The Last of the Mighty Kennedys

An important chapter in our history has come to an end. As President Barack Obama has said, he was the greatest United States senator of our time.

A massive head with a rich crop of gray hair. A broad, usually red face, typical for a person of Irish descent. Edward Kennedy has for decades been one of the most recognized actors on the American political scene. For many liberals he was a patriarch; for many Republicans, an embodiment of leftist evil. For the others, the last of the mighty Kennedys. Throughout his almost 50-year career in the Capitol he won several important battles. But in his most significant battle – with brain cancer – he didn’t stand a chance. He passed away in his family home in Massachusetts. He was the only one of the four brothers to live until old age. He was 77.

Born for Politics

“My son was rocked to political lullabies,” his mother, Rose, mentioned once. In the beginning it seemed that Edward was listening to other tunes, though. He was regarded to be less talented than John and Robert when it came to political skills.

He entered big politics through the back door. When John became the American president in 1961, the family decided that Edward should take over his place in the Senate. He had little experience in politics and he was not yet 30, meaning he was under the age when, according to the Constitution, he would be allowed to become senator. But it did not deter the family: The mandate was handed over to a friend who was a politician, who moved into the shade when the elections came. In accordance with the plan, Edward won easily, although his rival from his own party accused him of being a spoiled idler, who had never really worked, and that his election campaign would have failed if he was not named Kennedy.

The golden era of the Kennedys was soon to reach its sudden and tragic end. First John, and then Robert, who was seeking the Senate seat, were killed by assassins. Edward himself escaped death after a plane crash in 1964.

When it seemed that the curse of the Kennedys (the oldest brother died in war) did not work in his case, he experienced something that he would be ashamed of his whole life. In 1969, when he was widely considered the next Kennedy on the way to the White House, Ted caused a car accident in which his female passenger died. Their car tumbled down to the lake. Instead of rescuing the passenger, he fled the scene and did not report it to the police. It became clear: Ted Kennedy would never become president (which was confirmed a decade later when he was beaten in the pre-elections).

Since that time he invested all his energy into his work for the Senate, where he served for almost 47 years. It is said in Washington that his fingerprints were left on most of the pieces of legislation concerning civil rights, consumer rights, health care reform, immigration and work safety. He was always a geyser full of energy, but at times a little chaotic. Some people claimed that he was attempting to escape his murky memories from the past, while others said that he was a shark and needed to be in constant movement in order to survive. There were also those who said that he behaved like every spoiled child from a very rich family.

Although wealth was a natural state for him, he became a champion for the downtrodden. He was fighting for the full right to vote for black people and civil rights for immigrants. In the country where socialism was perceived as a disease from far-away lands, Kennedy was not afraid to deliver passionate speeches defending poor workers or condemning Wall Street exploiters.

The Right Wing’s Sworn Enemy

He was the leading anti-Reagan politician in the time when Reagan was a political half-god, and an arch-liberal during the Republican Revolution in Congress in the 1990s. The Republicans were intimidating the voters by creating a terrifying vision of America that would suit Kennedy’s ideas. He was also the favorite target of attacks from famous conservative political commentator and radio host Rush Limbaugh. The Republican senator Chuck Hagel recently stated that unfortunately, Ted Kennedy must not be blamed for all the misery.

When it comes to left-wing politicians, Kennedy was criticized for having wasted his political capacity on unproductive clashes with the right wing.

Undoubtedly, the most famous clash of this kind took place in 1987 during the Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court. “Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution…” Kennedy spoke passionately in front of the cameras, condemning the nomination even before discussion commenced. His political opponents have never forgiven him for this.

Nevertheless, Kennedy proved many times that he was able to cooperate with people from behind the political barricade. He became George Bush’s provisional ally in the effort of pushing education reform, and one of his closest friends was Orrin Hatch, the Mormon senator from the right-wing state of Utah.

Wine, Women and Song

“If you want to find Ted Kennedy, listen for the laughter,” senator Chris Dodd used to say about him. Kennedy was famous for his coarse, if not rude, sense of humor. He was capable of dressing up as Batman during the Christmas reception in the Capitol and emulating a dog barking at the airport lounge.

He was a womanizer and liked to hit the bottle. He could drink heavily, mixing red wine with scotch and vodka. After a few shots he liked to sing. His numerous affairs led to the breakup of his first marriage. In 1987, the press was filled with news about his sexual achievements with an attractive lobbyist on the floor of a Washington restaurant, and two years later paparazzi captured him in a similar situation in a boat off the coast of France (this time with a model). “What leaders we have in this country!” he commented about his own performance with a disarming smile.

The Unfinished Work

Health reform, which Barack Obama is planning to undertake, was Kennedy’s dearest project. Since the 1980s he called for implementation of mandatory health insurance, guaranteeing all Americans access to health care. He was hoping to see the health-reform legislation accepted before he died. But it seems that America is not yet ready for it. “An important chapter in our history has come to an end,” said Obama in a statement sent out after Kennedy’s death.