HYANNIS PORT, Mass (Reuters) – US Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in the Democratic Party who took the helm of one of America’s most fabled political families after two older brothers were assassinated, died at age 77, his family said.
Kennedy had brain cancer, which was diagnosed in May 2008. After a funeral Mass in Boston on Saturday, he will be buried later that day at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, near the graves of his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.
He was one of the most influential and longest-serving senators in US history, a liberal standard-bearer who recovered politically from a string of personal scandals to become known as a consummate congressional dealmaker.
Kennedy’s death marked the twilight of a political dynasty and dealt a blow to Democrats who lost their chief champion of President Barack Obama’s call for an overhaul of the healthcare system.
“Edward M. Kennedy, the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply, died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port (Massachusetts),” the Kennedy family said in a statement early on Wednesday.
Kennedy was a longtime advocate of healthcare reform, a signature issue of Obama’s presidency. Obama said on Wednesday he was heartbroken to hear of the death of Kennedy, a crucial supporter of his presidential candidacy.
“I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the presidency,” Obama said. “And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I’ve profited as president from his encouragement and wisdom.”
Kennedy’s endorsement last year was seen as pivotal in Obama’s winning of the Democratic presidential nomination. Many saw it as the passing of the political torch to a new generation. A year to the day before his death, Kennedy made an electrifying speech to the Democratic convention that nominated Obama for president.
Kennedy had recently urged Massachusetts lawmakers to change state law so the Democratic governor, if necessary, could quickly fill a Senate vacancy.
Known as “Teddy,” he was the brother of John Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, Robert Kennedy, fatally shot while campaigning for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination, and Joe Kennedy, a pilot killed in World War Two.
From lightweight to lion
When he first took the Senate seat previously held by John Kennedy in 1962, he was seen as something of a political lightweight who owed his ascent to his famous name.
Yet during his nearly half century in the chamber, Kennedy became known as one of Washington’s most effective senators, crafting legislation by working with lawmakers and presidents of both parties, and finding unlikely allies.
At the same time, he held fast to liberal causes and was a lightning rod for conservative ire.
“The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party, and at times Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks. But in in the United States Senate I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection,” Obama said.
Kennedy helped enact measures to protect civil and labour rights, expand healthcare, upgrade schools, increase student aid and contain the spread of nuclear weapons.
“There’s a lot to do,” Kennedy told Reuters in 2006. “I think most of all it’s the injustice that I continue to see and the opportunity to have some impact on it.”
A Roman Catholic, Kennedy was nonetheless a staunch supporter of abortion rights, a fact noted by the Vatican’s official newspaper in an article about his death.
The newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, praised Kennedy for fighting for immigrant rights, gun control and higher minimum wages, but regretted his “unfortunate” support of abortion.
After Robert Kennedy’s death, Edward was expected to waste little time in vying for the presidency. But in 1969, a young woman drowned after a car Kennedy was driving plunged off a bridge on the Massachusetts resort island of Chappaquiddick after a night of partying.
Kennedy’s image was tarnished after it emerged he had failed to report the accident to authorities. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and received a suspended sentence.
Kennedy eventually ran for his party’s presidential nomination in 1980 but lost to then-President Jimmy Carter.
His presidential ambitions thwarted, Kennedy devoted himself to his Senate career.
A 2009 survey by The Hill, a Capitol Hill publication, found that Senate Republicans believed Kennedy was the chamber’s easiest Democrat to work with and most bipartisan.
Republican Senator John McCain called him “the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results.”
‘Lion’ battled on
Kennedy had been largely sidelined in Congress since becoming ill. The ‘Lion of the Senate’ began to use a cane and often looked drained as he mixed work with treatment.
Twelve Publishing said Kennedy “worked valiantly” to finish his 650-page autobiography, True Compass, which is scheduled to be released September 14.
Colleagues and staff said he remained determined to fulfil what he called “the cause of my life,” providing health insurance to all Americans. He helped draft legislation to overhaul the $2.5 trillion US healthcare system, but was sidelined while it was discussed in Congress.
Kennedy’s interest in healthcare dated from his own back injury suffered during a 1964 plane crash that damaged his spine and left him with persistent pain, and later, his son’s bout with cancer in the 1970s.
“I’ve benefited from the best of medicine but I’ve also witnessed the frustration and outrage of patients and doctors alike as they face the challenges of a system that shortchanges millions of Americans,” he wrote in a May 28 issue of the Boston Globe.
Kennedy never fully escaped the cloud of the Chappaquiddick accident. A decades-long argument arose about whether the senator, who was married to Joan Kennedy at the time, tried to cover up his involvement by leaving the scene while Mary Jo Kopechne’s body remained submerged and whether police helped sweep such questions under the rug. All involved denied any cover-up.
Kennedy was divorced from Joan in 1983.
The 1991 Palm Beach rape trial of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, caught a bloated Uncle Ted in a media glare. Reports of heavy drinking and womanizing led to a public apology for “the faults in the conduct of my private life.”
Kennedy was remarried soon after that to Victoria Reggie, a 38-year-old lawyer with two young children from her first marriage. He poured renewed energy into the Senate, where he would become the third-longest serving senator in history.
Even his Republican foes recognized Kennedy’s dedication as he worked to protect civil rights, give federal help to the poor, contain the spread of nuclear weapons, raise the minimum wage, expand health coverage and improve America’s schools.
Family standards
Born on Feb. 22, 1932, Edward Moore Kennedy was the last of four sons and five daughters born to millionaire businessman Joseph Kennedy, who would later be ambassador to Britain, and his wife, Rose. Jean Kennedy Smith, is the only surviving sibling.
The Boston Irish family combined the competitive spirit of nouveau riche immigrants with acquired polish and natural charm. The sons were expected to mature into presidential timber and were groomed for that starting with the oldest, Joseph Jr, a bomber pilot who died in World War Two.
“I think about my brothers every day,” Kennedy told Reuters. “They set high standards. Sometimes you measure up, sometimes you don’t.”
