Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy didn’t just thrive in politics.
In their 18 years of marriage, they welcomed 11 kids and fought together for social justice reforms.
Yet the start of their relationship is not a common one.
It was 1945, and 17-year-old Ethel Skakel went on a ski trip in Quebec with friends.
Among the group was the 20-year-old Robert, her friend Jean Kennedy’s brother.
She toldPeoplethat “as soon as [I] met him” she was certain they’d get married.
“No maybe about it,” she said.
However, things didn’t go her way at first.
RFK and her sister Patricia Skakel were in a relationship, which lasted two years.
Ethel passionately supported Robert and John’s political careers.
Ethel later encouraged RFK to run for president in 1968, after his successful campaign for the Senate.
Even if many details remain unknown, their relationship has captivated many.
“I met Bobby on the boardwalk, summer of ‘45,” thelyricsread.
Swift, however, didn’t know the couple’s history.
President Barack Obama later awarded Ethel the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014 for her work in social justice.
