Another Icon Leaves Us

First there were the deaths of Walter Cronkite and Michael Jackson. Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy born February 22, 1932, died August 25, 2009 at his home in Hyannis Port after suffering for a year with brain cancer.

My first memory of Senator Edward Kennedy was when he gave the eulogy at the funeral of the brother he was closest to, Robert F. Kennedy, and spoke the following words:

“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. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: 'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'

Regardless of your political leanings certainly you can appreciate all that the Kennedy family has given to our country and certainly your heart has to tug for the tragedies the Kennedy family has endured. Through it all Edward Kennedy became the center of the Kennedy family. Some of the Kennedy family tragedies:

Brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassinated November 23, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

Brother Robert F. Kennedy assassinated June 6, 1968 in Los Angeles, California.

Ted Kennedy’s oldest brother Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr. was killed at age 29 in England while serving in Operation Aphrodite during World War II.

His oldest sister, Rosemary Kennedy underwent a lobotomy at age 23, after which she was mentally incapacitated for the rest of her life.

Another sister Kathleen Agnes Kennedy died in an airplane crash. at age 28.

On July 16, 1999, Nephew John F. Kennedy, Jr., and his wife died in a plane crash.

Senator Edward Kennedy a presidential candidate, a senator for over forty years, the youngest person to become Senate Majority Whip, and either the author or the force behind the following legislation: (the list is not meant to be all inclusive)

National Cancer Act of 1971.

Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974.

The COBRA Act.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Civil Rights Act of 1991.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The Mental Health Parity Act that forced insurance companies to treat mental health payments the same as others with respect to limits reached

In January of 1985 Kennedy staged a tiring, dangerous, and high-profile trip to South Africa where he defied both the apartheid government's wishes and militant anti-white AZAPO demonstrators by spending a night in the Soweto home of Bishop Desmond Tutu and also visited Winnie Mandela,. When he returned he became a leader in the push for economic sanctions against South Africa; helping to secure passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986.

In the weeks following 9-11 Kennedy telephoned each of the 177 Massachusetts families who had lost members in the attacks. He pushed through legislation that provided healthcare and grief counseling benefits for the families of all the victims of 9-11.

His personal life sometimes receives more publicity than his accomplishments. His career is sometimes defined by that dreadful event on July 18, 1969 when Kennedy was on Martha's Vineyard's Chappaquiddick Island at a party for the "Boiler Room Girls", a group of young women who had worked on his brother Robert's presidential campaign the year before. In a car with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, Kennedy was said to have driven off Dike Bridge into the Poucha Pond inlet. Kennedy escaped the overturned vehicle and swam to safety, but Kopechne died in the car. Kennedy left the scene without calling authorities until the following day. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, receiving a suspended sentence of two months in jail. A book later written by my friend and Pulitzer prize winning author. Jack Olsen, titled THE BRIDGE AT CHAPPAQUICKDDICK concluded that Kennedy was not driving the car that night. I would highly recommend Olsen’s book to anyone that has an interest in politics.

Kennedy once said the following about his personal life:

"I am painfully aware that the criticism directed at me involves far more than disagreements with my positions, it involves the disappointment of friends and many others who rely on me to fight the good fight. To them I say, I recognize my own shortcomings — the faults in the conduct of my private life. I realize that I alone am responsible for them, and I am the one who must confront them.”

I will end this post with the official statement of the Kennedy Family:

"Edward M. Kennedy - the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply - died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port. We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it's hard to imagine any of them without him."