TED KENNEDY
G'day folks,
Today I feature one of the most famous politicians in America - Ted Kennedy. Known as
the "Lion of the Senate," Democrat Ted Kennedy was a staunch liberal
who was elected to Congress nine times, spearheading many legislative reforms.
“In short, I hope for an America where neither
'fundamentalist' nor 'humanist' will be a dirty word, but a fair description of
the different ways in which people of good will look at life and into their own
souls.”
—Ted
Kennedy
Born on
February 22, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy was the youngest
brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. He was elected to the Senate
when he was 30, and continued to work in Congress throughout his life. Though
marked by scandal, Kennedy was viewed as an icon of political progressivism and
liberal thought by the time of his death, on August 25, 2009.
Ted
Kennedy was born Edward Moore Kennedy in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 22,
1932—coincidentally the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth. The
youngest of nine children, Ted grew up in a privileged, Irish Catholic family
steeped in tradition. His mother, Rose Fitzgerald, was the daughter of Boston
mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald. His father, millionaire
businessman Joseph P. Kennedy, held many important posts in and out of
government.
As a
result, the family moved frequently to accommodate Joesph's various posts. The
children also changed schools often; by the age of 11, young Ted had already
transferred schools 10 times. Despite his busy job, Joseph was careful to put
his family first, always writing letters and sending telegrams when he was
away, and welcoming any interruptions to his work that had to do with matters
involving his children.
Ted's
mother, Rose, was the member of the family who enforced a high level of
academic performance in her children. Both parents, however, discouraged
idleness and emphasized the importance of healthy competition and success.
Dinner was often the staging ground for various quizzes on politics, history,
and literature. Discussion and debate were highly encouraged. This taught Ted
at an early age to immerse himself in his education and worldly pursuits.
"If I wanted to contribute something worthwhile to the conversation, I
would have to talk about a book I was reading or an interesting place I had
visited," he later said about his time at the Kennedy dinner table.
But Ted
preferred sports to academics and lagged behind his brothers and sisters in
school performance, so he learned other ways to hog the spotlight. He quickly
became the family jester and an extrovert, always cracking jokes, planning
family outings, and charming strangers with his friendly nature. As the baby he
also developed a close emotional bond with both his parents. Their soft spot
for their youngest child also took the pressure off of him to perform as
rigorously as his elder siblings. This sense of lowered expectations would
later haunt Kennedy as he tried to make his way into the professional world.
Tragedy
would also mar Ted Kennedy's early life. In 1941, his father secretly had his
older, developmentally delayed sister Rosemary lobotomized. The operation
failed, and the family had her permanently institutionalized. Several years
later, in 1944, brother Joe Jr. was killed when his plane was shot down
during a Navy mission. In 1948, his sister, Kathleen, died in a private plane
crash over the French Alps. These incidents, and the others to soon follow,
would become part of what was later referred to as "The Kennedy
Curse." Ted worked hard to cheer his grief-laden family.
In 1946,
Ted entered Milton Academy, an exclusive college prep boarding school eight
miles south of Boston. At Milton, Ted immersed himself in athletics, drama,
debate, and the glee club. While he performed well, he failed to be a standout
student when compared to his over-achieving brothers. His father rode him
relentlessly about his grades as well as his weight, and encouraged his son to
push himself harder. Ted graduated in 1950, and followed his brothers to
Harvard University.
Ivy League Life
The
youngest Kennedy immediately immersed himself in Harvard's football team, but
that Spring, he discovered that he was failing his Spanish class. In order to
stay on the team, he would have to pass his final Spanish exam. Ted was
expelled when, in desperation, he had another student take a Spanish exam in
his place. The school would allow the boys to return in two years if they
demonstrated good behavior. As a result, Kennedy enlisted for a two-year term
in the U.S. Army and, through his father's influence, received an assignment as
a guard at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Command in Paris, France.
In 1952,
Kennedy enrolled again at Harvard and was accepted. He returned to his football
career, where his performance attracted the interest of the Green Bay Packers,
who tried to recruit Ted in 1955. Kennedy declined the offer, saying he was
flattered but wanted to go to law school and enter another contact
sport—politics. After Harvard, he studied for a brief time at the International
Law School (The Hague) before entering Virginia Law School, where he received
his law degree in 1959.
