‘Hugely symbolic’: Caroline Kennedy in line as next US ambassador

Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of the late president John F Kennedy, is being touted as the next US ambassador to Australia.

Newly sworn-in US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy speaks during a reception in her honour in 2013 at the Japanese Ambassador's residence in Washington.

Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of late US President John F Kennedy, is being touted as the next US ambassador to Australia, according to unconfirmed reports.

Diplomatic circles were abuzz last night in Washington late Sunday ET following a leak to news organsiation Axios that suggested two Kennedys, including Ted Kennedy’s widow Vicki, would be appointed to plum ambassadorships in Canberra and Europe, respectively.

Joe Hockey, treasurer in the Abbott government and former Australian ambassador in Washington, said the possible appointment of Ms Kennedy, 63, who was Barack Obama’s ambassador in Japan, would be “hugely symbolic”.

“It would be a very powerful statement that Joe Biden sees Australia as a key ally in the Indo pacific region,” he said.

Ms Kennedy, an early supporter of Joe Biden’s bid for the presidency, would succeed Donald Trump’s ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse, a US lawyer, who returned to the US in January after 22 months as ambassador.

“She’s highly regarded, charming, engaging and sharp,” Mr Hockey said.

“It would be symbolic, not only because of her vast personal experience as a successful ambassador to Japan, but also because of her position as a member of the royal family of the democratic party,” he added.

This week we bid farewell to Ambassador Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr - the 26th U.S. Ambassador to Australia.

We thank Ambassador Culvahouse for his tireless efforts over the last 22 months to strengthen the #USwithAUS alliance. Here are some highlights from his time in Australia. pic.twitter.com/f1H7xn5yBU

— US Embassy Canberra (@USAembassyinOZ) January 20, 2021

The White House declined to confirm leak, Axios reported.

“With JFK’s daughter and the widow of senator Ted Kennedy, Biden would be reaching outside of his pool of core campaign donors. He’d also be putting a spotlight back on America’s most famous political dynasty — and honouring a late friend and mentor,” the Axios reporter wrote.

Caroline, daughter of Jacqueline Kennedy, was five when her father was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963, just two months short of three years since his inauguration.

It was among a series of tragedies the famous US family endured, including the death of Caroline’s brother, John, in a plane crash in 1999.

Caroline Kennedy gets a piggy-back ride from her father.

Caroline Kennedy kissing her father while her mother watches.

Ms Kennedy would be the first ambassador in Canberra appointed by a Democrat president since John Berry’s appointment in 2013, who succeeded Barack Obama’s first appointment as ambassador in Canberra, Californian lawyer Jeffrey Bleich.

Ms Kennedy, who grew up in New York before receiving a degrees in arts and law at Columbia and Harvard University, backed Joe Biden’s bid for the presidency in a January 2020 editorial in the Boston Globe.

NEW: Biden is considering naming two Kennedys to represent him abroad: Caroline Kennedy for U.S. ambassador to Australia and Vicki Kennedy for Western Europe, people familiar with the matter tell Axios. https://t.co/nj1efw1r25

— Axios (@axios) May 30, 2021

“We need a president who can bring people together, who knows how to get things done at home and abroad, whose word we can count on, and who can nurture the next generation of leaders,” she wrote.

The US government is yet to formally suggest the candidacy to the Australian government, The Australian understands.

Former Obama Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is rumoured to be in the running to be US Ambassador to Japan.

Ms Kennedy has three adult children and is married to Edwin Schlossberg.

The late John F Kennedy Jnr with his sister Caroline Kennedy.