Don’t Send Vicki Kennedy One of These:

Healthcare is one of the issues of the day at the institute. How did your husband’s battle with cancer change your perception of healthcare?

Well, I can’t say that it changed my perception of healthcare, but it made me very grateful, more than ever, for the health insurance that we had, for the doctors that we had, and for the access to great healthcare that we had. And I would say I understood, even better because I was so up close in person, Teddy’s fight for everyone else to be able to have that kind of healthcare. He was galvanized very early to make sure that everyone had healthcare coverage and I felt that very, very strongly. He just wanted a sense of fairness and decency for everyone.

Is it hard to convey how expansive his legacy is?

It’s almost mind-boggling to think of what he did, especially in today’s terms. He had an enormous capacity for work and he was never stopping—I mean, he obviously enjoyed himself, too. He knew how to relax. But he was very organized, strategic—tactful, too. He saw the big picture and just drove an issue forward. His committees were very, very important. And then he had other ad hoc committees, where he was working on scientific research. He was very much into research and advancement in science.

Was that driven by the constituency here?

I’m sure. And I think it had a lot to do with who he was. I heard him say so many times that we don’t have the same natural resources lying around that other parts of the country do. We have the intellect and ingenuity of our people. And he believed in that, he really did.

So I found a 1992 New York Times article.

[Laughs.] Fox Butterfield.

Yeah, exactly. You must know the article. It described you cooking a leg of lamb and said that—this is a quote—“Vicki Kennedy seems to have skillfully balanced the sometimes conflicting roles of hard-driving career woman and mother of two young children.” Do you think women of similar stature would face such lowered expectations in today’s media?

I hope not. I didn’t really think of it as being low expectations. I think there was a surprise that I cooked. That seemed to have been a total shock that I actually cooked and maybe that I had children. I think young women today have a lot of opportunities. When I went to law school in the 1970s, even then a quarter of my class was women. Today, more than half in every law school class.

Do you think there is still progress to be made on this issue?

Oh, absolutely. Always. I think, always.

After all you’ve done and all the options you had available, why in the world would you go back to law, and especially at a big firm?

Because I love it. ’Cuz I basically love it.

Is it the nitty-gritty policy issues that you love? Is it the taking a client on and trying to see the regulatory environment from their perspective? What is it about law that drives you?

It’s kind of a whole package. I love the environment; I love strategy. I love the camaraderie; I love the idea of solving a problem on the team. I love being part of a team. I love the excitement. It’s fun. It just is. Being part of something and working it through and the nitty-gritty, and getting a client from here to there. It’s rewarding and it’s wonderful. It’s great.

So lots of people wanted you to go into politics. Was there any temptation?

I said this over and over: Teddy was the guy in politics. For me the Kennedy Institute is creating, inspiring people who I hope are going to be new politicians. That has been the most rewarding thing to me. I am so happy in our models, if you will, every single day and what we’re doing there.

So what’s your guilty pleasure to unwind?

Binging on some TV thing that I haven’t seen before.

Have you binged on any TV shows recently that have been noteworthy?

I was late to the party on Breaking Bad. I had to binge on Breaking Bad.

Okay. That’s a hell of a show to binge on. What’s the last good movie you saw?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 3-D.

Are you a big Star Wars fan?

I’m a big Star Wars fan from the old Star Wars. I liked those. Those in-between ones I wasn’t so thrilled with. I didn’t go for those.

Anything interesting in your Netflix queue?

Nothing interesting. I will definitely—although I was not so happy with the end of it—I will watch House of Cards when the new season comes out, because you just have to.

On a scale of one to 10, how realistic is House of Cards’ depiction of Washington, DC?

Oh, no. It’s not at all. It’s not. It’s total farce. Absolutely.

Would you vote for Frank Underwood?

Absolutely not. Oh please, no. It’s almost like watching the Onion in a drama or something. It’s just ridiculous. No, people are not killing people. It’s not like that. It’s ridiculous. It’s just ridiculous.

It’s entertaining, though. Makes for a good story.

But it’s entertaining. Absolutely.

What is the best thing that Boston has going for it right now?

The news that GE is moving here is phenomenal and exciting for the city. I think it shows—it’s really exciting to see the governor and the mayor working together to draw a great corporation here because of our brainpower and the exciting innovation that’s around here. Look at the building that’s happening everywhere. GE’s thinking of moving to the Seaport. Look at what’s happening in the Seaport District. I just think that this is a vital place—young people, old people, everything. People don’t want to leave because it’s so vibrant and exciting. They’re certainly not here because of the weather. It’s just exciting. I think it’s happening here.

The Hub, right?

It is. It’s not just a term—it’s real. You feel it. I think it’s almost electric. You just know you’re in the middle of something that’s fantastic and alive.

What’s the biggest challenge the city is facing right now?

I think I’ll let others decide the challenges. As an entire country we’ve got infrastructure issues. And I think there are obviously tons of infrastructure issues at the moment, but I’ll leave that to the people who are in charge of dealing with those issues. I’m sure they have a nice list of things that they’re working on. I think the glass is half full—I think it’s much more than half full.

So this next question is a real hardball. Do you use emojis?

Here’s the thing: Yes and no. I don’t like emojis, okay? I’ll just go right out there and tell you I don’t like emojis. I knew them when they were emoticons. I’m kind of thinking that emojis are going away—they kind of look like hieroglyphics now. I actually know some people who write only with emojis. You can have a whole thing that’s just emoji speak. I like a little smiley face, but I don’t want the face, I just want the little colon in the closed parenthesis. That’s all I want—just the colon and the closed parenthesis, and it autocorrects to a little smiley face and I don’t want a little smiley face and that really bothers me. I don’t want the little smiley face.

I’m so glad I asked you this question. That’s like the old-school emoticon. I like it.

The old-school emoticon. I’m sorry, I’m just an old-fashioned kind of girl. I’m just not into emojis. This is going to be the headline: “She’s Old-School When It Comes to Emoticons vs. Emojis.”