The Complex Life of RFK Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s life has been marked by personal struggles, public scrutiny, and the towering expectations of the Kennedy legacy. Michael Wolf, a former associate, has made bold claims about RFK Jr.’s past, alleging that his addiction to crack cocaine caused his vocal condition (despite the offical diagnisis being ‘spasmodic dysphona’).

RFK Jr. was well-known to be a drug dealer while at Harvard, but Wolf knows things that few others do, having shared a room with him while they were on the 1980 campaign trail with Ted Kennedy.

Crack Cocaine and Spasmodic Dysphonia

Michael Wolf’s claim that RFK Jr.’s spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder causing a strained, shaky voice, was caused by excessive crack cocaine use offers a provocative explanation for his vocal difficulties. RFK Jr. was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia in 1996 at age 42, and Wolf asserts that his heavy use of crack cocaine during his youth damaged his vocal cords, leading to this condition. Smoking crack cocaine is known to irritate and harm the vocal cords, throat, and respiratory tract, potentially causing hoarseness or voice changes. Assuming Wolf’s claim is accurate, RFK Jr.’s prolonged exposure to crack cocaine’s harsh chemicals could have contributed to chronic vocal cord damage, manifesting as spasmodic dysphonia. RFK Jr.’s well-documented history of substance abuse, including heroin and cocaine use from age 15 to 29, supports the plausibility of heavy drug use during this period. His 1983 arrest for heroin possession after overdosing on a flight underscores the severity of his addiction, which could have included crack cocaine. While medical consensus attributes spasmodic dysphonia to neurological causes rather than drug use, Wolf’s allegation suggests that RFK Jr.’s substance abuse had lasting physical consequences, adding a layer of complexity to his health struggles.

Drug Dealing at Harvard

RFK Jr. was not merely a casual user but a central figure in Harvard’s drug culture, distributing substances like cocaine and speedballs (a heroin-cocaine mix) to peers and even family members, such as his brother David. Vanity Fair describes RFK Jr. as a “pied piper” for drug use, suggesting he facilitated and encouraged substance abuse within his social circle. His actions reflect the permissive drug culture of the 1970s elite, where sharing drugs was common among privileged circles. The Kennedy name likely insulated him from severe repercussions, as Andersen notes the disparity in legal risks for someone of RFK Jr.’s status. As a drug dealer, RFK Jr. leveraged his social capital and family privilege, operating with impunity in a way few others could, further entrenching his addiction and reckless behavior.

On the Campaign Trail

Wolf says that RFK Jr. woke him up at night with noises that suggested truly terrifying nightmares, while they shared a room during the 1980 Ted Kennedy campaign. They could have been anything, but imagine that, when you were a boy of 10, your uncle, the President, was assassinated in front of thousands at the scene and millions on television; then, four years later, your father was assassinated in front of a packed hotel ballroom the moment he announced he would run for President, and you flew across the country in time to see him taken off life support, then helped carry his coffin to the family plot; and now, you were with your other uncle when he was running for President; and you’d been addicted to sex and various drugs since after your father was assassinated.

At 26, RFK Jr. was still grappling with plenty of trauma. The 1980 campaign, a high-stakes effort by Ted Kennedy to secure the Democratic nomination, placed RFK Jr. in an environment steeped in his father’s political legacy, likely intensifying his psychological struggles. Wolf’s account paints a vivid picture of a young man haunted by loss, unable to escape the specter of his father’s assassination even as he worked to uphold the Kennedy name.

His 1983 heroin arrest confirms that his addiction remained uncontrolled throughout his 20s, and Wolf’s description of him nodding off pretty much confirms it. Additionally, his alleged daily trysts align with reports of his womanizing, which strained his first marriage to Emily Black. The Daily Mail and Vanity Fair document RFK Jr.’s compulsive behavior, including infidelity, which contributed to personal and familial tensions. During the 1980 campaign, a critical moment for the Kennedy family’s political aspirations, RFK Jr.’s reckless lifestyle likely undermined his minor role.

