STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ethel Kennedy has died. The widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy had suffered a stroke last week.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
She was the mother of 11, including former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and along with raising them, she spent her life advocating for causes important to her. After her husband's assassination in 1968, she established a foundation in his name dedicated to human rights to advocate for causes she believed would lead to a more just, peaceful and equitable world.
INSKEEP: Ethel met Bobby Kennedy while on a skiing trip in 1945.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ETHEL KENNEDY: I walked in the door and saw him and thought, whoa.
INSKEEP: She supported her husband after the assassination of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963. And then during RFK's 1968 presidential campaign...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROBERT F KENNEDY: My wife, Ethel, who, as all of you know, has made such a major difference in this campaign and a major difference for me.
(APPLAUSE)
MARTIN: Ethel Kennedy's life was marred by heartbreak and loss, but she never abandoned her dedication to causes like workers' and civil rights.
INSKEEP: President Obama awarded Kennedy the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BARACK OBAMA: She has touched the lives of countless people around the world with her generosity and her grace.
MARTIN: Ethel Kennedy was 96 years old.
(SOUNDBITE OF ONE PIANO'S "LA VIE EN ROSE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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