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John F Kennedy

October

Sen. Robert Kennedy poses with his wife Ethel outside the Senate Chamber on Oct. 13, 1965, in Washington.

Ethel Kennedy, passionate supporter of the family legacy, dies at 96

The widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a popular and vital force in the Kennedy political dynasty, died from after suffering a stroke last week.

  • Douglas Martin

August

US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy is pleading for people to stop encouraging political violence.

‘This country is better than that’: Caroline Kennedy on Trump shooting

The only remaining child of John F. Kennedy says she’s ashamed there are still Americans prepared to resort to extreme violence because of political differences. 

  • Matthew Cranston

July

Assassinations have made even democracies into darker places.

How toxic talk turns too easily to assassin’s bullets

A more centrist political culture doesn’t make Australia immune to the language that has inflamed American politics in recent times.

  • Georgina Downer
The Republican National Convention opens this week with Donald Trump as its star.

Trump’s survival will turbocharge the Republican convention

The former president’s narrow escape from death is giving new life to his campaign, and Joe Biden’s address calling for unity won’t fix the extreme division in America.

  • Jennifer Hewett
 Ronald Reagan waves and then looks up before being shoved into the President’s limousine by secret service agents after being shot outside a Washington hotel, March 30, 1981.

A history of political assassination in the US

There have been several instances of political violence targeting US presidents, former presidents and major party presidential candidates.

  • Darlene Superville and Christina Cassidy
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June

Sir Keith Starmer is in the box seat as the UK heads to the polls on July 4.

Will Keir Starmer go wobbly on AUKUS?

The fantasy of a post-Brexit “global Britain” is gone, but British Labour says it will be everywhere around the world, and all at once.

  • James Curran
Donald Trump and Joe Biden will appear in two presidential debates before November’s poll.

Why next week’s Biden v Trump debate is so important

A set piece clash between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will turn less on policies than on manner and appearance. What they say will matter less than how they seem.

  • Updated
  • Edward Luce

May

America’s largely unified political left is sustaining momentum.

How the US Supreme Court became a political organisation

When judges make decisions that should be left to politicians, they undermine democracy.

  • Amanda Stoker

April

 Donald Trump and moderator Laura Ingraham on stage during a Fox News town hall in February.

The uneasy truce between Donald Trump and Fox News

Every media outlet in the world is grappling with how to cover Donald Trump, as his pronouncements become more stuffed with false claims. But the dilemma is most vexing for Fox News.

  • Updated
  • Anna Nicolaou, Lauren Fedor and Daniel Thomas

January

The persistent popularity of Donald Trump is a sign of Americans’ refusal to settle for the status quo.

America has seen it all – another Trump term won’t destroy it

I believe in America enough to think that it would take more than another term of Trump as president to destroy American democracy.

  • Gideon Rachman

December 2023

Kissinger in his heyday in 1973

Henry Kissinger was an inconsistent opportunist

America’s 20th century foreign policy giant and statesman was driven more by domestic considerations than he would ever have admitted.

  • Tom Switzer

November 2023

For an old man in supposed decline, Joe Biden is doing a great impression of being in charge.

Joe Biden’s year of living dangerously

A Donald Trump victory next year would make the incumbent the most consequential single-term president in history – but not in a way he would wish.

  • Edward Luce

August 2023

His apparent refusal to accept the legitimacy of the last presidential election result was shameful. But whatever Trump wanted, he failed

America’s starting to look a lot like South America

It will take the wisdom of Solomon to steer the US back on to the path of stability and normality.

  • Alexander Downer

June 2023

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of former US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, speaks during the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami Beach, Florida, US, on Friday, May 19, 2023. The three-day conference is touted by organizers as “the biggest annual celebration of Bitcoin in the world.”

Inside the wild mind of Robert Kennedy, candidate for president

The son of the assassinated US senator is a leading anti-vax conspiracy theorist. He’s also keen on getting into the Oval Office like his uncle did.

  • Michael Scherer

March 2023

Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego during the announcement of the trilateral security pact between Australia, Britain, and the United States.

In their own words: Why US, UK and Australian leaders back AUKUS

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden, and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced details of the AUKUS submarine deal in San Diego.

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February 2023

Independent member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender.

Why business is losing faith in the government

When the treasurer talks about “partnering with business” and “making markets better”, there is simply scepticism and nervousness among the business community.

  • Allegra Spender

January 2023

Even if he wins, Joe Biden cannot pull off the same achievements in a second term.

Why Joe Biden would be greater if he stayed a oncer

Biden did America the service of getting rid of Trump. But he isn’t the solution voters are looking for now and should give up on 2024.

  • Misha Zelinsky
Treasurer Jim Chalmers must make structural reforms if we want no more of Philip Lowe’s medications.

Economy needs a personal trainer, not more pills

Excessive QE has made our policymakers lazy. Our 2023 resolution should be for productivity-enhancing reforms rather than constant RBA medication.

  • Richard Holden

October 2022

Badges detail - Clive Evatt’s collection of pins and badges from US presidential elections sold for $10,000 (hammer), 25 times its high estimate of $400, at Davidson’s auction of the Leuralla Collection on the weekend.

US election pushes buttons at toy sale

Clive Evatt’s collection of US election badges estimated at $400 sells for $10,000 in a five-day sale of the contents of the Leuralla toy museum.

  • Gabriella Coslovich
United States President Joe Biden.

Biden warns of ‘nuclear Armageddon’ in Ukraine war

The US president said the risk of atomic war had not been so high since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

  • Katie Rogers and David E. Sanger

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/john-fitzgerald-kennedy-3ob