The End ofThe Kennedy Dynasty

He was the Republican’s favorite enemy and served his country without needing the spotlight: an obituary of Ted Kennedy, a great American senator.

Edward “Ted” Kennedy was the natural choice for president after the murders of his brothers, John in 1963, and Robert in 1968. He never accomplished it, though; not once did he enter the race past the primary. However, as senator from Massachusetts, where he served almost 50 years, he made an entry into American history and will stand among the most famous names to grace the Senate, like Daniel Webster and James Fulbright. Only two senators have served longer.

Politically, he was what they call “liberal” or “left” in America. He was a man who opposed the Vietnam and Iraq wars and, on domestic issues, championed civil rights and public welfare with lasting success.

On top of this, he was, although the Republican’s favorite enemy, a pillar of bipartisanship, working together with conservatives. He wrote an immigration reform bill with John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, and worked with George W. Bush on education reform. The ultra-conservative Strom Thurmond was his partner in the fight against crime.

Ted and Senate have practically become synonyms in the long career of the youngest Kennedy son. With the Obama presidency, Kennedy stepped back onto center stage for symbolic reasons – Obama uses a similar style and rhetoric as JFK – and for a reason with the highest practical importance. Kennedy fought during the beginning of his Senate career for a national health care system – the same cause Obama made his first priority as president.

In a senatorial debate in 1994, Kennedy pronounced that health care was the “central problem in our society.” The central question was then: “Do we really want to take care of our fellow citizens?” The tragedy is that his triumph this year came a bit too late. He was already afflicted with a brain tumor that took his life at age 77.

Tragedy is the overwhelming mark of his family and personal life. Joseph, Ted’s oldest brother, the patriarch of the clan who was supposed to run for president, died in World War II. His next two brothers were murdered. Edward himself embodied the classical tragic hero of antiquity: a man from the highest station who wants to do good but fails because of a character flaw.

After the death of his older brothers, Edward was the natural choice for the White House. But it was not meant to be. He almost died in a private plane crash soon after JFK’s assassination. After the murder of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, he tried to gain support for the presidential nomination. But then fate arrived, and delivered something from which Edward would never fully recover.

On the night of July 18, 1969, after an alcohol-soaked party, he crashed his car off a small bridge connecting Chappaquiddick Island with Martha’s Vineyard. He was able to save himself, but a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne drowned. Kennedy was missing for nine hours, only after which he reported the accident. Because he left the scene of an accident, he was sentenced to two years of probation and had his driver’s license taken away. That was the end of his presidential ambitions, something the Kennedy boys were instilled with from birth.

“We don’t want any losers here,” were the grooming words of Joseph “Joe” Kennedy, a former ambassador in London and supposed Nazi sympathizer, who always tried to impress this fact on his children. “In this family, we only want winners.” In spite of the Chappaquiddick affair, Kennedy tested the waters of a White House takeover by running against the unlucky Jimmy Carter in the 1979/80 primary. The party members were on his side, but his half-hearted campaign ended in disaster, and Carter, the incumbent, was nominated at the convention in 1980.

It was not until 11 years later that Ted could bring himself to give an apology for Chappaquiddick: “I recognize my weaknesses, the errors in my life. I alone am responsible for them, and must come to terms with them.” In the end, it was the beginning of a glorious Senate career that made Ted into a historical figure. He served without trying to steal the limelight; with diligence, brilliant rhetoric and political skill, he made himself into a law maker of the highest esteem.

On Wednesday, his family issued a short statement: “We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family.” And more than just that: The death of the last male Kennedy is the end of a dynasty that can be rivaled only by Presidents John and John Quincy Adams – father and son – and Teddy and Franklin Delano Roosevelt – cousins.

There are no more Kennedys to follow in the footsteps of Joseph, John, Robert and Edward. Edward M. Kennedy died on Tuesday in Hyannis Port, survived by three children and four grandchildren. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery near his brothers, John and Robert.