--- title: Obama Nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge By Ethel Kennedy description: White House had no response on whether the president will accept the challenge canonical: https://time.com/3101139/ethel-kennedy-obama-als-ice-bucket/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-11T17:45:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:36:09.048Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge By Ethel Kennedy og:description: White House had no response on whether the president will accept the challenge og:url: https://time.com/3101139/ethel-kennedy-obama-als-ice-bucket/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge By Ethel Kennedy twitter:description: White House had no response on whether the president will accept the challenge twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Obama Nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by Ethel Kennedy by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 11, 2014 5:45 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 11, 2014 5:45 PM UTC The Ice Bucket Challenge has its latest [nominee](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/08/11/ethel-kennedy-nominates-president-obama-for-als-ice-bucket-challenge/Rxf9f4pWhcJkosqq7yXIyH/story.html): President Barack Obama. Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Robert Kennedy, issued a call for the president to participate in the viral ALS [awareness campaign](http://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/) Sunday from the Kennedy clan’s compound in Hyannis Port, Mass. Kennedy and her grandchildren doused themselves in ice water, before she issued the challenge to the president. “Welcome to Cape Cod, President Obama. I nominate you,” she said. The video was posted on the Facebook page of Kennedy grandchild Max Kennedy. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked whether Obama, who is vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard with his family, would [accept the challenge](http://time.com/3100272/als-ice-bucket-challenge/) or make a donation to an ALS charity. _\[_[_Boston.com_](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/08/11/ethel-kennedy-nominates-president-obama-for-als-ice-bucket-challenge/Rxf9f4pWhcJkosqq7yXIyH/story.html)_\]_ Obama Nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge By Ethel Kennedy ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3101139/ethel-kennedy-obama-als-ice-bucket/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3101139/ethel-kennedy-obama-als-ice-bucket/"},"headline":"Obama Nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by Ethel Kennedy","datePublished":"2014-08-11T17:45:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:36:09.048Z","description":"White House had no response on whether the president will accept the challenge","url":"https://time.com/3101139/ethel-kennedy-obama-als-ice-bucket/","keywords":["White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3101139/ethel-kennedy-obama-als-ice-bucket/","name":"Obama Nominated for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by Ethel Kennedy"}}]}] ```