Caroline Kennedy Stepping Down from Ambassador Post

After three years as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy is stepping down, she said in a video message Tuesday.

"Serving as the US Ambassador to our closest friend and ally has been the greatest privilege of my life," she said in a video message announcing her departure Tuesday.

The daughter of President John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy expressed gratitude in her goodbye message.

"I want to thank everyone who told me that they memorized President Kennedy's inaugural address and that they admired my mother," she said.

Kennedy said she was also grateful for the chance to meet the wife of the captain of a Japanese war vessel that struck her father's boat during World War II, famously stranding him and other Naval officers at sea.

"It made me feel that I was helping to fulfill his wish that our two great democracies would work together to build a more peaceful world," she said.

During Kennedy's time as ambassador, she oversaw President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima in 2016, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reciprocal visit to Pearl Harbor.

Kennedy now lives in Manhattan, and will return to her home there, the Associated Press reports. She formally steps down Wednesday.

Image via Youtube