[2][3][4] Kennedy was the first civilian mayor of the city since its occupation during the early years of the Civil War.
It was the first paper to welcome the Union forces that captured New Orleans in 1862, and Kennedy was described as being in the "Anti-Jeff Davis Party of the Confederacy.
"[7] An Irishman who was well aware of the strength of the Know Nothings in the city before the Civil War, Kennedy welcomed the Union commander Benjamin Butler to the city, pointing to his prior resistance to Know Nothings in Massachusetts.
[8] In May 1865, as part of the restoration of civilian government to the city, Kennedy was appointed mayor of New Orleans by Governor James Madison Wells.
General Nathaniel P. Banks, concerned that opponents of Reconstruction were gaining too much power, ousted Kennedy from office and replaced him with Colonel Samuel Miller Quincy from Massachusetts as "military vice-regent."