Caroline Kennedy Fights Tears to bre4k Silence on Daughter Tatiana Schlossberg’s de4th
The former U.S. amba.ssador and daughter of President John F. Kennedy paid tribute to her late 35 year old daughter at the 2026 JFK Profile in Courage Award ceremony
Caroline Kennedy memorialized her late daughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, in an emotional speech at the annual John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award ceremony held at her father’s presidential library.
The former U.S. amba.ssador and daughter of President John F. Kennedy opened her remarks at the Sunday, May 31, ceremony by remembering the work of her 35 year old daughter, who d1ed in December 2025 after battling acute myeloid leukemia, a bl00d cancer.
Caroline also gave a shout out to Tatiana’s in laws, Garrett and Mary Moran, who are the parents of Tatiana’s husband, George Moran, a doctor with whom she shared two young children.
The Morans were attending the event for the first time, along with Sargent Shriver’s youngest granddaughter, 21 year old Emma Shriver.
“This year we even have new family members here. I am so happy to welcome Emma Shriver and Garrett and Mary Moran,” Caroline, 68, said, after noting “politics is a family endeavor and I am so grateful to the members of my family who are here tonight and whose support over many years has kept my father’s spirit alive and made this institution a living memorial.”
Caroline then, voice wavering and appearing to f1ght back tears, commemorated the work and life of her late daughter.
“Most of all, we remember Tatiana, who served on the board of this library, and represented everything my parents stood for in her beautiful, amazing and too short life,” she added.
The crowd of more than 650 people clapped for Tatiana for nearly 20 seconds as Caroline collected her strength, quietly telling the aud1ence “thank you” in the midst of the applause.
Tatiana d1ed on Dec. 30 and was honored with a Jan. 5 memorial service at New York City’s St. Ignatius Loyola church.
Before her death, the environmental journalist and author penned a heartbreaking essay for The New Yorker, disclosing her fatal disease and reflecting on both the decades of traged1es that plagued the extended Kennedy clan — as well as the ha.rm she said her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was doing through his @ttacks on the U.S. public health system
“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government,” Tatiana wrote in the Nov. 22 essay, published just over a month before her death. “As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly half a billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers.”
She also noted the estranged Kennedy cousin “slashed billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest sponsor of medical research; and threatened to oust the panel of medical experts charged with recommending preventive cancer screenings.”
Tatiana’s mother Caroline, father Ed Schlossberg, brother Jack Schlossberg — who is running for Congress in Manhattan — and guests, including David Letterman, attended the ceremony to grant the 2026 JFK Profile in Courage Award.
This year, the award was granted to people who stood up to the Trump administration in different ways: the people of the Twin Cities of Minnesota and former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Letterman joked with PEOPLE before the event that “I’m a big fan of the Fed. From the time I was a child, I just couldn’t get enough of the Fed,” teasing that he was hopeful to get a selfie with the professorial central banker who has helped set interest rates and dictate U.S. monetary policy since 2012.
In her remarks, Caroline said the foundation was honoring “Americans who risked their careers, their safety and even their lives to hold politicians to account and keep America true to her promises.”
“Gov. Powell never wavered in his duty to the public interest,” she said. “With dignity and resolve, he demonstrated his commitment to the American people and to America’s leadership role in the global economy, despite years of personal @ttacks, baseless prosecution, and efforts to undermine him.”
As for the Twin Cities, the former U.S. amba.ssador to Japan and Australia said that the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul who stood up to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown “reminded all Americans that we cannot take our democracy for granted.”
“They mobilized, organized, and refused to be terrorized by an overwhelming federal crackdown which sent 3,000 heavily armed ICE agents into their communities to arr.est and deport citizens and non citizens alike,” Caroline said.
“Across racial, religious, and political lines, and across business and labor, volunteers mobilized to protest peacefully, document vi0lent overreach, build rapid response networks, provide food and clothing to immigrant neighbors, and so much more,” she added.
Caroline memorialized Renée Good and Alex Pretti, two Minneapolis residents and U.S. citizens who were k1lled by federal agents in January amid the protests. She noted Good’s father, brother and sister were in attendance.
“We especially remember the courage of Renée Good and Alex Pretti who gave their lives for their community and our country. We are honored to have with us here tonight Renee’s father, Tim Ganger, her brother Brent, and her sister Anne,” she said.
After a video honoring the people of the Twin Cities featuring Bruce Springsteen, Jack Schlossberg introduced Powell, who has frequently clashed with Trump as chair of the Fed and is set to remain on the central bank’s board through 2028 as the president has threatened him with criminal prosecution and removal.
“Thank you to my amazing mother. She has taught me how to handle life’s challenges with grace and determination,” Jack said.
Both Jack and his mother noted that the Profile in Courage Award, handed out each year at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, is typically intended for elected officials.
Powell “is not an elected official and these are not ordinary times,” Jack said. “Few have done more under more difficult circumstances than Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jay Powell.”
“His commitment to the public interest never wavered,” the 33 year old congressional candidate added.
Powell thanked Jack after taking the stage and expressed gratitude to the Kennedy family, saying, “It is a great privilege to be here tonight with you and your family, Amba.ssador Kennedy.”
Recalling the news of JFK’s a.ssa.ssination when he was a fifth grader in 1963, Powell said, “I remember that moment very clearly, and the dark days that followed. They made an indelible impression on me and, looking back, that was really the time I first felt the pull of public service.”
He ended his remarks with a line from JFK’s “amazing” 1961 inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
