--- title: Jean Kennedy Smith Remembered by Samantha Power description: Samantha Power remembers the life of diplomat Jean Kennedy Smith. canonical: https://time.com/5859190/jean-kennedy-smith-obituary/ author: Samantha Power article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-06-25T10:20:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T17:56:22.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jean Kennedy Smith Remembered by Samantha Power og:description: Jean Kennedy Smith died on June 17 at 92 years old og:url: https://time.com/5859190/jean-kennedy-smith-obituary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7b58297ed27ec7b/698a0fb897cdff00c86bae72/jean-kennedy-smith-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2380 og:image:height: 1339 og:image:alt: jean-kennedy-smith-obituary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jean Kennedy Smith Remembered by Samantha Power twitter:description: Jean Kennedy Smith died on June 17 at 92 years old twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7b58297ed27ec7b/698a0fb897cdff00c86bae72/jean-kennedy-smith-obituary.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Find the People Who Actually Want to Do Things.' Samantha Power Remembers the Wise Words of Jean Kennedy Smith > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=89bad89d-ddea-45bb-a044-d7bf8c580bb7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Samantha Power](https://time.com/author/samantha-power/) ## Samantha Power Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:56 PM UTCPublished: Jun 25, 2020 10:20 AM UTC  Smith in 1965 Smith in 1965 Arthur Stettner—John F. Kennedy Library FoundatiON/AFP/Getty Images by [Samantha Power](https://time.com/author/samantha-power/) ## Samantha Power Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:56 PM UTCPublished: Jun 25, 2020 10:20 AM UTC In 1944, two priests arrived at the Kennedy home to inform Joseph Kennedy Sr. and Rose Kennedy that their oldest son had been killed in World War II. Sixteen-year-old Jean, the eighth of their nine children, was devastated. After riding her bicycle to church to pray, she went next to the local hospital–to volunteer. Jean later recalled this as an obvious choice, asking, “What else could I do?” To spend time with Jean Kennedy Smith, who died on June 17 at 92, was to be bowled over by the sheer quantity of positive energy she brought to this world. When I saw her after I became U.S. ambassador to the U.N., she was firm (and wise) in her direction: “Don’t waste any time, and find the people who actually want to do things.” Conscious of her privilege, Jean dedicated much of her life to providing arts programming to children with disabilities. And whatever pain she carried inside, she projected a permanent twinkle and an eagerness to conspire. Her matchmaking gifts were legendary–she not only set up brothers John, Bobby and Teddy with their wives, but as ambassador to Ireland in the 1990s, she also convinced a skeptical Clinton Administration to work with shunned Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. In so doing, she made a significant contribution to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which would end the deadly conflict in Northern Ireland. Asked how she’d like to be remembered, she evoked Abraham Lincoln: “I have planted a rose where only thistles grew.” Jean Kennedy Smith did that and so much more. **Correction** _The photograph that accompanies this story originally appeared with an incorrect caption. It shows Jean Kennedy Smith in 1965, not in 1998._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5859190/jean-kennedy-smith-obituary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5859190/jean-kennedy-smith-obituary/"},"headline":"'Find the People Who Actually Want to Do Things.' 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