Ted
Kennedy campaigned for his brother, John F. Kennedy, in the 1960 presidential
race. In 1962, shortly after his brother's victory, Ted was elected to John's
former U.S. Senate seat. At the age of 30, he became a representative for the
state of Massachusetts.
But
tragedy was to plague the Kennedy family yet again. In 1963, John F. Kennedy,
was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. A year later, Ted was in a plane crash and
spent weeks in the hospital recovering from a back injury and internal
bleeding. The injuries resulted in chronic pain, from which he would suffer
throughout his life. Although he was unable to campaign actively for reelection
for a full term in 1964, he was swept back into office by a landslide vote.
By 1967,
Ted Kennedy began to speak out against the Vietnam War, which the United States
had become deeply involved in during his brother John's administration. The
United States government set a policy of containing communist expansion
worldwide, and it felt Vietnam was the first line of defense. The U.S.
government supported the protection of the fledgling democratic government in
South Vietnam from the communist government in North Vietnam.
Kennedy,
like many Democratic "cold warriors," initially supported the war.
However, as revelations of poor military planning on the part of the United
States and political corruption in South Vietnam arose, Kennedy grew critical
of America's involvement. He specifically debated the merits of the military
draft, and decried the failure of the United States to provide for the victims
of the war. Kennedy visited South Vietnam after the disastrous Tet Offensive,
in which North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong insurgents simultaneously
attacked more than 100 South Vietnamese cities. Kennedy stepped up his
criticism, yet managed to stay on good terms with the Democratic administration
of President Lyndon Johnson.
Ted
Kennedy encountered family tragedy again when his closest brother, Robert
Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968 during his presidential campaign. Eulogizing
his brother, Ted stated, "My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in
death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent
man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it,
saw war and tried to stop it."
After
Robert's death, Ted became the standard-bearer of the Kennedy clan. In 1969, he
became the youngest-ever majority whip in the U.S. Senate, and an early
front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. A year later, on the
night of July 18, 1969, he accidentally drove his car off an unmarked bridge on
Chappaquiddick Island, near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. His companion in
the car, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. A judge later found Ted Kennedy
guilty of leaving the scene of an accident.
Kennedy
was re-elected to the Senate in 1970 despite the scandal, but the incident
dogged his subsequent political career and discouraged him from running for
president in 1972 and 1976. In 1980, however, Kennedy decided to launch a
presidential campaign against Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter. Kennedy felt
Carter's difficult first term threatened to give control of the government to
the Republicans, and the senator was unafraid of publicly criticizing the
president. He vowed, however, to support Carter if he happened to win in the
presidential primaries. Kennedy won only 10 of the primaries. At the 1980
Democratic National Convention, Kennedy conceded his presidential bid, but gave
a hallmark convention speech.
As the
1980s transpired, President Ronald Reagan's sweeping changes of government
gained a stronghold on both the presidency and Congress. Ted Kennedy's
liberalism soon lost favor with many mainstream Democrats. Those years proved
to be difficult for Kennedy as he grappled with minority party status and
wrestled with his ideological nemesis, Ronald Reagan.
Kennedy
also faced trouble in his personal life, as accusations of philandering and
alcohol abuse surfaced. In 1982, after 24 years of turbulent marriage, he and
wife Joan Bennett Kennedy divorced. In spite of his private struggles, Kennedy
won reelection to the Senate in 1982 and again in 1988. In 1992 he
remarried—this time to Washington, D.C., lawyer Victoria Reggie—and credits his
recovery to his new relationship. Together the couple had two more children:
Curran and Caroline Raclin.
With the
Democratic victory of Bill Clinton for president in 1992, Ted Kennedy became
once again an influential legislator supporting health-care reform. He was an
author of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which
allows those who change or lose their job to maintain health insurance and
protects the privacy of patient information. He also helped author the 1997
Children's Health Act, which increased access to health care for children age
18 and under.
