Caroline Bouvier Kennedy has been in the public eye since she attended the funeral of her assassinated father three days before her sixth birthday in 1963, writes Harvey Morris .

Unlike many of the Kennedy clan she chose activism and art over politics. A student at Radcliffe and Columbia Law School, she also trained in art at Sotheby's and went on to write books about civil rights and the right to privacy. This year she served on an advisory committee that suggested vice-presidential candidates to run with Barack Obama.