Caroline's Kids Plan to 'Run for Office'

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/10/2002 at 10:43 AM EDT

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg returned to Washington this week to discuss her new book, "Profiles in Courage for Our Time," a current version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by her father, President John F. Kennedy, reports PEOPLE. Schlossberg, 44, edited the collection of essays about the politicians who've been given Profiles in Courage awards for standing by their convictions -- even when it was unpopular to do so. But what intrigued the crowd, reports PEOPLE, is when Schlossberg described her visit to the Senate with her eldest daughter, Rose, 13, last summer. Caroline's uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) accompanied them, said Schlossberg, and the tour included a visit to the Senate reception room where a portrait of President Kennedy hangs. Noting her uncle's commitment to public service, Schlossberg said, "As I looked at Teddy and Rose as he was explaining that to her, I saw that being passed on to another generation." Indeed, when asked if she'd encourage her three youngsters -- besides Rose there are Tatiana, 12 and John, 9 -- to run for public office, Kennedy responded, "My children are all planning to run for public office." Schlossberg also spoke affectionately about her grandmother, the late Rose Kennedy, whom, she said, "had a very strong set of beliefs. And she taught everyone in our family that you could make a difference -- that one person could change the course of history . . . And she also had a tremendous respect and care and love for every person that she met," said Schlossberg. "She never, as an adult, corrected anybody or never said critical things to her grandchildren. She was always curious about what we were thinking and we were doing."