But by
the late 1990s, Ted Kennedy had become one of the Senate's most prominent
members. He amassed a monumental legislative record, passing bills that
affected the lives of many Americans of all classes and races. Kennedy
sponsored legislation on immigration reform, criminal code reform, fair
housing, public education, health care, AIDS research, and a variety of
programs to aid the poor. On the Senate Judiciary Committee, he upheld liberal
positions on abortion, capital punishment, and busing. Kennedy did this through
political skill and bipartisan friendships with conservative Republicans, all
the while maintaining his principled liberal roots. Teaming up with
conservative stalwarts such as Senators Nancy Kassebaum, John McCain, and Orrin
Hatch, Kennedy has cosponsored legislation on worker's healthcare benefits,
immigration, and funding for traumatic brain injuries.
Kennedy
extended his legislative record in the new millennium. He worked with both
Democrats and Republicans to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, in an effort to
close the achievement gap in public schools. Following the attacks of September
11, 2001, he coordinated with various agencies to respond to the mental health
needs of victims' families. He also helped sponsor the bipartisan Bioterrorism
Preparedness and Response Act to prevent, prepare for, and respond to
bioterrorism emergencies. An initial opponent of the war in Iraq, Kennedy
sponsored legislation to procure additional armored Humvees in Iraq battle
zones. Throughout the rest of the decade, Kennedy sponsored or cosponsored
legislation to enhance the ability of law enforcement to protect abducted
children; reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; boost
support for Hurricane Katrina victims; and expand Medicaid coverage.
Final Years
On May
17, 2008, Ted Kennedy entered Cape Cod Hospital after suffering a seizure.
Three days later doctors diagnosed the senator with a malignant glioma, an
especially lethal type of brain tumor. Kennedy underwent surgery on June 2.
"I am deeply grateful to the people of Massachusetts and to my friends,
colleagues and so many others across the country and around the world who have
expressed their support and good wishes as I tackle this new and unexpected
health challenge," Kennedy said in a statement released hours before the
surgery began. "I am humbled by the outpouring and am strengthened by your
prayers and kindness."
Following
the operation, doctors pronounced the procedure successful, saying Kennedy
should experience no permanent neurological effects. A spokeswoman for Kennedy
also said the senator spoke with his wife shortly after surgery, telling her,
"I feel like a million bucks. I think I'll do that again tomorrow."
As the
2008 presidential primaries moved into full throttle in January, Kennedy
endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama for president. After the primaries had
all but determined Obama to be the presidential candidate, Kennedy made an
emotional appearance at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado. Looking
somewhat weak, but elated, Kennedy delivered a short but rousing speech to
hundreds of delegates.
On
January 20, 2009, during Barack Obama's post-inauguration luncheon at the U.S.
Capitol, Kennedy suffered another seizure. Paramedics arrived quickly, and he
was escorted to an ambulance by Senators John Kerry, Chris Dodd, and Orrin
Hatch. His doctor released a statement saying he believed the incident was a
result of "simple fatigue."
After
convalescing in Florida for several weeks, Kennedy called Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid and said, "Kennedy, reporting for duty." On the
following Monday, he came to the Senate to vote for its version of the economic
stimulus package. In a statement released that day, he said, "I returned
to the Senate today to do all I can to support our President and his plan to
get our country back on track. We face a historic crisis and must act quickly,
boldly and responsibly to enable our economy to begin growing again in
Massachusetts and across America."
On August
20, 2009, Kennedy made a sudden request to change Massachusetts state law,
allowing for his swift replacement. The note to state leaders asked for an
interim senator to be appointed in the case that his seat was suddenly vacated.
Current law requires a special election to be held within five moths of the
seat vacancy. It was Kennedy's hope that if his seat were to be unexpectedly
empty, another Democratic senator could continue work on new healthcare
legislation that Kennedy felt was vital to the country's progress.
Kennedy's
aides insisted the move had nothing to do with the senator's health. But
several days later, on August 25, 2009, Kennedy's struggle with brain cancer
came to an end. He passed away in the evening at his Cape Cod, Massachusetts,
home.
Senator
Kennedy was considered the "liberal lion of the Senate." His massive
compilation of legislative acts reflect his savvy political skills, pragmatic
vision, and ability to reach across party lines. As the youngest member of a
family with many larger-than-life figures, Ted Kennedy consistently proved that
he was a formidable force in American politics—and one that left a legacy of
public service to be studied, admired, and emulated.
Clancy's comment: What an interesting family, eh? Must say that I've always admired Ted for battling on after the killing of his two brothers.
I'm ...
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