Robert F Kennedy Jr says he did ‘very poorly in school’ but heroin helped him get to top of his class

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Robert F Kennedy Jr might soon take over the reins as the next Health and Human Services Secretary, and while that’s already headline-worthy, his latest confession is turning even more heads.

The 70-year-old, whose confirmation would mark the first Kennedy in a presidential cabinet since his father served as attorney general under John F Kennedy, got real about a dark chapter in his past—his heroin addiction. But he says the drug helped him ace school — at least temporarily.

Kennedy didn’t hold back when talking about his drug-fueled past. He openly admitted, “I always feared I was living on the edge when I was doing hard drugs, especially heroin.” And he wasn’t kidding—heroin wasn’t just a bad habit; it landed him in trouble, including an arrest for possession.

This makes his potential new gig even more remarkable. If confirmed, Kennedy will oversee a massive department with around 80,000 employees. But for years, he thought his addiction would have “severe consequences” and derail his life entirely.

RKF Jr on going from the bottom of his class to the top

Robert F Kenendy Jr's struggle with heroin wasn’t just a phase—it shaped his early career and life. Back in the day, he had a short-lived stint as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. But let’s be real—working in New York City with its 24/7 temptations was hardly the ideal environment for someone battling addiction.

Kennedy revealed that he used to disguise himself as a street person and venture into a notorious Harlem shooting gallery to score heroin.

And then there’s the school story. Get this: Kennedy says heroin actually helped him go from flunking out to straight-A status.

“I did very, very poorly in school until I started doing narcotics,” he told podcaster Shawn Ryan on 'The Shawn Ryan Show'.

“Then I went to the top of my class because my mind was so restless and turbulent. I could not sit still.”

Kennedy recalled how, as a child, his struggles in the classroom left him feeling lost. “The teacher would be at the front of the room talking, and it would be just like noises coming out of her mouth,” he said.

Diagnosing himself in hindsight, Kennedy remarked, “I would probably today be diagnosed as ADHD. I was bouncing off the walls. I couldn’t sit still. I just wanted to get in the woods. That’s all I thought about all day at school—when can I go into the woods and start turning over rocks and catching animals and fishing? That’s the only place that I felt comfortable.”

Heroin changed everything, he said. “In school, I was non-compos mentis, and I had no idea what was happening. I was at the bottom of my class. I started doing heroin—I went to the top of my class. Suddenly, I could sit still, and I could read, and I could concentrate. I could listen to what people were saying, and things made sense to me. So, you know, I was probably at some level medicating myself.”

The price of heroin addiction

But while heroin initially seemed like a solution, Robert F Kennedy Jr acknowledged its devastating consequences.

“It worked for me, and if it still worked, I’d still be doing it, but it didn’t work,” he admitted. “It starts, you know—it works really great in the beginning, but then it begins exacting a cost. And then the cost gets worse and worse, and it kills you. It killed my brother, and it destroys your relationships. It destroys your whole life.”

Kennedy described the spiral of addiction as consuming every part of his existence.

“You have a one-dimensional life,” he explained. “I was what I would describe as a bundle of appetites that just was a full-time job to feed them. You know—drugs and sex and alcohol and extreme behavior. But it’s all about me.”

Eventually, Kennedy realized the toll addiction took and the path he needed to follow.

“Instead of using the resources of your life and the assets that God gave you to help other people, [addiction] makes it all about you. Using those gifts for others is really the ultimate triumph,” he reflected.