Overview
Amaryllis Fox Kennedy (born Amaryllis Damerell Thornber; September 22, 1980) is an American writer, television host, public speaker, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, and campaign manager to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential campaign. She departed from her role at the CIA in 2010. Subsequently, Kennedy authored a memoir about her time in the CIA, entitled Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA, published by Knopf Doubleday in October 2019. She is the host of the six-episode Netflix documentary series The Business of Drugs, released in July 2020.
Early life and education
Amaryllis Fox Kennedy was born in New York City as Amaryllis Damerell Thornber. Her mother, Lalage Damerell, is a retired English actress. Her father, Hodson Thornber, was an economist. Her mother has since married billionaire businessman Steven Rales. When Fox Kennedy was eight years old, she suffered the loss of her friend Laura in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. She said of the event in an interview with the CBC News, "I remember being very, very overwhelmed by the loss and my dad intervened and said, you have to understand the forces that took her or they will drown you." She describes the moment as pivotal for catalyzing increased awareness of current events and geopolitical conditions.
Growing up in Washington, D.C. and London, Fox Kennedy attended the National Cathedral School beginning in eighth grade and graduated in 1998; she attended The American School in London during tenth grade. She completed undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford in 2002. She stated that while at Oxford, she rebuffed approaches from the Secret Intelligence Service. Prior to Fox Kennedy's final year at Oxford, the September 11 attacks took place while she was visiting family in Washington, D.C.; subsequently, she decided to pursue a master's degree in conflict and terrorism at the Walsh School of Foreign Service. For her master's thesis, Fox Kennedy developed an algorithm intended to identify local terrorist safe havens, which attracted attention from the CIA.
Career
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