JFK’s family tell how late president, who’d be 100 May 29, inspired them

BOSTON >> John F. Kennedy didn’t make it even halfway to 100 — a milestone he might have celebrated next week — but the slain U.S. president’s legacy is being lived out by members of his family.

The nation’s 35th president was born on May 29, 1917, in the leafy Boston suburb of Brookline. Before he was felled at age 46 by an assassin’s bullets in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, the charismatic Kennedy cast a broad vision of America as a global force for peace — and challenged citizens to play active roles in making it the kind of democracy they wanted it to be.

That rallying cry from his inaugural address — “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country” — is etched both in stone and in the minds of generations of Americans.

Like the Kennedys no longer with us — U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Robert F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Jr. — many members of the political dynasty living today say their public service is inspired by JFK.

In their own words, culled from public appearances and interviews with The Associated Press, they explain how:

Joe Kennedy III

Age: 36 Relation: JFK’s greatnephew

Occupation: Democratic U.S. representative from Massachusetts

Inspiration: “I hear every day from people who stop me in the street — my colleagues in Washington: Democrats and Republicans alike — who say they were inspired into public service because of President Kennedy and how he challenged America. And I think you’ve seen particularly with the generation coming of age now, folks who are ready to be challenged, ready to answer a call.” — to AP on May 7

Caroline Kennedy

Age: 59 Relation: JFK’s daughter Occupation: Attorney; author; former U.S. ambassador to Japan

Inspiration: “My father put the full force of the federal government on the side of those seeking the rights to which they were entitled. That willingness to face history — to include everyone in the American Dream regardless of race, religion, gender or disability — is a legacy that I’m proud of . ... As his family, we are proud of what he stood for, and its continuing power.” — at May 7 Profile in Courage Award ceremony

Patrick Kennedy

Age: 49 Relation: JFK’s nephew Occupation: Mental health advocate; former U.S. representative from Rhode Island

Inspiration: “I would say the thing that inspired me the most about President Kennedy’s sense of public service is what I’ve seen it inspire in other people . ... Everyone that I meet over the course of my life all told me stories of how their lives were transformed because they decide to go into the Peace Corps, because they decided to be involved in civic action, civil rights, social justice causes.” — to AP on May 15

Joseph P. Kennedy Ii

Age: 64 Relation: JFK’s nephew

Occupation: President and CEO, Citizens Energy Corp.; ex-U.S. congressman

Inspiration: “In my younger years, when I thought of President Kennedy, I thought of him as my Uncle Jack. He was looked up to by everyone — all our family and all who surrounded him. The only person he would be different around was my father. Somehow my father changed the atmosphere when he entered the room. I remember the two of them going through this unbelievable campaign, and then President Kennedy giving that extraordinary inaugural address, which my father made me memorize. He made everyone feel so good about our country. He created a spirit that allowed us to launch a war on poverty, to believe that we could get to the moon, that we could eliminate the scourge of hunger in America. So many wonderful things were going to happen — and did happen — because he showed us what we could stand for as a people. It was a time when everything seemed possible in this great country.” — to AP on May 23