While on the campaign trail, RFK Jr. constantly carried and read Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Published in 1978, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography offers an intimate portrait of Robert F. Kennedy Sr.’s life, from his early years as a shy Catholic to his transformation into a social justice advocate and tragic assassination in 1968. His obsession with the book during the 1980 campaign reflects his struggle to connect with his father, whom he lost at 14. The book’s detailed accounts of RFK Sr.’s family life, devotion to his 11 children, and philosophical evolution likely resonated deeply with RFK Jr., who saw himself as heir to his father’s ideals. Schlesinger’s depiction of RFK Sr.’s compassion and moral growth provided a blueprint for RFK Jr., yet also a painful reminder of his own shortcomings amid addiction and personal turmoil. Carrying the book constantly suggests an attempt to anchor himself to his father’s legacy during a chaotic period, particularly as the 1980 campaign invoked the Kennedy family’s political mantle.

For RFK Jr., the biography’s intimate details about his father’s life were likely both inspiring and burdensome. Key themes include:

• Early Life and Family Dynamics: RFK Sr., the third son of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., was initially overshadowed by his brothers but developed a strong moral compass rooted in Catholicism. His sensitivity and loyalty mirrored traits RFK Jr. might have recognized in himself, navigating the competitive Kennedy family.

• Personal Struggles and Growth: RFK Sr.’s transformation from a McCarthy-era aide to a compassionate advocate was driven by exposure to poverty and injustice. His grief after JFK’s 1963 assassination led him to explore poets like Aeschylus, reflecting themes of fate and morality that likely resonated with RFK Jr.’s own existential crises.

• Marriage and Family: RFK Sr.’s marriage to Ethel Skakel balanced his intense career with a chaotic but loving family life at Hickory Hill. RFK Jr., whose mother struggled to parent him post-assassination, likely found solace in these stories, seeking to understand his family’s dynamics.

• Tragic Legacy: The book’s account of RFK Sr.’s 1968 assassination, during his campaign for president, underscores the trauma that shaped RFK Jr.’s life. The vivid recounting of his father’s final moments likely fueled RFK Jr.’s nightmares and addiction.

The Kennedy Legacy and RFK Jr.’s Struggles

RFK Jr. was a predator and pied piper for drug use, leading peers and family, including his brother David, into substance abuse. David died of a drug overdose in 1984. RFK Jr’s cousin Caroline Kennedy later criticized his influence. He has been married three times, first to Emily Ruth Black in 1982 after they met at law school; they had two children before divorcing in 1994. He married Mary Richardson in 1994, with whom he had four children. Amid infidelity allegations, he filed for divorce in 2010; in 2012, before the divorce was finalized, she found a diary of his that graphically detailed his many extramarital affairs, and hanged herself. Since 2014, he has been married to actress Cheryl Hines.

Caroline Kennedy called him unfit for public office, not least because he claims that vaccines are linked to various health issues, such as autism. His anti-vaccine activism, particularly through his Children’s Health Defense organization, has been criticized by family members like Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Maeve Kennedy McKean, who in 2019 publicly stated he was wrong on vaccines, emphasizing the family’s historical support for vaccination programs, such as JFK’s 1962 Vaccination Assistance Act.

RFK Jr.’s claims about vaccine harms, including during the 2019 Samoa measles outbreak where he allegedly fueled vaccine hesitancy, have been widely debunked. His shift from environmental lawyer to anti-vaccine advocate stems from personal tragedy and drug addiction. The 2020 death of his niece, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, and his history of hard drug use likely fueled his vaccine skepticism, aligning with MAGA’s anti-establishment views and threatening public health.

Maeve’s drowning at 40 deepened RFK Jr.’s trauma. Long-term drug use, especially crack cocaine, can impair judgment and foster paranoia, priming him for conspiratorial beliefs. Maeve’s death likely intensified his distrust of medical institutions, driving his post-2020 vaccine safety obsession, attributing systemic issues to “Big Pharma.”

Through Children’s Health Defense, RFK Jr.’s false claims linking vaccines to autism resonated with MAGA’s distrust of elites. His 2024 Trump endorsement amplified these views, despite scientific evidence supporting vaccine safety. His Kennedy name drew followers, casting him as a truth-teller.

His vaccine skepticism led to his endorsing unproven treatments like ivermectin. His dismantling of the CDC and FDA, boosting of raw milk, and other ideas, guarantees more disease outbreaks and pandemics.

Ryan Pfluger photographed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in early 2024, during his presidential campaign. The session, described by Pfluger as a "nightmare” featuring “astounding disrespect,” was commissioned by The New Yorker and published in a profile on March 20, 2024. Pfluger could not say more, as he had had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, but his clear implication was that RFK Jr’s household was a chaotic, insane environment. Family accounts and reports also paint his household as “disturbing.”