My father dedicated himself to the cause of justice. He stood with the people, all people, and he refused to accept that the way things were was the way they had to stay. He carried titles that history remembers, but the ones he held closest were that of husband and father.
What I miss most is not the public man. It is the one who came home at the end of a long day, who wanted to know what we thought and why, who pushed us to be curious, generous, and unafraid of hard questions. Daddy did not lecture us about his values. He lived them, and that is how they became ours.
I think of him often now, when so much of what he believed in and worked to uphold is being trampled by those in power. His legacy of championing justice, democracy, and freedom has been passed to each of us.
Happy birthday, Uncle Jack. โค๏ธย You brought so much laughter and joy to my childhood andย to the world. I will always remember sneaking around the Oval Office, summers in Hyannis Port, and all the small moments between you and Daddy. I may be celebrating your birthday from here on earth, but as you aptly said, "A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.โ Your ideas continue to guide us every day. Thinking of you with love and gratitude.