(photo source: JFK Library)

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg has been called "private" and "non-political." She has laughed off repeated entreaties to run for office and has only tentatively stepped out on the political stage at party conventions, preferring to devote her public energies to the New York City public schools, John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Committee and American Ballet Theatre, among other groups, or to promoting her books on the law and poetry.

She broke this year with personal past tradition of staying off the frontlines of American politics when she joined her uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, to endorse Barack Obama for president. And now reports abound that she has reached out to NY Gov. David Paterson to express an interest in succeeding Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's nominee for Secretary of State, as New York's junior senator.

Perhaps given the Massachusetts senator's battle against brain cancer, the thought of a United States Senate without a Kennedy has prompted Kennedy Schlossberg to open a door to public service that many believed she'd closed.

There are, of course, other Kennedys of her generation involved in political life. Cousin Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was MD's lieutenant governor and launched an unsuccessful 2002 gubernatorial bid. Cousin Patrick Kennedy is a member of the U.S. House from Rhode Island. Cousin Maria Shriver, a particularly close pal, is the first lady of California. But no other Kennedy harkens back to the days of Camelot like Kennedy Schlossberg.

In light of the news, we thought we'd take a look at some of Kennedy Schlossberg's past statements declining an interest in running for office.

In May 2002, Kennedy Schlossberg told The Seattle Times' Jerry Large, interviewing her about her new book "Profiles in Courage for Our Time," that she enjoyed being home in the afternoon for her three children, Tatiana, Rose and Jack.

"I don't have any plans to run for office," she said, adding, "when I say that, people say, 'Oh, you're definitely going to do it.' I enjoy writing and editing. I'm interested in the issues, but there are many ways to serve and contribute."

Kennedy Schlossberg told Large that she didn't consider running for office essential. "You don't have to be in Washington, you don't have to be a senator," she said. "All of us will face moments in our life where we are called upon to do the right thing."

In July 2004, during the Democratic National Convention in Boston, NBC's Tom Brokaw at the end of an interview with the former first daughter urged her to return to the program when she decides to run for office. She, in turn, suggested he was more likely to enter public life.

Brokaw: We wish you all the best.

CKS: Thank you.

Brokaw: Come back any time.

CKS: Excellent.

Brokaw: And when you decide to run for office you can announce it right here.

CKS: Thank you, I thank you. After you.

But perhaps it was a column Kennedy Schlossberg wrote for Newsweek in June 1992, marking what would have been her father's 75th birthday, that best conveys her deep admiration for what politicians do -- and the sacrifice they make to serve. The piece also hints at an openess to participating in the family tradition.

"When today's politicians are condemned just for wanting to run for office, we are missing a chance to make our government a source of pride," she wrote in also touting the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. "Our greatest leaders have also been our greatest politicians, and my father believed that politics was not only a noble profession, but the best way to solve our common problems. When I see people suffering on the street, kids hopeless in school, racial violence on TV -- and I think about how short my father's life was -- I'm reminded again that we don't have time to waste.

"My family has always tried to remember my father by honoring what he cared about and by working for the things he believed in. But as it seemed that others were focused increasingly on his death, we asked ourselves what more we could to do celebrate his life."

(JENNIFER SKALKA)