R. Kennedy-Minott, 76; Appointed Ambassador to Sweden by Carter

Rodney Kennedy-Minott, 76, a Democratic Party activist and former U.S. ambassador to Sweden, died Dec. 15 in Monterey, Calif., of acute pancreatitis, his son, Rodney Minott Jr., said.

Born in Portland, Ore., in 1928, Kennedy-Minott served in the Army before attending Stanford University, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and his doctorate. He later taught at Stanford, Cal State Hayward and Portland State University.

Kennedy-Minott headed Jimmy Carter’s Northern California campaign committee in 1976. After assuming the presidency, Carter named Kennedy-Minott ambassador to Sweden, where he served until 1980.

Until he retired in 2002, Kennedy-Minott was a senior lecturer in national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. He was also a senior research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.

Kennedy-Minott wrote several books, including “The Sinking of the Lollipop,” a chronicle of Rep. Pete McCloskey’s victory over former child star Shirley Temple in a Republican congressional primary in 1967.