Kennedy, Robert F., Jr., 1954-

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, anti-vaccine activist, and conspiracy theorist serving since February 2025 as the 26th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. A member of the Kennedy family, he is a son of senator and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy began his career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. In the mid-1980s, he joined two nonprofits focused on environmental protection: Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In 1986, he became an adjunct professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law. In 1987, Kennedy founded Pace's Environmental Litigation Clinic. In 1999, He founded the nonprofit environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance. He first ran as a Democrat and later started an independent campaign in the 2024 United States presidential election, before withdrawing from the race and endorsing Republican nominee Donald Trump. Since 2005, Kennedy has promoted vaccine misinformation and public-health conspiracy theories, including the scientifically disproved claim of a causal link between vaccines and autism. He is the founder and former chairman of Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy group and proponent of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Kennedy has written books including The Riverkeepers (1997), Crimes Against Nature (2004), The Real Anthony Fauci (2021), and A Letter to Liberals (2022).