Caroline Kennedy stepped down as the U.S. ambassador to Japan Wednesday after leaving the country a farewell message days earlier calling the job the "greatest privilege" of her life.
Kennedy, 59, the daughter of late President John F. Kennedy, was appointed to the position by President Barack Obama in 2013. The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump had ordered all political appointees to step down by Friday, The Associated Press reported.
Kennedy had angered some in Japan while ambassador by opposing the country's dolphin hunt and expressing "disappointment" that Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had visited a shrine that memorializes World War II war criminals, the AP reported.
All appeared to be well, though, as she praised her time in her farewell address Sunday, the Daily Mail noted.
"Serving as the United States ambassador to our closest friend and ally has been the greatest privilege of my life," she said in the address. "I want to thank the people of Japan for taking me and my family into their hearts, right from the beginning. I was nervous when I presented my credentials to his majesty, the Emperor, but there were so many people waving and smiling at me that I knew it was going to be wonderful."
The Daily Mail wrote that President Kennedy and former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis are revered in Japan.
"I want to thank all the people who told me that they memorized President Kennedy's inaugural address and that they admired my mother," Kennedy wrote. "I want to thank everyone who helped me find Matsumoto san who sent a set of hina dolls to me in the White House and sparked my love of Japan.
"And as we commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, it was an honor to meet Hanami san, whose husband captained the Japanese destroyer which collided with my father's boat. 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 continued.
Kennedy, who is an attorney by trade, is married by Edwin Schlossberg and they have three children, according to Biography.com. She was rumored as a candidate to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate in 2008 when Clinton became secretary of state, but later withdrew her bid citing personal reasons.
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