Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, having been appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Since the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, Kennedy is often considered the swing vote on many of the Court's politically charged 5–4 decisions, although he reaches conservative results more often than not.

Kennedy grew up in Sacramento, California as the son of a prominent attorney. He is not a member of the Kennedy political family. As a boy he came into contact with prominent attorneys such as Earl Warren. He served as a page in the California State Senate as a young man.

Kennedy graduated from C. K. McClatchy High School in 1954. He was an undergraduate student at Stanford University from 1954-58, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science, after spending his senior year at the London School of Economics. He earned an LL.B from Harvard Law School in 1961.