Kennedy’s Widow, Sons at Odds Over Legacy
The already frayed relationship between Vicki Kennedy and her late husband’s children is at the breaking point, with the two sons growing increasingly convinced that she is jeopardizing the senator’s legacy and mishandling the creation of the $71 million institute that bears his name.
Much of the conflict centers around the construction and governance of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate, a project that faces potential cost overruns, according to a close family friend who was authorized by some family members to speak on their behalf, but who declined to be named.
Edward M. Kennedy Jr. and Patrick Kennedy, the senator’s children, believe their father’s widow is badly bungling the efforts to create what their father had hoped would be a monument to his storied career in the US Senate, said the friend, whose account was confirmed by another close family associate.
They believe she is depending too much on a small clique of the senator’s friends and supporters, a group that lacks any figures with national stature, prominent Republicans, or even a US senator.
They are also upset that the institute’s board has yet to fulfill their request for a full financial accounting of the ongoing construction project and for strategic planning documents detailing how they plan to operate the institute.
“The children feel totally left out,” said the family friend authorized to speak to the Globe. “Vicki totally controls the board.”