An RFK Staffer Secretly Timed Rides Home With The Senator-Then Made A Bold Request
Donna Chaffee was eager to work in politics at a young age. She went on to be a staffer in RFK's office.
She attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and would schedule classes so she could work on Capitol Hill. When Robert F. Kennedy became the junior U.S. senator from New York in 1964, she needed to volunteer for him.
Chaffee spoke to People ahead of her new memoir, First Great Sorrow: My Years With Robert F. Kennedy, about her interest in politics and her relationship with RFK.
The Kennedys inspired her to get into politics. Chaffee was a senior at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. This monumental event changed her life.
"President Kennedy was my hero," the author said. "When I went to college in Washington, D.C., I visited his grave at Arlington so often that one day, a guard asked me if I was a member of the family."
After working hard as a volunteer for RFK, she was given a paid position in the mail room. Chaffee made an effort to interact with the senator as often as possible.
"I knew his schedule, and I would time it so we would be leaving the office at the same time," Chaffee said. "He would offer me a ride home; me and sometimes Provi."
"Provi," or Providencia Paredes, was Jackie Kennedy's personal assistant. She was close with the Kennedy family. She and Chaffee became friends while working in RFK's office.
"He would ride up front with his driver, Jim Boyd," the author said. "And it was a two-door, so he would have to get out onto the curb to let me out."
One day, the young staffer asked a bold question that established a daily routine between herself and the senator.
"I have to admit that even after all these years, I'm reluctant to share this next bit," she wrote in her memoir. "But here it goes."
Stepping out of the convertible, onto the curb, "I looked him directly in the eyes, and then, with a coy smile, I said, 'Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?'"
Every day, she would request a kiss from RFK, and he would follow through. "It became a routine," Chaffee wrote. "But for me, it never felt routine. I can't deny it - it was exciting."
In hindsight, Chaffee knows not everyone will see this as a sweet anecdote.
"I know some might say there was a power dynamic, because he was my boss. But it never felt like that," she said.
Ultimately, Chaffee only has kind words to say about Kennedy.
"In the Senator's defense," the author wrote, "I can only say that I believe he understood that this was not Donna trying to seduce him, but rather Donna being her usual outrageous self... I assumed that he didn't mind, since he continued to offer me rides home."
She is disappointed by how he is currently being remembered.
"When you Google RFK now, it's three pages of RFK Jr. I don't even know if people realize he had a father!" she shared.
"He was willing to give his life for what he believed in. I will forever mourn his loss, but it is some comfort to me remembering those remarkable years that I spent with him. I tell my son that I don't regret being this old, because it allowed me the opportunity to breathe the same air as the Senator."
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 10:51 PM.