Jean Kennedy Smith

As a demonstration of her ecumenical views, on at least one occasion she received communion in a cathedral of the Church of Ireland, an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. Read Less

Smith has been lauded for her work in the region, specifically for the courage she showed in supporting the visa for Adams which is widely regarded as a key step in the success of the peace process in the years that followed. In her brother Senator Edward Kennedy’s memoir, he described that “Jean was convinced that Adams no longer believed that continuing the armed struggle was the way to achieve the IRA’s objective of a united Ireland,” and that “It took only a couple of hours’ conversation with Jean after we landed to discover what was the most important thing on her mind – the opportunity for a breakthrough in the Northern Ireland stalemate.”

She was reprimanded by U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher for retaliating against two foreign-service officers at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, who had objected to her recommendation to the U.S. government to grant a U.S. visa to Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and had sent in a "Dissent Channel" message. The Foreign Service Journal called the U.S. State Department's report on the matter "scathingly critical". Her management of the embassy came under criticism by the Boston Herald in December 1996, which obtained internal U.S. State Department memoranda and e-mail, for putting pressure on embassy staff to spend taxpayer money to refurbish her residence in Dublin. Smith was also the subject of an allegation of violations of U.S. conflict-of-interest laws. Read Less