-income families in California.[48] In 2019, Citizens Energy announced the completion of one of the largest Low-Income Community Shared Solar projects in the country, funded by its investment in the Sunrise PowerLink Transmission line.[49] Totaling 30 megawatts, the record-breaking California project will provide $500 in energy savings to 12,000 low-income families each year.[50]
Public policy[edit]
Since returning to Citizens Energy, Kennedy also has sought to influence energy-related public policy, challenging the Bush administration to invest in energy conservation and efficiency and renewable energy,[51] encouraging Congress to fully fund federal heating assistance programs,[52] proposing that oil-consuming countries work together to balance oil prices against Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) manipulation,[53] and calling for the federal government and major oil companies to use portions of royalties from oil and gas extracted from federal lands and waters to help low-income families with the high price of energy.[54] Kennedy has been criticized for the salaries paid to himself and his wife.[55] In 2012, as CEO of Citizens Energy and related organizations, Kennedy was paid a total of $796,000 in compensation, and his wife was paid an additional $344,000 as Director of Marketing.[56]
Venezuela[edit]
Beginning in 2005, Citgo Petroleum Company (Citgo), a wholly owned subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA)—the Venezuelan state-owned oil company—has been the primary donor of heating oil to Citizens Energy. The Wall Street Journal and others criticized Citizens Energy for continuing its relationship with the Venezuelan government and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, a harsh critic of the United States.[57][58][59] In response, Kennedy and others[60][61] have argued that it is hypocritical to criticize a non-profit organization for accepting oil from Venezuela while numerous other American businesses are profiting from robust trade with Venezuela and at a time when the U.S. government has cut low-income fuel assistance.[62]
Although Citgo donations reportedly dried up in 2015 owing to Venezuela's economic turmoil,[63] the company was reported in 2009 to have donated 83 million gallons of oil over the two previous years, which was used to provide heating assistance to an estimated 200,000 families a year in 23 states.[64]
Kennedy has since turned into a critic of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the handpicked successor of Chávez,[65] accusing him of "stealing democracy from the people" and calling for Maduro's removal.[66]
Later political considerations[edit]
Gubernatorial elections[edit]
In 1993 a Boston Globe poll showed Kennedy within one percentage point of popular incumbent William Weld in a hypothetical gubernatorial match-up, prompting prominent state Democrats to try and recruit him for the race.[67] Though no other Democrat was polling near Weld, Kennedy decided to forgo the race and remain in Congress. Mark Roosevelt won the nomination and lost to Governor Weld by over 40 points.
Kennedy was considered the front runner for the governorship of Massachusetts in 1998,[68] but revelations about his personal life led to a tumultuous fall in public opinion polling, and he decided against running.[69]
Kennedy explained in a VFW hall in a working-class corner of Boston that he believed he would never be able to focus his candidacy on issues: "The race will focus on personal or family questions. It is not fair to my family, it is not fair to the people of Massachusetts and it is not the right thing to do."[70]
2010 U.S. Senate election[edit]
With the death of his uncle U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy on August 25, 2009, Kennedy's name had been mentioned as a possible candidate for his uncle's seat representing Massachusetts in the United States Senate. In an Associated Press article, Democratic strategist Dan Payne said, "He wouldn't be human and he wouldn't be a Kennedy if he didn't give serious consideration to running for what is known as the 'Kennedy seat' in Massachusetts."[71] However, Kennedy released a statement on September 7 explaining that he would not pursue the seat. The seat eventually went by appointment to Paul G. Kirk and later by election to Republican Scott Brown.
Endorsements[edit]
Kennedy has endorsed incumbent Democrat Joe Biden's reelection campaign in the 2024 United States presidential election over a third-party/independent challenge by his brother Robert.[72]